A review of large eddy simulation of aviation turbulence

Aviation turbulence is an essential factor threatening flight safety. However, due to its complex mechanism, which study has been one of the key issues faced by the aviation industry. In recent years, with the development of large eddy numerical simulation (LES), which has become an important method to solve aviation turbulence problems. This study reviews the research progress of LES technology in the past few decades, focusing on the impact of aircraft trailing vortex wakes and low-level turbulence during the takeoff and landing phase, as well as convective induced turbulence, mountain wave turbulence, and clear air turbulence during the cruise phase on aircraft turbulence. It also summarizes and prospects the urgent problems to be solved in the application of LES technology and future key research directions. Overall, LES simulation research on aviation turbulence has got much achievement, which can clarify the source and lifecycle of aviation turbulence more clearly, significantly improving the mechanism cognition, quantitative diagnosis, prediction and warning capabilities. However, in terms of mechanism, the interaction mechanism of various complex turbulent processes is still unclear; in terms of numerical model techniques, the predictive skill of LES of aviation turbulence is still limited by errors in initial conditions, boundary conditions, and the models themselves (e.g., parameterizations, dynamical methods). In the future, the development of nesting and dynamic grid technology between LES and mesoscale regional models, high-resolution ensemble prediction methods and probability prediction approaches, as well as the combination with deep learning methods will further improve the computational efficiency and prediction ability of LES on aviation turbulence simulation and forecasting.