High-resolution wind-tunnel datasets from the University of Hamburg: validation of street canyon dispersion models

Abstract

Air quality is one of the major environmental concerns in cities as it has a direct impact on human health. One of the biggest sources of air pollution is urban traffic. To predict air quality in urban areas, significant effort and considerable funding has been, and is being, spent in developing numerical models for urban dispersion and in obtaining experimental datasets. So far, less effort has been expended on providing formalised procedures and reference data suitable for model validation. At the Meteorological Institute of the University of Hamburg, a project has been started to compile a database of wind-tunnel measurements, which can be used for validation of microscale dispersion models. Laser Doppler Anemometer measurements were made on several configurations of the building arrangements. Mean velocity, as well as the intensity of turbulence and the Reynolds stress, were obtained.