A Laboratory Model for the Flow in Urban Street Canyons Induced by Bottom Heating

Water tank experiments are carried out to investigate the convection flow induced by bottom heating and the effects of the ambient wind on the flow in non-symmetrical urban street canyons based on the PIV (Particle Image Visualization) technique. Fluid experiments show that with calm ambient wind, the flows in the street canyon are completely driven by thermal force, and the convection can reach the upper atmosphere of the street canyon. Horizontal and vertical motions also appear above the roofs of the buildings. These are the conditions which favor the exchange of momentum and air mass between the street canyon and its environment. More than two vortices are induced by the convection, and the complex circulation pattern will vary with time in a wider street canyon. However, in a narrow street canyon, just one vortex appears. With a light ambient wind, the bottom heating and the associated convection result in just one main vortex. As the ambient wind speed increases, the vortex becomes more organized and its center shifts closer to the leeward building.

Pollution Dispersion in Urban Street Canyons with Green Belts

In this study,numerical simulations were used to explore the effects of roadside green belt,urban street spatial layout,and wind speed on vehicle exhaust emission diffusion in street canyon.The diffusion of different sized particles in the street canyon and the influence of wind speed were investigated.The individual daily average pollutant intake was used to evaluate the exposure level in a street canyon microenvironment.The central and leeward green belts of the road were the most conducive to the diffusion of pollutants,while the positioning of the green belts both sides of a road was least conducive to the diffusion of pollutants.Pollutant levels increased with increasing canopy height,canopy width,and decreasing tree spacing,with optimal values of 12 m,7 m,and 0.4 H,respectively.This provides protection from pollution for low-rise residents and pedestrians.The results presented here can be used to improve the air quality of the street microenvironment and provide a basis for the renovation of old street buildings.

Effects of Street-Bottom and Building-Roof Heating on Flow in Three-Dimensional Street Canyons

Using a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） model, the effects of street-bottom and building-roof heating on flow in three-dimensional street canyons are investigated. The building and street-canyon aspect ratios are one. In the presence of street-bottom heating, as the street-bottom heating intensity increases, the mean kinetic energy increases in the spanwise street canyon formed by the upwind and downwind buildings but decreases in the lower region of the streamwise street canyon. The increase in momentum due to buoyancy force intensifies mechanically induced flow in the spanwise street canyon. The vorticity in the spanwise street canyon strengthens. The temperature increase is not large because relatively cold above-roof-level air comes into the spanwise street canyon. In the presence of both street-bottom and building-roof heating, the mean kinetic energy rather decreases in the spanwise street canyon. This is caused by the decrease in horizontal flow speed at the roof level, which results in the weakening of the mean flow circulation in the spanwise street canyon. It is found that the vorticity in the spanwise street canyon weakens. The temperature increase is relatively large compared with that in the street-bottom heating case, because relatively warm above-roof-level air comes into the spanwise street canyon.

Numerical Study on the Impact of Ground Heating and Ambient Wind Speed on Flow Fields in Street Canyons

The impact of ground heating on flow fields in street canyons under different ambient wind speed conditions was studied based on numerical methods. A series of numerical tests were performed, and three factors including height-to-width （H/W） ratio, ambient wind speed and ground heating intensity were taken into account. Three types of street canyon with H/W ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0, respectively, were used in the simulation and seven speed values ranging from 0.0 to 3.0 m s-1 were set for the ambient wind speed. The ground heating intensity, which was defined as the difference b-ween the ground temperature and air temperature, ranged from 10 to 40 K with an increase of 10 K in the tests. The results showed that under calm conditions, ground heating could induce circulation with a wind speed of around 1.0 m s-i, which is enough to disperse pollutants in a street canyon. It was also found that an ambient wind speed threshold may exist for street canyons with a fixed H/W ratio. When ambient wind speed was lower than the threshold identified in this study, the impact of the thermal effect on the flow field was obvious, and there existed a multi-vortex flow pattern in the street canyon. When the ambient wind speed was higher than the threshold, the circulation pattern was basically determined by dynamic effects. The tests on the impact of heating intensity showed that a higher ground heating intensity could strengthen the vortical flow within the street canyon, which would help improve pollutant diffusion capability in street canyons.

