Impacts of building modifications on the turbulent flow and heat transfer in urban surface boundary layers

Abstract

This study examines turbulent airflow and upward heat transport in real urban environments using a building-resolving large-eddy simulation model to understand the characteristics of turbulent airflow and upward heat transport when geometrical distributions of buildings are modified. The target areas were two real urban districts within Osaka City, Japan, having different morphological features. In the numerical experiments, the initial condition was set to a neutral condition in which temperature is uniformly distributed vertically, and buildings emitted heat at a constant rate. The results in the two districts indicated that the features of turbulence and heat transport distinctly differed with different building arrangement. Specifically, taller buildings significantly decelerated airflows and induced warming behind buildings. More high-rise buildings (which resulted in a larger building variability) in a district with a larger building density caused a large heat flux and warming at higher levels. The sensitivity experiments in which a density and height variability of buildings were modified showed that a building density at higher levels and a building height variability significantly influenced warming at upper levels. An increased building height variability weakened wind speed and disturbed horizontal heat advection, whereas a large building density caused numerous heat sources.