Grant, ER, Ross, AN orcid.org/0000-0002-8631-3512 and Gardiner, BA (2016) Modelling Canopy Flows over Complex Terrain. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 161 (3). pp. 417-437. ISSN 0006-8314
Abstract
Recent studies of flow over forested hills have been motivated by a number of important applications including understanding CO22 and other gaseous fluxes over forests in complex terrain, predicting wind damage to trees, and modelling wind energy potential at forested sites. Current modelling studies have focussed almost exclusively on highly idealized, and usually fully forested, hills. Here, we present model results for a site on the Isle of Arran, Scotland with complex terrain and heterogeneous forest canopy. The model uses an explicit representation of the canopy and a 1.5-order turbulence closure for flow within and above the canopy. The validity of the closure scheme is assessed using turbulence data from a field experiment before comparing predictions of the full model with field observations. For near-neutral stability, the results compare well with the observations, showing that such a relatively simple canopy model can accurately reproduce the flow patterns observed over complex terrain and realistic, variable forest cover, while at the same time remaining computationally feasible for real case studies. The model allows closer examination of the flow separation observed over complex forested terrain. Comparisons with model simulations using a roughness length parametrization show significant differences, particularly with respect to flow separation, highlighting the need to explicitly model the forest canopy if detailed predictions of near-surface flow around forests are required.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Boundary-Layer Meteorol. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0176-3. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Complex terrain; First-order mixing-length closure; Flow separation; Forest canopy; Numerical modelling |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/C003691/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2016 11:13 |
Last Modified: | 17 Jul 2017 15:54 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0176-3 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10546-016-0176-3 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:100409 |