CFD simulation of near-field pollutant dispersion in the urban environment: A review of current modeling techniques

Near-field pollutant dispersion in the urban environment involves the interaction of a plume and the flow field perturbed by building obstacles. In the past two decades, micro-scale Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of pollutant dispersion around buildings and in urban areas has been widely used, sometimes in lieu of wind tunnel testing. This paper reviews current modeling techniques in CFD simulation of near-field pollutant dispersion in urban environments and discusses the findings to give insight into future applications. Key features of near-field pollutant dispersion around buildings from previous studies, i.e., three-dimensionality of mean flow, unsteadiness of large-scale flow structure, and anisotropy of turbulent scalar fluxes, are identified and discussed. This review highlights that it is important to choose appropriate numerical models and boundary conditions by understanding their inherent strengths and limitations. Furthermore, the importance of model evaluation was emphasized. Because pollutant concentrations around buildings can vary by orders of magnitudes in time and space, the model evaluation should be performed carefully, while paying attention to their uncertainty. Although CFD has significant potential, it is important to understand the underlying theory and limitations of a model in order to appropriately investigate the dispersion phenomena in question.