Wind-tunnel simulation of the thermally stratified atmospheric boundary layer in complex terrain

Abstract

Some characteristics of thermal effects in wind-tunnel simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow developing above hill terrain are discussed in the paper. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis and its numerical validation of the convective ABL developing above the heated hill obstacle are presented. The differences and instable stratification effects between the windward and leeward sides of a hill model were investigated for different wind characteristics. Particularly, the buoyancy effects on the structure of the ABL simulation in a wide range of stability conditions expressed by Richardson number are studied. The stratification was modeled in the Vincenc Strouhal climatic wind tunnel of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Science.