Axisymmetric pure plume

For a top-hat axisymmetric pure plume of radius $r$, speed $U$, and reduced gravity $g^{\prime }$, the conserved fluxes are $Q=\pi r^{2}U$, $M=\pi r^2{U}^2$, and $B=\pi r^{2}U{g}^{\prime }$. The Batchelor entrainment hypothesis gives $Q\propto B^{1/3}{z}^{5/3}$.

For pi-normalized top-hat fluxes, $b=Q/\sqrt{M}$. The pure similarity solution therefore has $b=(6\alpha /5)(z+z_0)$, so the radius grows linearly with slope $6\alpha /5$. The corresponding plume virtual origin is $-z_0$ and a finite source has $z_0=5b_s/(6\alpha )$. This law translates geometric plume-contact criteria into heights.

A constant surviving buoyancy flux sets the amplitudes of a pure plume: $Q\propto F^{1/3}$ and $M\propto F^{2/3}$. Relative-flux perturbations have the neutral ratio $(\delta Q/Q,\delta M/M,\delta F/F)\propto (1,2,3)$. This is the zero-eigenvalue limit of growing mode of power-law plume similarity; nonzero endpoint stratification can still create cumulative logarithmic flux loss.

A steady top-hat plume model supplied with kinematic buoyancy flux $f_0>0$ but zero source volume flux and momentum flux hasThe Batchelor entrainment hypothesis and momentum balance yield these constants. Its Froude number satisfies $w^2/(g^{\prime }b)=5/(8\alpha )$. The Boussinesq approximation requires $g^{\prime }/g\ll 1$ and therefore fails at the ideal point source itself.