IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i18p4688-d410824.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Validating CFD Predictions of Flow over an Escarpment Using Ground-Based and Airborne Measurement Devices

Author

Listed:
  • Asmae El Bahlouli

    (Faculty of Building Services, Energy and Environment, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, 73728 Esslingen, Germany)

  • Daniel Leukauf

    (Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 82467 Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany)

  • Andreas Platis

    (Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tubingen, Germany)

  • Kjell zum Berge

    (Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tubingen, Germany)

  • Jens Bange

    (Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tubingen, Germany)

  • Hermann Knaus

    (Faculty of Building Services, Energy and Environment, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, 73728 Esslingen, Germany)

Abstract

Micrometeorological observations from a tower, an eddy-covariance (EC) station and an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at the WINSENT test-site are used to validate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, driven by a mesoscale model. The observation site is characterised by a forested escarpment in a complex terrain. A two-day measurement campaign with a flow almost perpendicular to the escarpment is analysed. The first day is dominated by high wind speeds, while, on the second one, calm wind conditions are present. Despite some minor differences, the flow structure, analysed in terms of horizontal wind speeds, wind direction and inclination angles shows similarities for both days. A real-time strategy is used for the CFD validation with the UAS measurement, where the model follows spatially and temporally the aircraft. This strategy has proved to be successful. Stability indices such as the potential temperature and the bulk Richardson number are calculated to diagnose atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) characteristics up to the highest flight level. The calculated bulk Richardson values indicate a dynamically unstable region behind the escarpment and near the ground for both days. At higher altitudes, the ABL is returning to a near neutral state. The same characteristics are found in the model but only for the first day. The second day, where shear instabilities are more dominant, is not well simulated. UAS proves its great value for sensing the flow over complex terrains at high altitudes and we demonstrate the usefulness of UAS for validating and improving models.

Suggested Citation

  • Asmae El Bahlouli & Daniel Leukauf & Andreas Platis & Kjell zum Berge & Jens Bange & Hermann Knaus, 2020. "Validating CFD Predictions of Flow over an Escarpment Using Ground-Based and Airborne Measurement Devices," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:18:p:4688-:d:410824
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4688/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4688/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wildmann, Norman & Bernard, Sarah & Bange, Jens, 2017. "Measuring the local wind field at an escarpment using small remotely-piloted aircraft," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 613-619.
    2. Asmae El Bahlouli & Alexander Rautenberg & Martin Schön & Kjell zum Berge & Jens Bange & Hermann Knaus, 2019. "Comparison of CFD Simulation to UAS Measurements for Wind Flows in Complex Terrain: Application to the WINSENT Test Site," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Demetri Bouris & Athanasios G. Triantafyllou & Athina Krestou & Elena Leivaditou & John Skordas & Efstathios Konstantinidis & Anastasios Kopanidis & Qing Wang, 2021. "Urban-Scale Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations with Boundary Conditions from Similarity Theory and a Mesoscale Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asmae El Bahlouli & Alexander Rautenberg & Martin Schön & Kjell zum Berge & Jens Bange & Hermann Knaus, 2019. "Comparison of CFD Simulation to UAS Measurements for Wind Flows in Complex Terrain: Application to the WINSENT Test Site," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Takanori Uchida & Kenichiro Sugitani, 2020. "Numerical and Experimental Study of Topographic Speed-Up Effects in Complex Terrain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-38, July.
    3. Takanori Uchida, 2019. "Numerical Investigation of Terrain-Induced Turbulence in Complex Terrain Using High-Resolution Elevation Data and Surface Roughness Data Constructed with a Drone," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:18:p:4688-:d:410824. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.