Linking large-scale and local near-ground wind events and their engineering impact

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Society is aware of the ever-increasing advances in sensor technology and in computing power to handle “big data” and so there is an expectation that these will be put to use in providing greater protection through predictive networks, especially in the face of the increase in the frequency of extreme weather events associated with climate change which also increases the risk to both human life and infrastructure. In order to transform such networks, so they can directly relate the physics of person-scale local winds to the weather events that produce them, there is an urgent need to be able to couple regional-scale sensor and numerical model data with predictions of very local meteorological conditions relevant to specific infrastructure and human populations, such as extreme wind loads on transmission lines and buildings due to downbursts and tornadoes or adverse conditions in urban street canyons that result in increased pollutant levels. The proposed research is critical as it seeks to identify the underlying physical mechanisms and quantify these connections between large-scale meteorology and local events, in the form of (i) downburst-producing thunderstorms, (ii) tornado evolution in supercells and (iii) building roof and canyon level wind fields beneath urban boundary layers with their impacts on the performance of roof-mounted solar panels and on the ventilation of the urban canopy, that is the “breathability” of cities. This impact will be achieved through the applicant's expertise in wind engineering and fluid mechanics, supported by international collaboration featuring the expertise of a severe storms meteorologist and an expert in urban wind flows. The research will encompass; world-leading, large-scale, super-computer simulations of complete downburst-producing storms and tornado-producing supercells supported by laboratory scale experiments of downburst flows (with application to the wind forces acting on electricity transmission line systems), wind tunnel studies of wind flow over simulated urban terrain and of wind effects on solar panels. The outcomes will be engineering design guidelines and correlations for such wind effects, together with models that define the relationship between these local-scale winds and regional-scale wind systems. The impact of the proposed research in Canada will be especially strong because the most populous southern regions are also the most susceptible to extreme storm events, notably the tornado risk to southern Ontario where a large part of Canadian industry and infrastructure is located. Canada's most populous cities, where air quality is of greatest concern, are also located in the south as is the growing solar energy industry, including roof-mounted systems, which are contributing to the decrease in our reliance on fossil fuels.