Tracer modeling in an urban environment

The accurate simulation of the transport of a tracer released into an urban area requires sufficiently high model resolution to resolve buildings and urban street canyons. Within the authors' group a modeling effort has been underway to develop a model -- termed HIGRAD -- capable of simulating flow at the high spatial resolution required within the urban environment. HIGRAD uses state-of-the-art numerical techniques to accurately simulate the regions of strong shear found near edges of buildings. HIGRAD also employs a newly developed radiation package which in addition to standard shortwave and longwave heating/cooling effects can account for the shadowing effects of building complexes on the urban flow field. Idealized simulations have been conducted which clearly illustrate the role radiation plays in transport and dispersion in an urban setting. The authors have also modeled the flow of an inert tracer in a realistic, complex urban environment. Complex flow/building interactions were produced during the simulation and these interactions had a significant impact on the transport of the tracer.