Stochastic estimation of coherent structures in turbulent boundary layers

The stochastic estimation provides a means of estimating conditional averages from unconditional statistics, namely, the two‐point correlation tensor. This technique is applied to three‐dimensional data obtained in a fully turbulent boundary layer. The results of linear and nonlinear estimates are compared to the corresponding conditional averages and the agreement is found to be excellent, with little improvement for nonlinear estimates. Extensions of the technique to space‐time estimates of one‐ and two‐point conditional averages are also presented, the latter providing a means to examine structures associated with a given length scale.