Numerical and Experimental Studies on Flow and Pollutant Dispersion in Urban Street Canyons

In this study numerical simulations and water tank experiments were used to investigate the flow and pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon. Two types of canyon geometry were tested. The studies indicate that in a step-up notch canyon （higher buildings on the downstream side of the canyon）, the height and shape of the upstream lower buildings plays an important role in flow pattern and pollutant dispersion, while in a step-down notch canyon （lower buildings on the downstream side）, the downstream lower buildings have little influence. The studies also show that the substitution of tall towers for parailelepiped buildings on one side of the canyon may enhance the street ventilation and decrease the pollutant concentration emitted by motor vehicles.

Coupling Relationship Between Summer Microclimate and Spatial Layout of Street Canyons in the White Stupa Temple Area of Beijing

With the rapid urbanization, many high-rise buildings and new districts have been built continuously. However, the old town of cities has gradually been forgotten by people and its environment is becoming increasingly harsh. The old town usually has diversified space and function. As an important part of the old town, the street canyon that is closely related to human settlements is a public space where people communicate and do activities. Therefore, research on microclimate-based improvement of the street canyon in the old town is of great significance. Six typical street canyons in the White Stupa Temple area of Beijing were selected for research to explore spatial characteristics of the street canyon. Microclimate factors such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation were measured on the spot in summer. These factors were combined with two microclimate assessment indexes of physiological equivalent temperature(PET) and wet bulb globe temperature(WBGT) to evaluate the microclimate of the street canyon. In the analysis of the measured data, the mean value comparison method was used to analyze the average values of the microclimate factors in different time periods. Spatial layout of microclimate included the orientation of the canyon, the ratio of the canyon height to canyon width, and green coverage of the canyon, and an in-depth study was made on the coupling relationship between the spatial layout and the microclimate of the canyon. Research results can provide an optimization strategy for the transformation design of the street canyon in White Stupa Temple area, and provide a scientific reference for the research on spatial layout and microclimate improvement in the old town, so as to improve the living quality of residents in the old town.

NUMERICAL STUDIES ON AIRFLOW AND POLLUTANT DISPERSION IN URBAN STREET CANYONS FORMED BY SLANTED ROOF BUILDINGS

Based on the CFD technique, fifteen cases were evaluated for the airflows and pollutant dispersions inside urban street canyons formed by slanted roof buildings. The simulated wind fields and concentration contours show that W/H, W/h and h/H （where W is the street width, and Hand h are the heights of buildings at the leeward and windward sides of the street, respectively） are the crucial factors in determining the vortex structure and pollutant distribution within a canyon. It is concluded that （1） in a symmetrical canyon, at W/H =0.5 two vortices （an upper clockwise vortex between the slanted roofs and a lower counter-clockwise one） are developed and pollutants accumulate on the windward side of the street, whereas at w/H=2.0 only one clockwise vortex is generated and thus pollution piles up on the leeward side, （2） in a step-up canyon with W/H=0.5 to 2.0 （at h/H =1.5 to 2.0）and a step-down canyon with W/h=1.0 （at h/H =0.5 to 0.667）, the pollution level close to the lower building is higher than that close to the taller building since a clockwise vortex is generated in the step-up canyon and a counter-clockwise one in the step-down canyon, （3） in a narrow step-down canyon with W/h=0.5 （at h/H =0.667） very poor ventilation properties is detected, and inside a wider step-down canyon with W/h=2.0 the vortex structure and consequently pollutant distribution varies greatly with h/H.

