The mean flow and turbulence statistics of the flow through a simplified urban environment, which is an active research area in order to improve... Show moreThe mean flow and turbulence statistics of the flow through a simplified urban environment, which is an active research area in order to improve the knowledge of turbulent flow in cities, is investigated. This is useful for civil engineering, pedestrian comfort and for health concerns caused by pollutant spreading. In this work, we provide analysis of the turbulence statistics obtained both from highly-quality stereoscopic particle image-velocimetry (SPIV) measurements (from Monnier et al.) and well-resolved large eddy simulations (LES) by Torres et al. A detailed comparison of both databases reveals the impact of the geometry of the urban array on the flow characteristics and provides for a good description of the turbulent features of the flow around a simplified urban environment. The most prominent features of this complex flow include coherent vortical structures such as the so-called arch vortex, the horseshoe vortex, or the roof vortex. These structures of the flow have been identified by an analysis of the turbulence statistics. The influence of the geometry of the urban environment (and particularly the street width and the building height) on the overall flow behavior has also been studied. Show less
