Entrainment velocity ($u_e$)

The mean speed, measured normal to a chosen plume or jet boundary, at which ambient fluid enters the turbulent region. The boundary and averaging convention must be specified: this speed is not the plume's axial velocity. In the Batchelor entrainment hypothesis for a rising Boussinesq plume, $u_e=\alpha w$, where $\alpha$ is the dimensionless entrainment coefficient and $w$ the characteristic axial speed. Multiplying by the boundary perimeter gives the entrained volume flux per axial length.