Open AccessDerivation of Effective Aerodynamic Surface Roughness in Urban Areas from Airborne Lidar Terrain Data
Author(s) -
Donald E. Holland,
Judith Berglund,
Joseph P. Spruce,
Rodney McKellip
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied meteorology and climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.079
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1558-8432
pISSN - 1558-8424
DOI - 10.1175/2008jamc1751.1
Subject(s) - lidar , terrain , remote sensing , surface roughness , surface finish , aerodynamics , ranging , range (aeronautics) , a priori and a posteriori , wind direction , surface (topology) , environmental science , orientation (vector space) , meteorology , computer science , wind speed , geology , geodesy , geometry , geography , aerospace engineering , mathematics , philosophy , physics , cartography , materials science , epistemology , quantum mechanics , engineering , composite material
An automated technique was developed that uses only airborne lidar terrain data to derive the necessary parameters for calculation of effective aerodynamic surface roughness in urban areas. The technique provides parameters for geometric models that have been used over the past 40+ years by automatically deriving the relevant geometry, orientation, and spacing of buildings and trees. In its prototypical form, this technique subsequently calculates an effective surface roughness for 1-km2 parcels of land for each of five geometric models. The user can define several constraints to guide processing based on a priori knowledge of the urban area or lidar data characteristics. Any given wind direction (or range of directions) can be selected to simulate conditions of variable wind flow and the impact on effective surface roughness. The operation, capabilities, and limitations of the technique were demonstrated using lidar terrain data from Broward County, Florida.