Simulation of building-induced airflow disturbances in complex terrain using meteorological-CFD coupled model

Abstract

Tiny anticyclonic vortices have been observed at the arrival runway corridor to the east of the central runway of the Hong Kong International Airport many times. However, it is not sure about the cause of such vortices. In this paper, a meteorological model is coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model in high spatial resolution in an attempt to simulate such vortices. The performance of this coupled model is first checked by comparing with the observed building wakes. This model is found to successfully capture the wakes and jets. It is then used to simulate the situation of anticyclonic vortex at the said region, with and without the presence of a key building called AsiaWorld-Expo. It is found that, with the presence of the building only, the anticyclonic vortex can be simulated. This adds more confidence that such vortex is a result of the interaction between the background southwesterly flow with the AsiaWorld-Expo.