Outdoor thermal comfort: Analyzing the impact of urban configurations on the thermal performance of street canyons in the humid subtropical climate of Sydney

The quality of outdoor space is becoming increasingly important with the growing rate of urbanization.Visual,acoustic,and thermal balance degradation are all negative impacts associated with outdoor comfort in dense urban fabrics.Urban morphology thus needs assessment and optimization to ensure favorable outdoor thermal comfort(OTC).This study aims to evaluate the thermal performance of streets in residential zones of Liverpool,NSW,Australia,and tries to improve their comfort index(Physiological Equivalent Temperature)to reveal optimum urban configurations.This evaluation is done by investigating the following urban design factors affecting OTC using computational simulation techniques:street orientation,aspect ratio,building typology,and surface coverage.Our findings reveal that street canyon orientation is the most influential factor(46.42%),followed by aspect ratio(30.59%).Among the influential meteorological parameters(air temperature,wind speed,humidity and solar radiation),wind velocity had the most significant impact on the thermal comfort of the outdoor spaces in this coastal region,which typically experiences intense airflow.The results of our analysis can be utilized by multiple stakeholders,allowing them to understand and extract the most vital design factors which contextually influence the thermal comfort of outdoor spaces.Outdoor thermal comfort has a direct effect on the health and wellbeing of occupants of outdoor spaces.

Numerical Investigation of the Impact of Different Configurations and Aspect Ratios on Dense Gas Dispersion in Urban Street Canyons

The dispersion of chlorine gas in urban street canyons was numerically simulated using the fire dynamics simulator, a code developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of USA, which uses large eddy simulation coupled with the Smagorinsky sub-grid scale model. The unsteady flow fields were computed by solving the filtered incompressible Navier-Stokes equations under low Mach number approximation by the finite difference method. The studies analyzed the influence of different street canyon configurations and aspect ratios on the flow and chlorine gas dispersion. The geometric configuration and aspect ratio both affect the vortices and the local concentration distributions in street canyons.

Modeling the impact of the viaduct on particles dispersion from vehicle exhaust in street canyons

In this paper, the impact of the viaduct on flow and traffic exhausting particles dispersion within urban street canyons was numerically simulated using a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） model. Two-dimensional flow and dispersion of particles from traffic exhausts were modeled using the standard k-e turbulence model. The street canyons with a viaduct at different widths and different heights above the ground are simulated. The results show that the airflow in street canyon is evidently in- fluenced by the viaduct： The position of the main vortex center is changed, especially there are two strong vortexes when the viaduct is placed at 10 m height above the ground. It is found based on the study of the particles number concentrations （PNCs） that the viaduct may mitigate the pollution level in the street canyon sometimes. The impact of the viaduct width on PNCs is stronger than that of the height. The study of PNDs reveals that the mean PNCs at the wall of upwind building increase when a viaduct is placed in street canyon. In addition, it is found based on the study of mean particles residence time （PRT） that the removal of the particles strongly correlates to the mean PNCs. The results indicate that the viaduct is an important factor to influence the flow patterns and particles dispersion in street canyons.

TRAFFIC EMISSION TRANSPORTATION IN STREET CANYONS

Spatial distributions of traffic-related pollutants in street canyons were investigated by field measurements and Computational Fluid Dynamics （CFD）. Two typical street canyons were selected for field monitoring, and a three-dimensional numerical model was built based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations equipped with the standard κ-ε turbulence models for CFD simulations. The study shows that the pollutant concentrations of vehicle emission correlate well with the traffic volume variation, wind direction and wind speed. The wind direction and speed at the roof level determine overwhellmingly the flow field and the distributions of pollutant concentrations in the street canyon. When the wind speed is equal to zero, the pollutant concentrations on the breath height of the both sides of the street canyon are almost the same. When the wind direction is perpendicular to the street, one main vortex is formed with a shape depending on the building structure on both sides of the street, the pollutant is accumulated on the leeward side, and the pollutant concentrations at the breath height on the leeward side are 2 to 3 times as those at the breath height on the windward side. If the wind direction makes some angles with the street canyon, the pollutant concentration will be higher on the leeward side because one main vortex will also be formed in the vertical section of the canyon by the perpendicular component of the wind. But pollutant concentrations decrease in the canyon because pollutants are dispersed along the axis of the street. Pollutants at different heights of the vertical section decrease with height, i.e. there are concentration gradients in the vertical section, and the pollutant concentrations on the leeward side of the upstream building are much higher than those on the windward side of the downstream building.

