Assessment of a Lattice Boltzmann Model for Canopy Flow Using Laboratory and Field Measurements

The flow through and above forest canopies which covers much of the Earth's surface is abundantly non-uniform and complex. Since it is an essential ingredient in modeling multi-scale transport, material evaporation and dispersion, simplified flow models, which can incorporate additional physics, are advantageous. In this talk a two-dimension lattice Boltzmann model of the double-averaged Navier-Stokes (DANS) equations is presented. The model solutions are validated using detailed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements obtained at various regions along a finite artificial canopy. Field measurements taken within and above a peach orchard are used in order to further test the capabilities of the model to account for the effects of leaf-area-density (LAD) and turbulence stability.