Testing simple models for street wind conditions in Barcelona

Abstract

Street wind speed and direction drive models to estimate air quality levels at street scale. In this study, simple models are combined with a mesoscale meteorological model to provide wind conditions at street level. Then, wind speed and direction are evaluated using observations collected during an experimental campaign in April 2013 at street level in Barcelona, Spain. Overall, models considering street geometry give better estimates for both wind speed and direction than those assuming homogeneous terrain. For light winds, models tend to produce a large amount of error estimating wind direction.