Large-Eddy Simulation Of Aerosol Transport Over Different Urban Local Climate Zones
https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2025-3925
Abstract
As urban areas grow, understanding the impact of built environments on aerosol distribution is crucial for accurate monitoring and forecasting of urban air quality and for the development of mitigation strategies. This study uses Large Eddy Simulation approach combined with Local Climate Zones (LCZ) classification to simulate the transport of Lagrangian aerosol particles in different urban configurations. The study simulates several urban configurations based on LCZ classification, specifically LCZ 4 (open high-rise), LCZ 5 (open mid-rise), and LCZ 6 (open low-rise), varying in building height and density. Both regular and randomized urban development configurations were examined to understand the impact of building geometry on particle dispersion. The study reveals that building orientation significantly influences particle distribution, with structures parallel to the wind adding horizontal dispersion and those perpendicular promoting vertical mixing. In randomized configurations, variations in particle concentrations highlight the role of architectural heterogeneity in turbulence development and aerosol dispersion. The findings suggest that aggregated block- or district-scale building geometry properties strongly influence aerosol transport. For randomized urban configurations, without idealized regular structures, the difference in the large-scale morphometric characteristics of specified LCZ types has a significantly greater impact on the particle dispersion process than the local geometric differences between configurations of the same LCZ type. Future research taking into account diverse meteorological conditions and more LCZ types is recommended to enhance the accuracy and applicability of this approach.
Keywords
urban air quality,
large eddy simulation,
local climate zones,
aerosol dispersion,
Lagrangian particle transport,
urban morphology
Supporting agencies: LES model and LCZ generator development was supported by FSTP project «Research in geophysical boundary layers and the development of new modelling approaches for Earth system models» within the program «Improvement of the global world-level Earth system model for research purposes and scenarios forecasting of climate change». Numerical experiments and data analysis were supported by RNF grant 24-17-00155. Stochastic Lagrangian particles model development was supported by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, agreement No. 075- 15-2025-345. Numerical experiments were carried out using the equipment of the shared research facilities of HPC computing resources at Lomonosov Moscow State University and computing resources of the Data Center of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
About the Authors
Alexander I. Varentsov
Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow Center for Fundamental and Applied Mathematics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskie Gory 1, b. 4, 119234, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
Pyzhevskiy Pereulok 3, 119017, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
Evgeny V. Mortikov
Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Moscow Center for Fundamental and Applied Mathematics; Marchuk Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskie Gory 1, b. 4, 119234, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
Gubkina 8, 119333, Moscow
Andrey V. Glazunov
Marchuk Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences; Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Gubkina 8, 119333, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, b. 4, 119234, Moscow
Andrey V. Debolskiy
Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow Center for Fundamental and Applied Mathematics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskie Gory 1, b. 4, 119234, Moscow
Pyzhevskiy Pereulok 3, 119017, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
Mariya A. Kuzmicheva
Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
Victor M. Stepanenko
Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskie Gory 1, b. 4, 119234, Moscow
Leninskie Gory 1, 119991, Moscow
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For citations:
Varentsov A.I., Mortikov E.V., Glazunov A.V., Debolskiy A.V., Kuzmicheva M.A., Stepanenko V.M. Large-Eddy Simulation Of Aerosol Transport Over Different Urban Local Climate Zones. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY. 2025;18(3):68-79. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2025-3925
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