Evaluation of the dynamic core of the PALM model system 6.0 in a neutrally stratified urban environment: comparison between LES and wind-tunnel experiments

We demonstrate the capability of the PALM model system version 6.0 to simulate neutrally stratified urban boundary layers. Our simulation uses the real-world building configuration of the HafenCity area in Hamburg, Germany. Using PALM's virtual measurement module, we compare simulation results to wind-tunnel measurements of a downscaled replica of the study area. Wind-tunnel measurements of mean wind speed agree within 5 % on average while the wind direction deviates by approximately 4∘. Turbulence statistics similarly agree. However, larger differences between measurements and simulation arise in the vicinity of surfaces where building geometry is insufficiently resolved. We discuss how to minimize these differences by improving the grid layout and give tips for setup preparation. Also, we discuss how existing and upcoming features of PALM like the grid nesting and immersed boundary condition help improve the simulation results.

Modelling Airport Pollutants Dispersion at High Resolution

Local air quality is a major concern for the population regularly exposed to high levels of air pollution. The airport, mainly due to its aircraft engines activities during taxiing and take off, is often submitted to heterogeneous but important concentrations of NOx and PM. The study suggests an innovative approach to determine the air traffic impact on air quality at the scale of the airport, its runways and terminals, in order to be able to locate the persistent high concentrations spots. The pollutants concentrations at 10 m resolution and 1 s time step are calculated in order to identify the most affected areas of an airport platform. A real day of air traffic on a regional airport is simulated, using real data as aircraft trajectories (from radar streams). In order to estimate the aircraft emissions, the Air Transport Systems Evaluation Infrastructure (IESTA) is used. Regarding local air quality, IESTA relies on the non-hydrostatic meso-scale atmospheric model Meso-NH using grid-nesting capabilities with 3 domains, for this study. The detailed cartography of the airport distinguishes between grassland, parking and terminals, allowing to compute exchanges of heat, water and momentum between the different types of surfaces and the atmosphere as well as the interactions with the building using a drag force. The dynamic parameters like wind, temperature, turbulent kinetic energy and pollutants concentration are computed at 10 m resolution over the 2 × 4 km airport domain. The pollutants are considered in this preliminary study as passive tracers, without chemical reactions. This preliminary study aims at proving the feasibility of high scale modelling over an airport with state of the art physical models.

A New Vertical Grid Nesting Capability in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model

Mesoscale atmospheric models are increasingly used for high-resolution (<3 km) simulations to better resolve smaller-scale flow details. Increased resolution is achieved using mesh refinement via grid nesting, a procedure where multiple computational domains are integrated either concurrently or in series. A constraint in the concurrent nesting framework offered by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model is that mesh refinement is restricted to the horizontal dimensions. This limitation prevents control of the grid aspect ratio, leading to numerical errors due to poor grid quality and preventing grid optimization. Herein, a procedure permitting vertical nesting for one-way concurrent simulation is developed and validated through idealized cases. The benefits of vertical nesting are demonstrated using both mesoscale and large-eddy simulations (LES). Mesoscale simulations of the Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) show that vertical grid nesting can alleviate numerical errors due to large aspect ratios on coarse grids, while allowing for higher vertical resolution on fine grids. Furthermore, the coarsening of the parent domain does not result in a significant loss of accuracy on the nested domain. LES of neutral boundary layer flow shows that, by permitting optimal grid aspect ratios on both parent and nested domains, use of vertical nesting yields improved agreement with the theoretical logarithmic velocity profile on both domains. Vertical grid nesting in WRF opens the path forward for multiscale simulations, allowing more accurate simulations spanning a wider range of scales than previously possible.

Tide assessment for the continental shelf situated in the southwestern Atlantic between the latitudes 19.8ºS and 21.2ºS

The astronomical tide was numerically simulated by the MOHID model for the South-Central Region of Espírito Santo State (Brazil), between latitudes 19.8ºS and 21.2ºS. The grid nesting technique was used to transpose the boundary conditions from the larger domain to a more refined local domain (spatial resolution around 450 m), with tidal harmonics provided by the TPXO tide inverse model as boundary conditions for the larger domain. Results from the numerical model were compared with both the pre-existing tide harmonics and the harmonics calculated from measured data. From the maps of phase, amplitude, tidal ellipses and residual currents the main tidal kinematic characteristics in the study area were described. On the continental shelf, the results showed that the physiography and bathymetry of the region play an important role in the distribution of tidal co-phases, co-amplitudes, ellipses and residual currents. The MOHID model was able to reproduce satisfactorily the astronomical tide and thus can be used to study the behaviour of the tidal propagation in continental shelf areas.

Une simulation des interactions ville-atmosphère à différentes échelles : application sur Strasbourg

Plusieurs modèles météorologiques ont été utilisés pour simuler les interactions ville-atmosphère à différentes échelles. Cette chaîne de simulation implique l’utilisation de réanalyses globales d’une résolution de 16 km comme données de forçage météorologique. Ce forçage est utilisé pour contraindre un modèle de méso-échelle qui permet d’atteindre une résolution de 250 m sur la ville grâce à la technique du grid-nesting. Finalement les champs du modèle à 250 m ont été utilisés comme forçage météorologique pour un modèle de simulation de canopée urbaine en 3D qui fonctionne avec une résolution de quelques mètres. Les outils utilisés pour atteindre cet objectif sont : les réanalyses du CEPMMT, le modèle Méso-NH & SURFEX (de Météo-France et du Laboratoire d’Aérologie) et le modèle de canopée urbaine LASER/F (Icube). Une simulation a été réalisée sur Strasbourg pour tester cette chaîne sur une période qui va du 13 au 17 août 2002. Les validations montrent que les processus de surface et atmosphériques simulés par Méso-NH & SURFEX pour la résolution de 250 m sont en accord avec les mesures de terrain. Pour s’assurer que le modèle de canopée urbaine en 3D s’intègre bien dans la chaîne de simulation, ses résultats sont comparés à ceux de SURFEX pour un quartier. Les analyses montrent que les résultats obtenus par ce modèle sont en accord avec ceux de SURFEX. L’introduction de la géométrie réelle du quartier en 3D permet même un gain appréciable pour certaines variables. Vu la cohérence des résultats obtenus, l’adjonction du modèle de canopée urbaine se justifie dans cette chaîne. Et ceci d’autant plus que ce type de modèle permet l’accès à de nouvelles informations avec un haut niveau de détails.

Integer Programming Formulations for Approximate Packing Circles in a Rectangular Container

A problem of packing a limited number of unequal circles in a fixed size rectangular container is considered. The aim is to maximize the (weighted) number of circles placed into the container or minimize the waste. This problem has numerous applications in logistics, including production and packing for the textile, apparel, naval, automobile, aerospace, and food industries. Frequently the problem is formulated as a nonconvex continuous optimization problem which is solved by heuristic techniques combined with local search procedures. New formulations are proposed for approximate solution of packing problem. The container is approximated by a regular grid and the nodes of the grid are considered as potential positions for assigning centers of the circles. The packing problem is then stated as a large scale linear 0-1 optimization problem. The binary variables represent the assignment of centers to the nodes of the grid. Nesting circles inside one another is also considered. The resulting binary problem is then solved by commercial software. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach and compared with known results.