Detailed Simulations of Atmospheric Flow and Dispersion in Urban Downtown Areas by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Models - An Application of Five CFD Models to Manhattan
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model simulations of urban boundary layers have improved so that they are useful in many types of flow and dispersion analyses. The study described here is intended to assist in planning emergency response activities related to releases of chemical or biological agents into the atmosphere in large cities such as New York City. Five CFD models (CFD-Urban, FLACS, FEM3MP, FEFLO-Urban, and Fluent-Urban) have been applied by five independent groups to the same 3-D building data and geographic domain in Manhattan, using approximately the same wind input conditions. Wind flow observations are available from the Madison Square Garden March 2005 (MSG05) field experiment. It is seen from the many side-by-side comparison plots that the CFD models simulations of near-surface wind fields generally agree with each other and with field observations, within typical atmospheric uncertainties of a factor of two. The qualitative results shown here suggest, for example, that transport of a release at street level in a large city could reach a few blocks in the upwind and crosswind directions. There are still key differences seen among the models for certain parts of the domain. Further quantitative examinations of differences among the models and the observations are necessary to understand causal relationships.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 899450
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-219591; TRN: US200708%%300
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 87, no. 12, December 30, 2006, pp. 1713-1726, Journal Name: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 87, no. 12, December 30, 2006, pp. 1713-1726
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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