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Ventilation Processes in a Three-Dimensional Street Canyon

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Abstract

The ventilation processes in three different street canyons of variable roof geometry were investigated in a wind tunnel using a ground-level line source. All three street canyons were part of an urban-type array formed by courtyard-type buildings with pitched roofs. A constant roof height was used in the first case, while a variable roof height along the leeward or windward walls was simulated in the two other cases. All street-canyon models were exposed to a neutrally stratified flow with two approaching wind directions, perpendicular and oblique. The complexity of the flow and dispersion within the canyons of variable roof height was demonstrated for both wind directions. The relative pollutant removals and spatially-averaged concentrations within the canyons revealed that the model with constant roof height has higher re-emissions than models with variable roof heights. The nomenclature for the ventilation processes according to quadrant analysis of the pollutant flux was introduced. The venting of polluted air (positive fluctuations of both concentration and velocity) from the canyon increased when the wind direction changed from perpendicular to oblique, irrespective of the studied canyon model. Strong correlations (\(>\)0.5) between coherent structures and ventilation processes were found at roof level, irrespective of the canyon model and wind direction. This supports the idea that sweep and ejection events of momentum bring clean air in and detrain the polluted air from the street canyon, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Charles University in Prague (project GAUK No. 535412), the Czech Science Foundation GACR (project GAP101/12/1554 and GAP15-18964S) and the institutional support RVO: 61388998.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS, v. v. i., Dolejškova 1402/5, Prague, Czech Republic

    Štěpán Nosek, Radka Kellnerová, Klára Jurčáková & Zbyněk Jaňour

  2. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Meteorology and Environment Protection, Charles University in Prague, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague, Czech Republic

    Libor Kukačka

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  1. Štěpán Nosek
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Correspondence to Štěpán Nosek.

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Nosek, Š., Kukačka, L., Kellnerová, R. et al. Ventilation Processes in a Three-Dimensional Street Canyon. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 159, 259–284 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0132-2

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