A comprehensive investigation is carried out to establish best practice guidelines for the modelling of statistically steady-state non-neutral urban boundary layers (UBL) using largeeddy simulation (LES). These steady-state simulations enable targeted studies under realistic non-neutral conditions without the complications associated with the inherently transient nature of the UBL. An extensive set of simulations of convective and stable conditions is carried out to determine which simplifications, volumetric forcings, and boundary conditions can be applied to replicate the mean and turbulent (variance and covariance) statistics of this intrinsically transient problem most faithfully. In addition, a new method is introduced in which a transient simulation can be 'frozen' into a steady state. It is found that nonneutral simulations have different requirements to their neutral counterparts. In convective conditions, capping the boundary-layer height h with the top of the modelled domain to h/5 and h/10 (which is common practice in neutral simulations) reduces the turbulent kinetic energy by as much as 61% and 44%, respectively. Consistent with the literature, we find that domain heights l z ≥ 5|L| are necessary to reproduce the convective-boundary-layer dynamics, where L is the Obukhov length. In stably stratified situations, the use of a uniform momentum forcing systematically underestimates the mechanical generation of turbulence over the urban canopy layer, and therefore leads to misrepresentations of both the inner-and outer-layer dynamics. The new 'frozen-transient' method that is able to maintain a prescribed flow state (including entrainment at the boundary-layer top) is shown to work well in both stable and convective conditions. Guidelines are provided for future studies of the capped and uncapped convective and stable UBL.
Pollutant dispersion by a tall-building cluster within a low-rise neighbourhood of Beijing is investigated using both full-scale Large-Eddy Simulation and water flume experiments at 1:2400 model-to-full scale with Particle Image Velocimetry and Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence. The Large-Eddy Simulation and flume results of this realistic test case agree remarkably well despite differences in the inflow conditions and scale. Tall buildings have strong influence on the local flow and the development of the rooftop shear layer which dominates vertical momentum and scalar fluxes. Additional measurements using tall-buildings-only models at both 1:2400 and 1:4800 scales indicates the rooftop shear layer is insensitive to the scale. The relatively thicker incoming boundary layer affects the Reynolds stresses, the relative size of the pollutant source affects the concentration statistics and the relative laser-sheet thickness affects the spatially averaged results of the measured flow field. Low-rise buildings around the tall building cluster cause minor but non-negligible offsets in the peak magnitude and vertical location, and have a similar influence on the velocity and concentration statistics as the scale choice. These observations are generally applicable to pollutant dispersion of realistic tall building clusters in cities. The consistency between simulations and water tunnel experiments indicates the suitability of both methodologies. Graphical abstract
Abstract. Urban environments increasingly move to the fore of climate and air quality research due to their central role in the population’s health and well-being. Tools to model the local environmental conditions, urban morphology and interaction with the atmospheric boundary layer play an important role for sustainable urban planning and policy-making. uDALES is a high-resolution, building-resolving large-eddy simulation code for urban microclimate and air quality. uDALES solves a surface energy balance for each urban facet and models multi-refection shortwave radiation, longwave radiation, heat storage and conductance, as well as turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes. Vegetated surfaces and their effect on outdoor temperatures and energy demand can be studied. Furthermore a scheme to simulate emissions and transport of aerosols and some reactive gas species is present. The energy balance has been tested against idealized cases and the particle dispersion against field measurements, yielding satisfying results. uDALES can be used to study the effect of specific new constructions and building measures on the local micro-climate; or to gain new insight about the general effect of urban morphology on local climate, ventilation and dispersion. uDALES is available online under GNU General Public License and remains under maintenance and development.
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