Field synergy analysis of pollutant dispersion in street canyons and its optimization by adding wind catchers

The microenvironment,which involves pollutant dispersion of the urban street canyon,is critical to the health of pedestrians and residents.The objectives of this work are twofold:(i)to effectively assess the pollutant dispersion process based on a theory and(ii)to adopt an appropriate stratigy,i.e.,wind catcher,to alleviate the pollution in the street canyons.Pollutant dispersion in street canyons is essentially a convective mass transfer process.Because the convective heat transfer process and the mass transfer process are physically similar and the applicability of field synergy theory to turbulence has been verified in the literature,we apply the field synergy theory to the study of pollutant dispersion in street canyons.In this paper,a computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation is conducted to investigate the effects of wind catcher,wind speed and the geometry of the street canyons on pollutant dispersion.According to the field synergy theory,Sherwood number and field synergy number are used to quantitatively evaluate the wind catcher and wind speed on the diffusion of pollutants in asymmetric street canyons.The results show that adding wind catchers can significantly improve the air quality of the step-down street canyon and reduce the average pollutant concentrations in the street canyon by 75%.Higher wind speed enhances diffusion of pollutants differently in different geometric street canyons.

Numerical study of reactive pollutants diffusion in urban street canyons with a viaduct

In this paper,the influences of the ambient wind speed and the height and width of a viaduct in a 2-dimensional street canyon on the diffusion of reactive pollutants emitted by motor vehicles were investigated using computational fluid dynamics(CFD)method.Pollutants were treated as reactive by including a NO-NO_(2)-O_(3) photochemical reaction mechanism in the simulation.The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)k-ε turbulence model and the discrete phase model were used to simulate the airflow movement and the concentration distribution,respectively,of the reactive pollutants in the street canyon.Three indices,i.e.,the chemical reaction contribution of NO(CRC_(NO)),the chemical reaction contribution of NO_(2)(CRC_(NO_(2))),and the O_(3) depletion rate,were used to evaluate the relative importance of the photochemical reactions.It was found that the presence of a viaduct changed the flow field structure in the street canyon.The CRC_(NO) and CRC_(NO_(2))decreased from the windward side to the leeward side of the canyon.The maximum values of the CRC_(NO) and CRC_(NO_(2)) were observed at the pollution source(x=245 m)due to the influence of a clockwise vortex in the street canyon.As the height and width of the viaduct increased,concentration of the ground pollutants and the O_(3) depletion rate increased.The O_(3) depletion rate was much higher on the leeward side(90%)than on the windward side.The pollutant concentrations after the reaction were twice as high with the viaduct as without the viaduct when the viaduct height was the same as the building height.The viaduct had a significantly larger influence on the concentration of the reactive pollutants than the chemical reactions.The O_(3) depletion rate in the canyon and the pollutant concentrations decreased as the ambient wind speed increased,whereas the CRC_(NO_(2)) increased.

Effect of traffic tidal flow on pollutant dispersion in various street canyons and corresponding mitigation strategies

