Application of exceedance probability based on wind kinetic energy to evaluate the pedestrian level wind in dense urban areas

In the present study, assessment of wind environment within the pedestrian level domains of highly populated areas is carried out. Three typical models of a dense urban area are considered and numerically simulated in order to examine the effects of the geometry of such models on wind flow characteristics within the pedestrian domain of a street canyon located within this area. The calculated flow fields are employed to estimate the exceedance probabilities within the study domain using a new approach: average wind kinetic energy. The study is applied to Tokyo, Japan; based on its mean wind velocity data. The results demonstrate that the exceedance probability analysis of the pedestrian wind environment could be a valuable tool for assessing urban areas. Also, the calculated probabilities demonstrate substantial dependence on both the geometry of building arrays and the wind conditions of the considered domain.

► We assess wind environment of a pedestrian level domains of highly populated areas.
► Three models of a dense area are considered and numerically simulated to examine the effects of the models geometry on wind flow characteristics.
► The calculated flow fields are employed to estimate the exceedance probabilities using a new approach; kinetic energy.
► The study is applied to Tokyo, Japan; based on its mean wind velocity data.