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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05391 |
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| _version_ | 1866908544541917184 |
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| author | van Reeuwijk, Maarten Huang, Jingzi |
| author_facet | van Reeuwijk, Maarten Huang, Jingzi |
| contents | A computationally efficient multi-scale planar-averaging framework for urban areas is developed, which enables efficient computation of coarse-grained velocity and scalar fields. We apply the multi-scale framework to a large-eddy simulation of an idealised heterogeneous urban environment of 512 buildings based on a typical London height distribution. We observe that for this geometry, the characteristic urban lengthscale $\ell \approx$ 50 m, which is the averaging lengthscale L at which as much variance in the mean flow is resolved as is unresolved. For $L>400$ m, the statistics become approximately homogeneous, suggesting that non-building-resolving numerical weather prediction (NWP) models can be applied without modification at resolutions of 400 m and above for the case under consideration. We derive the multi-scale plane- and Reynolds-averaged momentum equation and show that for neutral cases, NWP models require parameterisation of the distributed drag and the unresolved turbulence and dispersive stress. An a priori analysis reveals that the drag parameterisation from Sutzl et al. 2020, Bound-Layer Meteorol., 178:225-248 holds reasonably well for resolutions $L$ above 200 m. Below this value, the problem becomes inhomogeneous and the parameterisation works less well. The unresolved stresses are well represented by a $k-ω$ closure with a value of $ω=0.4/s$. However, an even more accurate closure can be derived from the Sutzl drag parameterisation that does not require further turbulence information. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05391 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Multi-scale analysis of flow over heterogeneous urban environments van Reeuwijk, Maarten Huang, Jingzi Fluid Dynamics A computationally efficient multi-scale planar-averaging framework for urban areas is developed, which enables efficient computation of coarse-grained velocity and scalar fields. We apply the multi-scale framework to a large-eddy simulation of an idealised heterogeneous urban environment of 512 buildings based on a typical London height distribution. We observe that for this geometry, the characteristic urban lengthscale $\ell \approx$ 50 m, which is the averaging lengthscale L at which as much variance in the mean flow is resolved as is unresolved. For $L>400$ m, the statistics become approximately homogeneous, suggesting that non-building-resolving numerical weather prediction (NWP) models can be applied without modification at resolutions of 400 m and above for the case under consideration. We derive the multi-scale plane- and Reynolds-averaged momentum equation and show that for neutral cases, NWP models require parameterisation of the distributed drag and the unresolved turbulence and dispersive stress. An a priori analysis reveals that the drag parameterisation from Sutzl et al. 2020, Bound-Layer Meteorol., 178:225-248 holds reasonably well for resolutions $L$ above 200 m. Below this value, the problem becomes inhomogeneous and the parameterisation works less well. The unresolved stresses are well represented by a $k-ω$ closure with a value of $ω=0.4/s$. However, an even more accurate closure can be derived from the Sutzl drag parameterisation that does not require further turbulence information. |
| title | Multi-scale analysis of flow over heterogeneous urban environments |
| topic | Fluid Dynamics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05391 |