Increasing traffic emission presents a high risk of exposure to residents in near-road buildings.Traffic tidal flow(TTF)has gradually become one of the most important components of urban traffic congestion.By computational fluid dynamics simulation,the present study examines the airflow,spatial distribution of pollutant concentration,and personal intake fraction(IF_p)of CO in five street canyon structures(shallow,regular,deep,step-up,and step-down street canyons),with non-uniform TTF-induced traffic emission considered.Optimal urban design devices(wind catchers)are subsequently introduced to reduce IF_p.The results suggest that leeward IF_p is far higher in concentration than the windward wall in the shallow,regular,step-up,and step-down street canyons but lower than the windward side in the deep street canyon under different TTF conditions.Moreover,the TTF condition S L(leeward source)/S W(windward source)=3/1 leads to a higher leeward IF_p in the shallow,regular,deep,and step-up street canyons,compared with S L/S W=1/3;however,no significant difference in windward IF_p is found under the different TTF conditions.The highest IF_p and lowest IF_p for both TTF configurations occur in the step-down and shallow street canyons,respectively.Finally,the effect of wind catchers(WCs)varies between the street canyon structures under different TTF conditions.WCs can lead to at least 30.6%reduction in leeward overall average IF_p(<IF_p>)in the shallow,regular,step-up,and step-down street canyons,as well as 12.8%-78.4%decrease in windward<IF_p>owing to the WCs in the regular,deep,step-up,and step-down street canyons.

Wind tunnel simulation of pollutant dispersion inside street canyons with galleries and multi-level flat roofs

In this study, the pollutant dispersion within street canyons is studied by experiments conducted in an environmental wind tunnel. The vehicular exhaust emissions are modeled using a line source. The pollutant （smoke） concentrations inside the canyons are measured based on a light scattering technique. The pollutant concentrations within the four different street canyons containing the galleries and the three-level flat-roofs under both the isolated and urban environments are obtained and discussed. For each of the four canyon configurations investigated, it is found that there is an obvious discrepancy between the pollutant dispersion patterns under the isolated environment and the urban environment. The three-level fiat roof is found to significantly influence the pollutant distribution pattern in a street canyon. In order to clarify the impacts of the wedge-shaped roofs on the pollutant dispersion inside an urban street canyon of an aspect ratio of 1.0, the pollutant distributions inside urban street canyons of three different wedge-shaped roof combinations are measured and analyzed. It is revealed that the pollutant distribution pattern inside the urban street canyon of an aspect ratio of 1.0 is influenced greatly by the wedge-shaped roof, especially, when an upward wedge-shaped roof is placed on the upstream building of the canyon. Images from this study may be utilized for a rough evaluation of the computational fluid dynamics （CFD） models and for helping architects and urban planners to select the canyon configurations with a minimum negative impact on the local air quality.

Possible high COVID-19 airborne infection risk in deep and poorly ventilated 2D street canyons

Despite the widespread assumption that outdoor environments provide sufficient ventilation and dilution capacity to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection,there is little understanding of airborne infection risk in outdoor urban areas with poor ventilation.To address this gap,we propose a modified Wells-Riley model based on the purging flow rate(QPFR),by using computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations.The model quantifies the outdoor risk in 2D street canyons with different approaching wind speeds,urban heating patterns and aspect ratios(building height to street width).We show that urban morphology plays a critical role in controlling airborne infectious disease transmission in outdoor environments,especially under calm winds;with deep street canyons(aspect ratio>3)having a similar infection risk as typical indoor environments.While ground and leeward wall heating could reduce the risk,windward heating(e.g.,windward wall~10 K warmer than the ambient air)can increase the infection risk by up to 75%.Our research highlights the importance of considering outdoor infection risk and the critical role of urban morphology in mitigating airborne infection risk.By identifying and addressing these risks,we can inform measures that may enhance public health and safety,particularly in densely populated urban environments.

Numerical Studies on Flow Fields Around Buildings in an Urban Street Canyon and Cross-Road

The questions on how vortices are constructed and on the relationship between the flow patterns and concentration distributions in real street canyons are the most pressing questions in pollution control studies. In this paper, the very large eddy simulation (VLES) and large eddy simulation (LES) are applied to calculate the flow and pollutant concentration fields in an urban street canyon and a cross-road respectively. It is found that the flow separations are not only related to the canyon aspect ratios, but also with the flow velocities and wall temperatures. And the turbulent dispersions are so strongly affected by the flow fields that the pollutant concentration distributions can be distinguished from the different aspect ratios, flow velocities and wall temperatures.

