Urban Wind Field Research Articles

Spatial variations in the aeolian deposition of dust – the effect of a city: a case study in Be'er-Sheva, Israel

The effect of buildings on the dry deposition of dust particles was investigated in Be'er-Sheva, a desert city with about 140,000 inhabitants in southern Israel, and at two reference points in the surrounding rural area. The mineral and chemical composition of dust sampled at all sites was similar, reflecting the composition of the local loess soil, its likely origin. However, dust deposited in the traps set up in the vicinity of buildings in the city was significantly coarser than the dust which accumulated in similar traps at exposed sites in the countryside. The amount of dust (by weight) in the urban dust traps was on an average more than twice the amount deposited in the rural area. The differences in grain-size distribution and quantity of dust are attributed to the properties of the urban wind field and to various effects of human activity in the city.

Methods of investigating urban wind fields—physical models

For evaluation of environmental problems in urban areas, models are needed. Physical models and mathematical models are the tools of the trade. Both types of models have advantages and limitations. The emphasis here is on boundary layer wind tunnels, which are well suited for the study of many urban climate situations. The boundary layer flow along the floor of a meteorological wind tunnel is a real flow which approximately represents a scaled down version of the atmospheric boundary layer under conditions of neutral stratification. Therefore, important practical problems involving urban atmospheric conditions can be studied in such wind tunnels by means of geometrically similar models of the urban area. Such problems involve wind forces on structures, pedestrian comfort, and diffusion processes from point sources, such as chimneys, tunnel exhausts and gaseous spills, or from line sources, such as traffic lines. The investigation of these processes in a wind tunnel must be seen, however, as one link only in a chain of actions.

Absolute and relative humidities in towns

There are very few studies of absolute and relative humidities in towns although it is obvious that they are subject to a wide variety of controls. Readings taken with a specially instrumented vehicle in Leicester, a town of 270,000 in the English Midlands, suggest that one of the most important determinants is the character of the urban windfield. There is clear evidence that night-time absolute humidities are frequently higher in cities than in the nearby country.