Abstract
Abstract. In mesoscale climate models, urban canopy flow is typically parameterized in terms of the horizontally averaged (1-D) flow and scalar transport, and these parameterizations can be informed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the urban climate at the microscale. Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes simulation (RANS) models have previously been employed to derive vertical profiles of turbulent length scale and drag coefficient for such parameterization. However, there is substantial evidence that RANS models fall short in accurately representing turbulent flow fields in the urban roughness sublayer. When compared with more accurate flow modeling such as large-eddy simulations (LES), we observed that vertical profiles of turbulent kinetic energy and associated turbulent length scales obtained from RANS models are substantially smaller specifically in the urban canopy. Accordingly, using LES results, we revisited the urban canopy parameterizations employed in the one-dimensional model of turbulent flow through urban areas and updated the parameterization of turbulent length scale and drag coefficient. Additionally, we included the parameterization of the dispersive stress, previously neglected in the 1-D column model. For this objective, the PArallelized Large-Eddy Simulation Model (PALM) is used and a series of simulations in an idealized urban configuration with aligned and staggered arrays are considered. The plan area density (λp) is varied from 0.0625 to 0.44 to span a wide range of urban density (from sparsely developed to compact midrise neighborhoods, respectively). In order to ensure the accuracy of the simulation results, we rigorously evaluated the PALM results by comparing the vertical profiles of turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stresses with wind tunnel measurements, as well as other available LES and direct numerical simulation (DNS) studies. After implementing the updated drag coefficients and turbulent length scales in the 1-D model of urban canopy flow, we evaluated the results by (a) testing the 1-D model against the original LES results and demonstrating the differences in predictions between new (derived from LES) and old (derived from RANS) versions of the 1-D model, and (b) testing the 1-D model against LES results for a test case with realistic geometries. Results suggest a more accurate prediction of vertical turbulent exchange in urban canopies, which can consequently lead to an improved prediction of urban heat and pollutant dispersion at the mesoscale.
Highlights
Mesoscale meteorology is of particular interest for urban climate analysis: many weather phenomena that directly impact human activities occur at this scale, and the effects of urban roughness, heat, pollutant, and moisture on the atmospheric boundary layer have important mesoscale implications
The present study focused on updating the urban canopy parameterizations of drag coefficient and turbulent length scales using large-eddy simulations (LES) results, which is shown to be a superior numerical model for resolving the turbulent flow field compared to Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) previously used in multi-layer urban canopy models (UCMs) (Santiago and Martilli, 2010)
The detailed analyses of the spatially averaged turbulent field in urban configurations revealed the following: (1) LES results exhibit a significantly higher transport of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) into the lower canopy compared to Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes simulation (RANS); (2) dispersive fluxes are not negligible in the urban canopy, in higher urban packing densities; and (3) the ratio between turbulent and dispersive length scale is not constant with λp at the canopy level
Summary
Mesoscale meteorology is of particular interest for urban climate analysis: many weather phenomena that directly impact human activities occur at this scale, and the effects of urban roughness, heat, pollutant, and moisture on the atmospheric boundary layer (characterized as urban boundary layer) have important mesoscale implications. Mesoscale modeling is a powerful tool for the analysis of urban climate and further prediction and management of urban heat and pollution. Urban climate variables on timescales of hours to days depend on multiple spatial scales from the street scale to synoptic scales. It is not feasible to explicitly resolves building shapes (O(1–100 m)) and at the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
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