We consider linear feedback flow control of the largest scales in an incompressible turbulent channel flow at a friction Reynolds number of Reτ = 2000. A linear model is formed by augmenting the Navier-Stokes equations with an eddy viscosity and linearizing it about the turbulent mean. Velocity perturbations are then generated by stochastically forcing the linear operator. The objective is to reduce the kinetic energy of these velocity perturbations at the largest scales using body forces. It is shown that a control set-up with a well-placed sensor and actuator performs comparably to either measuring the flow everywhere (while actuating it at a single wall height) or actuating the flow everywhere (while measuring it at a single wall height). This idealized configuration, therefore, can provide insight into how specific scales of turbulence are most effectively measured and actuated at low computational cost.

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This paper introduces a new methodology for estimating the wind profile within the ABL (Atmospheric Boundary Layer) using a neural network and a single-point near-ground measurement. An important advantage of this solution when compared with others available in the literature is that it only requires near surface measurements for the prognosis once the neural network is trained. Another advantage is that it can be used to study the wind profile temporal evolution. This work uses data collected by a lidar sensor located at the Universidad de León (Spain). The neural network best configuration was determined using sensibility analyses. The result is a multilayer perceptron with three layers for each altitude: the input layer has six nodes for the last three measurements, the second has 128 nodes and the third consists of two nodes that provide u and v. The proposed method has better performance than traditional methods. The obtained wind profile information obtained is useful for multiple applications, such as preliminary calculations of the wind resource or CFD models.

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The feasibility, safety, and efficiency of a drone mission in an urban environment are heavily influenced by atmospheric conditions. However, numerical meteorological models cannot cope with fine-grained grids capturing urban geometries; they are typically tuned for best resolutions ranging from 1 to 10 km. To enable urban air mobility, new now-casting techniques are being developed based on different techniques, such as data assimilation, variational analysis, machine-learning algorithms, and time series analysis. Most of these methods require generating an urban wind field database using CFD codes coupled with the mesoscale models. The quality and accuracy of that database determines the accuracy of the now-casting techniques. This review describes the latest advances in CFD simulations applied to urban wind and the alternatives that exist for the coupling with the mesoscale model. First, the distinct turbulence models are introduced, analyzing their advantages and limitations. Secondly, a study of the meshing is introduced, exploring how it has to be adapted to the characteristics of the urban environment. Then, the several alternatives for the definition of the boundary conditions and the interpolation methods for the initial conditions are described. As a key step, the available order reduction methods applicable to the models are presented, so the size and operability of the wind database can be reduced as much as possible. Finally, the data assimilation techniques and the model validation are presented.