TY - JOUR

T1 - Atmospheric flow simulation strategies to assess turbulent wind conditions for safe drone operations in urban environments

AU - Giersch, Sebastian

AU - El Guernaoui, Omar

AU - Raasch, Siegfried

AU - Sauer, Manuela

AU - Palomar, Marta

N1 - Funding Information: This publication is the result of work co-financed by the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN), which is part of the Xunta de Galicia (Spanish regional government). The contract within which the work has been performed was financed 80 percent by European Regional Development Fund (FEDER funds) corresponding to the period 2014–2020 of the Intelligent Growth Operational programme 2014–2020 (POCInt). This collaboration is the result of the agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN), and the Axencia para a Modernización Tecnóloxica de Galicia (AMTEGA) for the Civil UAVs Initiative. In addition, work by Sebastian Giersch, Omar El Guernaoui, and Siegfried Raasch has been partly carried out in the framework of the USEPE (U-space Separation in Europe) project. This project has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 890738 under European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The opinions expressed in this publication are the authors’ and not necessarily those of the co-financing agencies. The funding sources were not involved in the research and preparation of this article except to provide financial support.

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - As the technology of small aircraft systems continues to improve and the number of their possible applications grows, they are likely to be used more frequently in urban environments soon. Such environments are especially dangerous due to their high population and structural density in combination with challenging atmospheric conditions. Particularly the local wind field with its often unknown wind shear and turbulence characteristics endangers manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. Therefore, knowledge of the local turbulent wind is essential to ensure safety for the aircraft and the people onboard as well as on ground and should thus be incorporated in mission planning. This study presents a framework of how atmospheric flow analyses can contribute to safe drone operations in urban environments. High-resolution simulations are carried out, utilizing the large-eddy simulation model PALM, which can resolve turbulent flow and building structures down to the meter scale. Our results highlight the advantages and the necessity of using turbulence-resolving models to reasonably arrange a future drone operation network within cities. Because large-eddy simulations of urban environments are still computationally expensive, a meteorological data base for each urban setup should be established to obtain the relevant wind information for mission planning.

AB - As the technology of small aircraft systems continues to improve and the number of their possible applications grows, they are likely to be used more frequently in urban environments soon. Such environments are especially dangerous due to their high population and structural density in combination with challenging atmospheric conditions. Particularly the local wind field with its often unknown wind shear and turbulence characteristics endangers manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. Therefore, knowledge of the local turbulent wind is essential to ensure safety for the aircraft and the people onboard as well as on ground and should thus be incorporated in mission planning. This study presents a framework of how atmospheric flow analyses can contribute to safe drone operations in urban environments. High-resolution simulations are carried out, utilizing the large-eddy simulation model PALM, which can resolve turbulent flow and building structures down to the meter scale. Our results highlight the advantages and the necessity of using turbulence-resolving models to reasonably arrange a future drone operation network within cities. Because large-eddy simulations of urban environments are still computationally expensive, a meteorological data base for each urban setup should be established to obtain the relevant wind information for mission planning.

KW - Large-eddy simulation

KW - Turbulence

KW - Unmanned aerial vehicle

KW - Urban air mobility

KW - Urban environment

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136453509&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jweia.2022.105136

DO - 10.1016/j.jweia.2022.105136

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85136453509

VL - 229

JO - Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics

JF - Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics

SN - 0167-6105

M1 - 105136

ER -