Physical Modeling of Snow Drift and Wind Pressure Distribution at the Proposed German Antarctic Station Neumayer III

Abstract

Snow drift performance and wind pressure distribution was studied at scaled wind tunnel models of the new Antarctic research station Neumayer III. One objective of the project was to identify possible problems due to wind driven erosion and accumulation of snow around the station body to be constructed on the Antarctic shelf ice. Based on systematic wind tunnel testing including flow visualization experiments, wall shear stress visualization, flow measurements and physical modeling of wind erosion and snow drift, a comprehensive insight into the complex flow phenomena around the station was gained. In a second set of wind tunnel tests, wind pressure distributions were measured for the final station design in order to assist the structural design process. Both, snow drift modeling as well as the wind flow and wind pressure measurements at the station delivered relevant information integrated into the design process and the operational advice of the station.

Influence of snow properties, air flow and design on structure-borne snowdrifts at Neumayer Station III

“…Compared to the stair-free simulations (STRUCT2.1), the snow deposits into two clear zones on the lee side in all the other simulations (A, B). The STRUCT2.1 simulations look qualitatively similar to the wind-tunnel experiments obtained by Leitl et al (2006),…”

“…Some erosion streaks emerging from the pillars are visible in both simulations. They were also observed in wind-tunnel experiments around Neumayer station conducted byLeitl et al (2006). The symmetry boundary conditions in our numerical simulations enforce parallel flow (Section 3.2.3) and act similarly to wind-tunnel walls.…”

“…Besides ground-to-building height, observations combined with wind-tunnel experiments have highlighted the importance of the building staircase on the snow accumulation at Neumayer III. Results obtained from wind-tunnel experiments without a staircase (Leitl et al, 2006) turned out to be very different from the real snowdrift conditions at the station with stairs. Thus, the presence (or not) of a staircase structure is expected to have a strong influence on the snow distribution patterns around the station.…”

“…Moreover, various authors (e.g. Tominaga et al (2011); Leitl et al (2006)) showed the importance of the shape of buildings on snow accumulation. In particular, rounded windward corners of obstacles have shown to mitigate snow deposition (Melbourne & Styles, 1969).…”

“…Figure 1 Complex dynamical processes caused by travelling cyclones and katabatic winds give rise to large variations in wind speed and wind direction (Kottmeier & Fay, 1998). For the design plan of Neumayer Station III, an extensive study on the aerodynamic behavior of the building was carried out by Leitl et al (2006). Snowdrift and wind pressure distributions were studied for various configurations using scaled wind tunnel models.…”