Fast algorithm for a three-dimensional synthetic model of intermittent turbulence

Synthetic turbulence models are useful tools that provide realistic representations of turbulence, necessary to test theoretical results, to serve as background fields in some numerical simulations, and to test analysis tools. Models of one-dimensional (1D) and 3D synthetic turbulence previously developed still required large computational resources. A “wavelet-based” model of synthetic turbulence, able to produce a field with tunable spectral law, intermittency, and anisotropy, is presented here. The rapid algorithm introduced, based on the classic p-model of intermittent turbulence, allows us to reach a broad spectral range using a modest computational effort. The model has been tested against the standard diagnostics for intermittent turbulence, i.e., the spectral analysis, the scale-dependent statistics of the field increments, and the multifractal analysis, all showing an excellent response.