Large-eddy simulation of approaching-flow stratification on dispersion over arrays of buildings

The study investigates thermal stratification effects of approach flows on dispersion in urban environments. This is in some ways analogous to a well-developed non-neutral flow (e.g. through a large urban area) approaching a neighbourhood-scale urban region, where the effect of the local heat transfer was assumed less important. A generic urban-type geometry, i.e. a group of staggered cubes, was taken as the first test case. The DAPPLE site, which was about a one-km2 region near the intersection of Marylebone Road and Gloucester Place in central London, was taken as the second test case. Only weakly unstable conditions (i.e. bulk Richardson number Rb≥−0.2Rb≥−0.2) of approach flows were considered, with adiabatic boundary conditions at the ground and building surfaces. A number of numerical experiments were performed. The modelled mean concentration for Rb = −0.1 gave the best agreement with the field data at all DAPPLE stations. This suggests that stratification effects on dispersion in weakly unstable conditions (e.g. in London) are not negligible.

► Effect on flows of weakly unstable conditions is greater than that of weakly stable. ► Concentration can be one order different under different stratification conditions. ► Effect of weakly unstable stratification on dispersion is not negligible.