Simulation of Nocturnal Drainage Flows Enhanced by Deep Canyons: The Rocky Flats Case

Abstract

The DELTA?ADREA (discretization with elements of triangle approach?atmospheric dispersion of pollutants over irregular terrain) numerical prediction model, developed at the National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos, is specifically designed to perform wind field calculations over terrains of high complexity. The numerical model has the capability to handle air?ground interaction processes by describing the ground-surface details while keeping the computation time at a reasonable level. The numerical model is applied here to a high-resolution topographical representation of the region surrounding the Rocky Flats Facility in Colorado, based on a digitized map consisting of approximately 4.8 ? 106 points. Wind field calculations over the region are made using the atmospheric experimental data of 4 February 1991, collected by the participants within the Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain research program. The numerical predictions indicate strong drainage flows created at different altitudes with interaction between them, resulting in a quite complicated mesoscale wind field during nighttime. Available observations support the predicted flow features.