Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Upstream Turbulence Effect on Pollution Dispersion

  • Published:
Environmental Fluid Mechanics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to investigate turbulence at and above roof-level in an urban environment, and to predict the behaviour of street pollution from experiments using dye dispersion, for different roughness conditions and bed geometries. The flow in the boundary layer above an idealised urban environment has been simulated in a laboratory water flume. Comparisons have been made for the same model street canyon with and without the presence of upstream roughness. In the tests reported here, model street canyons were aligned perpendicular to the flow direction, and velocity measurements made within and above the model street canyons using a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV). Flow visualisation techniques have also been used to confirm the gross flow features from streak images. Turbulence generated from the upstream roughness has a significant effect on the turbulence production and dispersion behaviour of the dye simulating pollution in street canyons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

B u :

height of upstream slat of the immediate large scale roughness

B d :

height of downstream slat of the immediate large scale roughness

D :

flow depth in the water flume

H :

hyperbolic hole

H u :

height of upstream slat of the model street canyon

H d :

height of tall downstream slat of the model street canyon

k :

roughness element height

P u :

gap distance between immediate large scale roughness slats

P d :

gap distance between roughness slats of immediate large scale roughness and model street canyon

s :

gap distance between the roughness slats of model street canyon

U(=u+u′):

instantaneous stream wise velocity

u′:

fluctuating stream wise velocity component

\(\sqrt{\overline{u^{\prime2}}}\) :

root mean square value for U

u :

local mean stream wise velocity

u * :

bed shear velocity

W(=w+w′):

instantaneous vertical velocity

w′:

fluctuating vertical velocity component

\(\sqrt{\overline{w^{\prime2}}} \) :

root mean square value for W

w :

local mean vertical velocity

z′:

vertical distance from the roof level of roughness element for various positions where LDV measurements were made

z′′:

vertical distance from the wall to the roof level of the roughness element for various positions where LDV measurements were made

z o :

roughness length scale

z :

vertical distance from the effective origin of mean velocity profile

\(-\rho\overline{{u}'w^{\prime}}\) :

Reynolds stress

χ:

stream wise position at roof-level between the roughness elements

ɛ:

origin correction shift

References

  1. InstitutionalAuthorNameQUARG (1993) Urban Air Quality in the United Kingdom, First Report of the Quality of Urban Air Review Group Department of Environment Department U.K.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hutchinson, D. and Clewley, L.: 1996, West Midlands Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, London Research Centre, 81 Black Prince Road, London SE1 7SZ, UK.

  3. T.R. Oke (1987) ArticleTitleStreet design and urban canopy layer climate Energy Bldg. 11 103–111

    Google Scholar 

  4. R.N. Meroney M. Pavagaeu S. Rafaildis M. Schatzmann (1996) ArticleTitleStudy of line source characteristics for 2-D physical modelling of pollutant dispersion in street canyons J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodynamics 62 37–56

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. Berkowicz F. Palmgren O. Hertl E. Vignatli (1996) ArticleTitleUsing measurements of air pollution in streets for evaluation of urban air quality-meterological analysis and model calculations Sci. Total Environ. 189/190 259–265 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK28XmtV2gtbY%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. F. Gerdes D. Olivari (1999) ArticleTitleAnalysis of pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodynamics 82 105–124

    Google Scholar 

  7. L.Y. Chan W.S. Kwok (2000) ArticleTitleVertical dispersion of suspended particulates in urban area of Hong Kong Atmos. Environ. 34 4403–4412 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXlsVOktbg%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. M. Jicha J. Pospilsil J. Katolicky (2000) ArticleTitleDispersion of pollutants in street canyon under traffic induced flow and turbulence Environ. Monitor. Assessment 65 343–351 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXlt1elsg%3D%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. J. Xia Y.C. Leung (2001) ArticleTitlePollutant dispersion in urban street canopies Atmos. Environ. 35 2033–2043 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXhslOgsLg%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. J. Xia Y.C. Leung (2001) ArticleTitleA concentration correction scheme for Lagrangian particle model and its application in street canyon air dispersion modeling Atmos. Environ. 35 5779–5788 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXosVGjt7s%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. A.T. Chan S.P. So S.C. Samand (2001) ArticleTitleStrategic guide lines for street canyon geometry to achieve sustainable street air quality Atmos. Environ. 35 IssueID24 4089–4098 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00212-6 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXkvVeitbs%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. F. Caton R.E. Britter S. Dalziel (2003) ArticleTitleDispersion mechanisms in a street canyon Atmos. Environ. 37 693–702 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00830-0 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXosVSlt74%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. P. Kastner-Klein E. Fedorovich M. Ketzel R. Berkowicz R. Britter (2003) ArticleTitleThe modelling of turbulence from traffic in urban dispersion models – part II: Evaluation against laboratory and full-scale concentration measurements in street canyons Environ. Fluid Mech. 3 145–172 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1022049224166 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXlt1agsw%3D%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. A.J. Grass (1971) ArticleTitleStructural features of turbulent flow over smooth and rough boundaries J. Fluid Mech. 50 233–255

