Multiscale Modeling of Air Flow in Salt Lake City and the Surrounding Region

Abstract

A general overview is given of a modeling effort to simulate the fate and transport of a tracer within the downtown core of Salt Lake City and beyond into the Salt Lake Basin. The problem crosses three significant scales where different physics are predominant: atmospheric mesoscale, city scale, and building scale. Three different computational fluid dynamics models were used, each with strengths at particular spatial and temporal scales. We show preliminary results and discuss what we believe to be the relevant phenomenon one must model as one crosses from atmospheric scale to engineering scale flow problems. We also describe our model validation efforts, including wind-tunnel and tow-tank experiments and a recently completed urban field experiment.