Using the OSPM Model on Pollutant Dispersion in an Urban Street Canyon

An observational campaign was conducted in the street canyon of Zhujiang Road in Nanjing city in 2007. Hourly mean concentrations of PM10 were measured at street and roof levels. The Operational Street Pollution Model （OSPM） street canyon dispersion model was used to calculate the street concentrations and the results were compared with the measurements. The results show that there is good agreement between measured and predicted concentrations. The correlation coefficient R2 values （R2 is a measure of the correlation of the predicted and measured time series of concentrations） are 0.5319, 0.8044, and 0.6630 for the scatter plots of PM10 corresponding to light wind speed conditions, higher wind speed conditions, and all wind speed conditions, respectively. PM10 concentrations tend to be smaller for the higher wind speed cases and decrease rapidly with increasing wind speed. The presentations of measured and modelled concentration dependence on wind direction show fairly good agreement. PM10 concentrations measured on the windward side are relatively smaller, compared with the corresponding results for the leeward side. This study demonstrates that it is possible to use the OSPM to model PM10 dispersion rules for an urban street canyon.

Effects of increasing the degree of building height asymmetry on ventilation and pollutant dispersion within street canyons

Rational urban design helps to build sustainable cities with high ventilation capacity and pollutant removal ca-pacity,but the effect of building height on ventilation and pollutant dispersion inside asymmetric canyons has not been fully studied.In this paper,we studied the effect of increasing the degree of building height asym-metry(DBHA)on canyon ventilation and pollutant diffusion in shallow and deep asymmetric street canyons by considering six different building height ratios(BHR=3/4,1/2,1/3,4/3,2/1 and 3/1).The results show that increasing the DBHA in asymmetric canyons can improve the ventilation and pollutant removal capacity.For step-up canyons,increasing the downwind building height is very useful to improve ventilation and pollutant re-moval.For shallow/deep step-up canyons with BHR=1/3,the air exchange rate(ACH)increased to 211.2%and 380.1%of the flat canyons,respectively.The spatially-average pollutant concentration in the pedestrian zones(leeward Kavg∗ang windward Kavg∗)decreases significantly with the increase of DBHA,especially for the deep step-up canyon with BHR=1/3,the leeward Kavg∗and windward Kavg∗decrease to 15.3%and 3%,respectively.Also,increasing the upwind building height can also improve the ventilation capacity in the step-down canyons.For the deep step-down canyon with BHR=3/1,the leeward Kavg∗and windward Kavg∗decreased to 40.6%and 24.1%of the deep flat canyon,respectively.Notably,the ventilation capacity is very low for step-down canyons with BHR=4/3,and for step-down canyons with BHR≥2/1,the ventilation capacity and pollutant removal capacity increase significantly with the increase of DBHA.Therefore,in urban planning,step-down canyons with BHR=4/3 should be avoided and designed to satisfy the condition of BHR≥2/1.These findings will be a valuable reference for urban designers to build sustainable cities with high ventilation capacity.

Optimization Design of Open Space Based on Microclimate and Behavior in China

Traditionally, microclimate, behavior and space design are characterized by a separation among climatologists, behavior researchers and designers. It is also unrealizable to apply the research results to the space design because of the gap created by the interdisciplinarity. In addition, although the relationships among space form, urban microclimate and people are intuitively understood, there are still not reasonable predictions on how a space affects the microclimate, and how the microclimate and space will affect people＇s sensation and behavior. By recording the microclimate and people＇s responses, this paper discusses the relationship between people＇s sensation and microclimate as well as people＇s behavior and open space in a busy downtown pedestrian street during hot summer. The research finds that shade plays a crucial role in outdoor comfort. All of the other objectively comfortable and acceptable microclimates differ significantly different shade situation. Simultaneously, space contradiction can be considered an essential factor for spatial utilization. This paper also provides proposal on canyon open space design based on this case study.