Performance of large-eddy simulations for capturing low-level wind shear at the Hong Kong International Airport for a whole wind-shear (spring) season

Abstract

The wind-shear reports from pilots from a particular springtime wind-shear season at the Hong Kong International Airport, namely, January to April 2021, are considered in order to study the performance of a meteorological model in large-eddy simulations in capturing the low-level wind shear and turbulent flow under a variety of weather conditions. It could be seen that, from a statistical comparison of the results, the low-level wind-shear reports are reasonably well captured. This is re-enforced in two selected cases of typical, low-level wind shear at the airport, namely, terrain-disrupted airflow and a sea breeze front. The turbulent flow feature is also reproduced reasonably well from the structure function and eddy dissipation rate (EDR). The scatter plot of actual and model-simulated EDR reveals a reasonable comparison. Through case studies, the major features of turbulent airflow are well reproduced. This paper suggests that large-eddy simulation could have reasonable skill in capturing the low-level wind shear using a large wind-shear sample.

Keywords

• wind-shear
• large-eddy
• hong kong international airport