VKI Lecture Series at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium
There is an increasing interest for the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to the study of flows in the lower part of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The simulation of atmospheric flows, possibly over complex domain, is necessary for the estimation of wind load on buildings and for the choice of sites for windmills and wind farms as well as for the investigation of atmospheric pollution.
The present course offers a wide overview of the state-of-the-art of the domain, considering the application to both small and mesoscale range. Reynolds Averaging (RANS) and large-eddy (LES) approaches are discussed and their respective capabilities for different classes of flows axes are evaluated. The discussion is completed by the presentation of examples of practical implementation and applications using Open Source Codes as well as in-house and commercial software.