Large-eddy simulation of thermally stratified forest canopy flow for wind energy studies purposes

A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) code using Lagrangian Dynamic Smagorinsky subgrid models was developed for the simulation of atmospheric stratified flows over topography for wind energy assessment purposes. In this article, the code, which uses separated dynamic procedures for the calculation of eddy diffusivities of momentum and heat, was used to simulate horizontally homogeneous flow in forest canopies, for both unstable and stable regimes. The results were in good agreement with both numerical and experimental results for stable stratified wind regimes but, as far as unstable regimes are concerned, there are still unresolved issues to be addressed.