    Google Scholar 

  15. H.A. Panofsky J.A. Dutton (1983) Atmospheric Turbulence Wiley New York

    Google Scholar 

  16. F.H. Clauser (1954) ArticleTitleTurbulent boundary layers in adverse pressure gradients J. Aeronautical Sci. 21 91

    Google Scholar 

  17. A.E. Perry P.N. Joubert (1963) ArticleTitleRough-wall boundary layers in adverse pressure gradients J. Fluid Mech. 17 193–211

    Google Scholar 

  18. Laufer J.: 1951. Some Recent Measurements in a Two Dimensional Turbulent Channel, N.A.C.A. Report No. 1033.

  19. Grass, A.J.: 1967, Boundary Layer Turbulence in Open Channel Flow, Ph.D. Research Thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College London.

  20. N. Rajaratnam D. Muralidhar (1969) ArticleTitleBoundary shear stress distribution in rectangular open channels La Houille Blanche 6 603–609

    Google Scholar 

  21. Steffler, P.M., Rajaratnam, N. and Peterson, A.W.: 1983, LDV Measurements of Mean Velocity and Turbulence Distribution in a Smooth Rectangular Open Channel, Water Resources Engineering Report, WRE 84-4, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Alberta.

  22. A.H. Cardoso W.H. Graf G. Gust (1989) ArticleTitleUniform flow in a smooth open channel J. Hydraulic Res. 27 IssueID5 603–615

    Google Scholar 

  23. I. Nezu W. Rodi (1986) ArticleTitleOpen channel flow measurements with a Laser Doppler Anemometer J. Hydraulic Eng. ASCE 112 IssueID5 335–355

    Google Scholar 

  24. Z. Dong Y. Ding (1990) ArticleTitleTurbulence characteristics in smooth bed open channel flows Sci. China (Series A) 33 IssueID2 244–256

    Google Scholar 

  25. Theurer W. 1993. Dispersion of Ground-Level Emissions in Complex Built-Up Areas, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Karlsuhe.

  26. W.H. Snyder (1972) ArticleTitleSimilarity criteria for the application of fluid models to the study of air pollution meteorology Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 3 113 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00769111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Townsend (1976) The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow EditionNumber2 Cambridge University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  28. J.F. Sini S. Anquetin P.G. Mestayer (1996) ArticleTitlePollutant dispersion and thermal effects in urban street canyons Atmos. Environ. 33 4057–4066

    Google Scholar 

  29. H. Huang Y. Akutsu M. Arai M. Tamura (2000) ArticleTitleA two dimensional air quality model in an urban street canyon: evaluation and sensitivity analysis Atmos. Environ. 36 IssueID7 1137–1145

    Google Scholar 

  30. Khan, M.I.: 2004, The Influence of Two-Dimensional Bed Roughness on the Flow Structure of a Turbulent Boundary Layer, Ph.D. Research Thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College London.

  31. S.S. Lu W.W. Willmarth (1973) ArticleTitleMeasurements of the structure of the Reynolds stresses in a turbulent boundary J. Fluid Mech. 60 481–571

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Ijaz M. Khan

  2. Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Richard R. Simons & Anthony J. Grass

Authors
  1. Ijaz M. Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard R. Simons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anthony J. Grass
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ijaz M. Khan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Khan, I.M., Simons, R.R. & Grass, A.J. Upstream Turbulence Effect on Pollution Dispersion. Environ Fluid Mech 5, 393–413 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-005-2932-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-005-2932-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation