A bioclimatic design methodology for urban outdoor spaces

Summary The development of a bioclimatic urban design methodology is described. The cluster thermal time constant (CTTC) model for predicting street-level urban air temperature variations is coupled with the wind-profile power law and the index of thermal stress (ITS.) for human comfort. TheCTTC model and the power law produce the diurnal air temperature and wind speed variations in various canyonlike urban forms. The thermal comfort requirements for lightly-dressed, moderately-walking/seated persons in the outdoor space in summer are then obtained using the ITS. model. The proposed methodology enables a first-order assessment of the climatic implications of different features of the physical structure of the city such as street orientation, canyon height-to-width ratio, building density, and street shading. The application of the proposed methodology is demonstrated for Tel Aviv.With 9 Figures     

Thermal bioclimate in idealized urban street canyons in Campinas, Brazil

Among several urban design parameters, the height-to-width ratio (H/W) and orientation are important parameters strongly affecting thermal conditions in cities. This paper quantifies changes in thermal comfort due to typical urban canyon configurations in Campinas, Brazil, and presents urban guidelines concerning H/W ratios and green spaces to adapt urban climate change. The study focuses on thermal comfort issues of humans in urban areas and performs evaluation in terms of physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), based on long-term data. Meteorological data of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation over a 7-year period (2003–2010) were used. A 3D street canyon model was designed with RayMan Pro software to simulate the influence of urban configuration on urban thermal climate. The following configurations and setups were used. The model canyon was 500 m in length, with widths 9, 21, and 44 m. Its height varied in steps of 2.5 m, from 5 to 40 m. The canyon could be rotated in steps of 15°. The results show that urban design parameters such as width, height, and orientation modify thermal conditions within street canyons. A northeast–southwest orientation can reduce PET during daytime more than other scenarios. Forestry management and green areas are recommended to promote shade on pedestrian areas and on façades, and to improve bioclimate thermal stress, in particular for H/W ratio less than 0.5. The method and results can be applied by architects and urban planners interested in developing responsive guidelines for urban climate issues.     

Effect of asymmetrical street canyons on pedestrian thermal comfort in warm-humid climate of Cuba

Walkability and livability in cities can be enhanced by creating comfortable environments in the streets. The profile of an urban street canyon has a substantial impact on outdoor thermal conditions at pedestrian level. This paper deals with the effect of asymmetrical street canyon profiles, common in the historical centre of Camagüey, Cuba, on outdoor thermal comfort. Temporal-spatial analyses are conducted using the Heliodon2 and the RayMan model, which enable the generation of accurate predictions about solar radiation and thermal conditions of urban spaces, respectively. On these models, urban settings are represented by asymmetrical street canyons with five different height-to-width ratios and four street axis orientations (N-S, NE-SW, E-W, SE-NW). Results are evaluated for daytime hours across the street canyon, by means of the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET index) which allows the evaluation of the bioclimatic conditions of outdoor environments. Our findings revealed that high profiles (façades) located on the east-facing side of N-S streets, on the southeast-facing side of NE-SW streets, on the south-facing side of E-W street, and on the southwest-facing side of SE-NW streets, are recommended to reduce the total number of hours under thermal stress. E-W street canyons are the most thermally stressed ones, with extreme PET values around 36 °C. Deviating from this orientation ameliorates the heat stress with reductions of up to 4 h in summer. For all analysed E-W orientations, only about one fifth of the street can be comfortable, especially for high aspect ratios (H/W > 3). Optimal subzones in the street are next to the north side of the E-W street, northwest side of the NE-SW street, and southwest side of the SE-NW street. Besides, when the highest profile is located on the east side of N-S streets, then the subzone next to the east-facing façade is recommendable for pedestrians. The proposed urban guidelines enable urban planners to create and renovate urban spaces which are more efficient in diminishing pedestrian thermal stress.     

Effect of the position of the visible sky in determining the sky view factor on micrometeorological and human thermal comfort conditions in urban street canyons

Poor daytime and night-time micrometeorological conditions are issues that influence the quality of environmental conditions and can undermine a comfortable human lifestyle. The sky view factor (SVF) is one of the essential physical parameters used to assess the micrometeorological conditions and thermal comfort levels within city streets. The position of the visible sky relative to the path of the sun, in the cardinal and ordinal directions, has not been widely discerned as a parameter that could have an impact on the micrometeorological conditions of urban streets. To investigate this parameter, different urban streets that have a similar SVF value but diverse positions of visible sky were proposed in different street directions intersecting with the path of the sun, namely N–S, NE–SW and NW–SE. The effects of daytime and night-time micrometeorological variables and human thermal comfort variables on the street were investigated by applying ENVI-met V3.1 Beta software. The results show that the position of the visible sky has a greater influence on the street’s meteorological and human thermal comfort conditions than the SVF value. It has the ability to maximise or minimise the mean radiation temperature (Tmrt, °C) and the physiological equivalent temperature (PET, °C) at street level. However, the visible sky positioned to the zenith in a NE–SW or N–S street direction and to the SW of a NW–SE street direction achieves the best daytime micrometeorological and thermal comfort conditions. Alternatively, the visible sky positioned to the NE for a NW–SE street direction, to the NW and the zenith for a NE–SW street direction and to the zenith for a N–S street direction reduces the night-time air temperature (Ta, °C). Therefore, SVF and the position of the visible sky relative to the sun’s trajectory, in the cardinal and ordinal directions, must be considered during urban street planning to better understand the resultant micrometeorological and human thermal comfort conditions.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Street Canyons with Ground Heating

Our study employed large-eddy simulation (LES) based on a one-equation subgrid-scale model to investigate the flow field and pollutant dispersion characteristics inside urban street canyons. Unstable thermal stratification was produced by heating the ground of the street canyon. Using the Boussinesq approximation, thermal buoyancy forces were taken into account in both the Navier–Stokes equations and the transport equation for subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The LESs were validated against experimental data obtained in wind-tunnel studies before the model was applied to study the detailed turbulence, temperature, and pollutant dispersion characteristics in the street canyon of aspect ratio 1. The effects of different Richardson numbers (Ri) were investigated. The ground heating significantly enhanced mean flow, turbulence, and pollutant flux inside the street canyon, but weakened the shear at the roof level. The mean flow was observed to be no longer isolated from the free stream and fresh air could be entrained into the street canyon at the roof-level leeward corner. Weighed against higher temperature, the ground heating facilitated pollutant removal from the street canyon.     

Scalar Fluxes from Urban Street Canyons Part II: Model

A practical model is developed for the vertical flux of a scalar, such as heat, from an urban street canyon that accounts for variations of the flow and turbulence with canyon geometry. The model gives the magnitude and geometric dependence of the flux from each facet of the urban street canyon, and is shown to agree well with wind-tunnel measurements described in Part I. The geometric dependence of the flux from an urban street canyon is shown to be determined by two physical processes. Firstly, as the height-to-width ratio of the street canyon increases, so does the roughness length and displacement height of the surface. This increase leads to a reduction in the wind speed in the inertial sublayer above the street canyons. Since the speed of the circulations in the street are proportional to this inertial sublayer wind speed, the flux then reduces with the inertial sublayer wind speed. This process is dominant at low height-to-width ratios. Secondly, the character of the circulations within the street canyon also varies as the height-to-width ratio increases. The flow in the street is partitioned into a recirculation region and a ventilated region. When the street canyon has high height-to-width ratios the recirculation region occupies the whole street canyon and the wind speeds within the street are low. This tendency decreases the flux at high height-to-width ratios. These processes tend to reduce the flux density from the individual facets of the street canyon, when compared to the flux density from a horizontal surface of the same material. But the street canyon has an increased total surface area, which means that the total flux from the street canyon is larger than from a horizontal surface. The variations in scalar flux from an urban street canyon with geometry is over a factor of two, which means that the physical mechanisms responsible should be incorporated into energy balance models for urban areas.     

应用城市冠层模式研究建筑物形态对城市边界层的影响

文中将城市冠层模式耦合到南京大学城市尺度边界层模式中,通过模拟对比发现,耦合模式对城市地区气温模拟结果更接近于观测值,尤其是对城市地区夜间气温模拟的改进.运用改进耦合模式通过多个敏感性试验的模拟,从城市面积扩张、建筑物高度增加、建筑物分布密度变化等角度研究城市建筑物三维几何形态变化对城市边界层及城市气象环境的影响,试验结果表明:(1)城市面积扩张使得城市下垫面的热通量增大,热力湍流活动增强,动量通量输送增强,城市湍能增大,湍流扩散系数变大,城市气温升高,且对不同时刻城市区域大气层结稳定度均有不同程度的影响.(2)建筑物高度增加增大了城市下垫面的粗糙度和零平面位移.同时也增大了城市街渠高宽比.城市建筑物越高,白天城市地区地表热通量越小,城市上空大气温度越低,平均风速减小,湍能减小;夜间由于高大建筑物释放储热比低矮建筑物要多,其热力湍流相对活跃,地表热通量增大,使得城市区域气温较高.(3)建筑物密度增大,会减小城市下垫面的粗糙度同时增强街渠对辐射的影响.建筑物密度增大在白天会减小地表热通量和动量通量,使城市气温降低,平均风速增大,城市湍流活动能力减弱;夜间城市释放较多储热使得气温较高.     

Intelligent urban forms (IUF) a new climate-concerned,urban planning strategy

Summary Adaptive geometrical configurations are presented, which aim to create intelligent urban forms, and which include screening methods applicable to the linear- and grid-type building layouts. They are especially suitable for mid-latitude cities characterized by seasonally swinging climates which necessitate heating in winter and cooling in summer. The screens are envisaged as shading devices in the summer blocking the incoming solar radiation during day-time (that is, on-position), while being removed at night to enhance nocturnal radiative cooling (that is, off-position). In winter they are assumed to be in off-position during sunshine hours to promote the access of solar radiation and in on-position at night to obstruct the sky energy sink and reduce radiant heat losses. Their implications for the urban street canyon climate and the thermal performance of the built environment are simulated using the cluster thermal time constant (CTTC) model. The diurnal variation of both the ambient air temperature and net radiant flux within the urban canopy layer serve as criteria by which the climatetempering effectiveness of the screens is assessed.With 9 Figures     

Numerical Study on the Impact of Ground Heating and Ambient Wind Speed on Flow Fields in Street Canyons

The impact of ground heating on flow fields in street canyons under different ambient wind speed conditions was studied based on numerical methods.A series of numerical tests were performed,and three factors including height-to-width(H/W) ratio,ambient wind speed and ground heating intensity were taken into account.Three types of street canyon with H/W ratios of 0.5,1.0 and 2.0,respectively,were used in the simulation and seven speed values ranging from 0.0 to 3.0 m s 1 were set for the ambient wind speed.The ground heating intensity,which was defined as the difference between the ground temperature and air temperature,ranged from 10 to 40 K with an increase of 10 K in the tests.The results showed that under calm conditions,ground heating could induce circulation with a wind speed of around 1.0 m s 1,which is enough to disperse pollutants in a street canyon.It was also found that an ambient wind speed threshold may exist for street canyons with a fixed H/W ratio.When ambient wind speed was lower than the threshold identified in this study,the impact of the thermal effect on the flow field was obvious,and there existed a multi-vortex flow pattern in the street canyon.When the ambient wind speed was higher than the threshold,the circulation pattern was basically determined by dynamic effects.The tests on the impact of heating intensity showed that a higher ground heating intensity could strengthen the vortical flow within the street canyon,which would help improve pollutant diffusion capability in street canyons.     

城市建筑布局要素对区域热环境影响的ENVI-met模拟与分析——以南京江北新区部分区域为例

开展城市建筑物方位、高度等建筑布局要素对局地热环境时空变化的影响研究,对于合理的城市规划布局具有重要理论意义与实践参考价值。采用ENVI-met微气候模式,在南京江北新区顶山街道某区域微气候模拟的基础上,选择一个二类居住用地并设计不同的建筑布局要素作为规划场景,模拟分析了建筑物高度与建筑间距之比（H/W）、建筑布局变化对区域热环境的影响。结果表明：ENVI-met能够以较高精度模拟2 m高度气温;H/W与建筑布局形式都会影响区域热环境,适当增加H/W可在一定程度上降低夏季气温,H/W为1.4时的热环境更为舒适,而不同建筑布局形式下的不同区域温度差异较大。     

Study on Effects of Building Morphology on Urban Boundary Layer Using an Urban Canopy Model

An urban canopy model is incorporated into the Nanjing University Regional Boundary Layer Model. Temperature simulated by the urban canopy model is in better agreement with the observation, especially in the night time, than that simulated by the traditional slab model. The coupled model is used to study the effects of building morphology on urban boundary layer and meteorological environment by changing urban area, building height, and building density.It is found that when the urban area is expanded, the urban boundary layer heat flux, thermal turbulence, and the turbulent momentum flux and kinetic energy all increase or enhance, causing the surface air temperature to rise up. The stability of urban atmospheric stratification is affected to different extent at different times of the day.When the building height goes up, the aerodynamic roughness height, zero plane displacement height of urban area, and ratio of building height to street width all increase. Therefore, the increase in building height results in the decrease of the surface heat flux, urban surface temperature, mean wind speed, and turbulent kinetic energy in daytime. While at night, as more heat storage is released by higher buildings, thermal turbulence is more active and surface heat flux increases, leading to a higher urban temperature.As the building density increases, the aerodynamic roughness height of urban area decreases, and the effect of urban canopy on radiation strengthens. The increase of building density results in the decrease in urban surface heat flux, momentum flux, and air temperature, the increase in mean wind speed, and the weakening of turbulence in the daytime. While at night, the urban temperature increases due to the release of more heat storage.     

Measurements of Turbulence and Dispersion in Three Idealized Urban Canopies with Different Aspect Ratios and Comparisons with a Gaussian Plume Model

Water-tunnel measurements of velocity, turbulence and scalar concentration for three model urban canopies with aspect ratios A _r of building height-to-width of 0.25, 1 and 3 are presented. The measurements for the canopies with A _r = 1 and 3 are new, while the measurements for A _r = 0.25 were previously published. A passive scalar was continuously released from a near-ground point source, and the concentration was measured at several distances from the source and at different heights above the ground. Plume spreads, concentration and distance from the source were non-dimensionalized using length, time and velocity scales reflecting the geometry of the buildings. The scaling collapses the data for all aspect ratios and is valid when the vertical extent of the plume is smaller than the canopy height. The observed plume spreads are compared with analytical relations, which predict linear growth in both transverse and vertical directions. The observed mean concentration is compared with a Gaussian dispersion model that predicts a ?2 power-law decay with distance from the source.     

Thermal comfort in an east–west oriented street canyon in Freiburg (Germany) under hot summer conditions

Summary Field-measurements were conducted in an urban street canyon with an east–west orientation, and a height-to-width ratio H/W = 1 during cloudless summer weather in 2003 in Freiburg, Germany. This experimental work adds to the knowledge available on the microclimate of an urban canyon and its impact on human comfort. Air temperature T _a , air humidity VP, wind speed v and direction dd were measured continuously. All short-wave and long-wave radiation fluxes from the 3D surroundings were also measured. The degree of comfort was defined in terms of physiologically equivalent temperature (PET). Furthermore, the data gathered within the canyon were compared to data collected by a permanent urban climate station with the aim of furthering the understanding of microclimatic changes due to street geometry. Changes in the meteorological variables T _a , v and dd in the canyon in comparison to an unobstructed roof level location were found to be in good agreement with previous studies, i.e., a small increase of T _a in the canyon adjacent to irradiated surfaces, and a good correlation of v and dd between canyon and roof levels. The daily dynamics of canyon facet irradiances and their impacts on the heat gained by a pedestrian were strongly dependent on street geometry and orientation. Thermal stress was mostly attributable to solar exposure. Under cloudless summer weather, a standing body was found to absorb, on average, 74% of heat in the form of long-wave irradiance and 26% as short-wave irradiance. Shading the pedestrian as well as the surrounding surfaces is, hence, the first strategy in mitigating heat stress in summer under hot conditions.     

街谷环流和热力结构的数值模拟

文章介绍一种用于模拟街谷流场和温度场的动力学模式和热力学模式.应用动力模式模拟了方柱体塔楼和圆柱体塔楼形成的流场,应用动力和热力模式模拟了街谷中流场和温度场的日变化过程.计算实例表明,上述模式可用于城市街谷和建筑群风环境和热力环境研究以及街谷中空气污染物传输和扩散的计算.     

Transfer processes in a simulated urban street canyon

The transfer processes within and above a simulated urban street canyon were investigated in a generic manner. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to aid understanding and to produce some simple operational parameterisations. In this study we addressed specifically the commonly met situation where buoyancy effects arising from elevated surface temperatures are not important, i.e. when mechanical forces outweigh buoyancy forces. In a geophysical context this requires that some suitably defined Richardson number is small. From an engineering perspective this is interpreted as the important case when heat transfer within and above urban street canyons is by forced convection. Surprisingly, this particular scenario (for which the heat transfer coefficient between buildings and the flow is largest), has been less well studied than the situation where buoyancy effects are important. The CFD technique was compared against wind-tunnel experiments to provide model evaluation. The height-to-width ratio of the canyon was varied through the range 0.5–5 and the flow was normal to the canyon axis. By setting the canyon’s facets to have the same or different temperatures or to have a partial temperature distribution, simulations were carried out to investigate: (a) the influence of geometry on the flow and mixing within the canyon and (b) the exchange processes within the canyon and across the canyon top interface. Results showed that the vortex-type circulation and turbulence developed within the canyon produced a temperature distribution that was, essentially, spatially uniform (apart from a relatively thin near-wall thermal boundary layer) This allowed the temperatures within the street canyon to be specified by just one value T _can , the canyon temperature. The variation of T _can with wind speed, surface temperatures and geometry was extensively studied. Finally, the exchange velocity u _E across the interface between the canyon and the flow above was calculated based on a heat flux balance within the canyon and between the canyon and the flow above. Results showed that u _E was approximately 1% of a characteristic wind velocity above the street canyon. The problem of radiative exchange is not addressed but it can, of course, be introduced analytically, or computationally, when necessary.     

Impacts of Realistic Urban Heating. Part II: Air Quality and City Breathability

Urban morphology and inter-building shadowing result in a non-uniform distribution of surface heating in urban areas, which can significantly modify the urban flow and thermal field. In Part I, we found that in an idealized three-dimensional urban array, the spatial distribution of the thermal field is correlated with the orientation of surface heating with respect to the wind direction (i.e. leeward or windward heating), while the dispersion field changes more strongly with the vertical temperature gradient in the street canyon. Here, we evaluate these results more closely and translate them into metrics of “city breathability,” with large-eddy simulations coupled with an urban energy-balance model employed for this purpose. First, we quantify breathability by, (i) calculating the pollutant concentration at the pedestrian level (horizontal plane at \(z\approx 1.5\)–2 m) and averaged over the canopy, and (ii) examining the air exchange rate at the horizontal and vertical ventilating faces of the canyon, such that the in-canopy pollutant advection is distinguished from the vertical removal of pollution. Next, we quantify the change in breathability metrics as a function of previously defined buoyancy parameters, horizontal and vertical Richardson numbers (\(Ri_\text {h}\) and \(Ri_\text {v}\), respectively), which characterize realistic surface heating. We find that, unlike the analysis of airflow and thermal fields, consideration of the realistic heating distribution is not crucial in the analysis of city breathability, as the pollutant concentration is mainly correlated with the vertical temperature gradient (\(Ri_\text {v}\)) as opposed to the horizontal (\(Ri_\text {h}\)) or bulk (\(Ri_\text {b}\)) thermal forcing. Additionally, we observe that, due to the formation of the primary vortex, the air exchange rate at the roof level (the horizontal ventilating faces of the building canyon) is dominated by the mean flow. Lastly, since \(Ri_\text {h}\) and \(Ri_\text {v}\) depend on the meteorological factors (ambient air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction) as well as urban design parameters (such as surface albedo), we propose a methodology for mapping overall outdoor ventilation and city breathability using this characterization method. This methodology helps identify the effects of design on urban microclimate, and ultimately informs urban designers and architects of the impact of their design on air quality, human health, and comfort.     

An Improved Three-Dimensional Simulation of the Diurnally Varying Street-Canyon Flow

The impact of diurnal variations of the heat fluxes from building and ground surfaces on the fluid flow and air temperature distribution in street canyons is numerically investigated using the PArallelized Large-eddy Simulation Model (PALM). Simulations are performed for a 3 by 5 array of buildings with canyon aspect ratio of one for two clear summer days that differ in atmospheric instability. A detailed building energy model with a three-dimensional raster-type geometry—Temperature of Urban Facets Indoor-Outdoor Building Energy Simulator (TUF-IOBES)—provides urban surface heat fluxes as thermal boundary conditions for PALM. In vertical cross-sections at the centre of the spanwise canyon the mechanical forcing and the horizontal streamwise thermal forcing at roof level outweigh the thermal forces from the heated surfaces inside the canyon in defining the general flow pattern throughout the day. This results in a dominant canyon vortex with a persistent speed, centered at a constant height. Compared to neutral simulations, non-uniform heating of the urban canyon surfaces significantly modifies the pressure field and turbulence statistics in street canyons. Strong horizontal pressure gradients were detected in streamwise and spanwise canyons throughout the day, and which motivate larger turbulent velocity fluctuations in the horizontal directions rather than in the vertical direction. Canyon-averaged turbulent kinetic energy in all non-neutral simulations exhibits a diurnal cycle following the insolation on the ground in both spanwise and streamwise canyons, and it is larger when the canopy bottom surface is paved with darker materials and the ground surface temperature is higher as a result. Compared to uniformly distributed thermal forcing on urban surfaces, the present analysis shows that realistic non-uniform thermal forcing can result in complex local airflow patterns, as evident, for example, from the location of the vortices in horizontal planes in the spanwise canyon. This study shows the importance of three-dimensional simulations with detailed thermal boundary conditions to explore the heat and mass transport in an urban area.     

Atmospheric inversion strength over polar oceans in winter regulated by sea ice

Low-level temperature inversions are a common feature of the wintertime troposphere in the Arctic and Antarctic. Inversion strength plays an important role in regulating atmospheric processes including air pollution, ozone destruction, cloud formation, and negative longwave feedback mechanisms that shape polar climate response to anthropogenic forcing. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument provides reliable measures of spatial patterns in mean wintertime inversion strength when compared with available radiosonde observations and reanalysis products. Here, we examine the influence of sea ice concentration on inversion strength in the Arctic and Antarctic. Correlation of inversion strength with mean annual sea ice concentration, likely a surrogate for the effective thermal conductivity of the wintertime ice pack, yields strong, linear relationships in the Arctic (r?=?0.88) and Antarctic (r?=?0.86). We find a substantially greater (stronger) linear relationship between sea ice concentration and surface air temperature than with temperature at 850?hPa, lending credence to the idea that sea ice controls inversion strength through modulation of surface heat fluxes. As such, declines in sea ice in either hemisphere may imply weaker mean inversions in the future. Comparison of mean inversion strength in AIRS and global climate models (GCMs) suggests that many GCMs poorly characterize mean inversion strength at high latitudes.     

Fine-scale spatial temperature patterns across a UK conurbation

The public health implications of a warming urban environment mean that appropriate action by planners, designers and health workers will be necessary to minimise risk under future climate scenarios. Data at an appropriate spatial scale are required by user groups in order to identify key areas of vulnerability. Thermal mapping of a UK urban conurbation was carried out during the summers of 2007 and 2008 with the aim of providing high spatial resolution temperature data. The air temperature results showed an average daytime (night time) urban?Crural thermal contrast of 3°C (5°C) on summer days (nights) with ideal urban heat island (UHI) conditions. The intensity of the daytime surface temperature heat island was found to exceed 10°C. The measured data were used to derive an empirical model of spatial temperature patterns based upon characteristics of land use, distance from urban centre and building geometry. This model can be used to provide sub-kilometre resolution temperature data which are required by decision makers and can provide a mechanism for downscaling climate model output.     

A Laboratory Model for the Flow in Urban Street Canyons Induced by Bottom Heating

Water tank experiments are carried out to investigate the convection flow induced by bottom heating and the effects of the ambient wind on the flow in non-symmetrical urban street canyons based on the PIV (Particle Image Visualization) technique. Fluid experiments show that with calm ambient wind,the flows in the street canyon are completely driven by thermal force, and the convection can reach the upper atmosphere of the street canyon. Horizontal and vertical motions also appear above the roofs of the buildings. These are the conditions which favor the exchange of momentum and air mass between the street canyon and its environment. More than two vortices are induced by the convection, and the complex circulation pattern will vary with time in a wider street canyon. However， in a narrow street canyon， just one vortex appears. With a light ambient wind, the bottom heating and the associated convection result in just one main vortex. As the ambient wind speed increases, the vortex becomes more organized and its center shifts closer to the leeward building.