An Advanced Numerical Model for Assessing 3-D Wind Fields

An h-adaptive mass consistent finite element model (FEM) is developed for constructing 3-D wind fields over irregular terrain. The h-adaptive FEM allows the element size to be changed dynamically according to local flow and topographic features. The mesh is refined and unrefined to satisfy preset error criteria. Localized high resolution wind fields can be constructed. The FEM model uses a variational method in an integral function that minimizes the variance of the difference between the observed and analyzed variable. Simulation results are presented for constructing 3-D wind fields for two regions in Nevada. The method appears promising for accurately depicting large scale wind fields, especially where high resolution is needed to capture rapidly changing flows associated with local topographic features.