Aerodynamic roughness over an inhomogeneous ground surface

The aerodynamic roughness parameter z ₀ over inhomogeneous ground surfaces, such as cities, rural towns and so on, is determined by analyzing the wind data at AMeDAS observatories in the Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan, by making use of Rossby number similarity theory. It is found that the aerodynamic roughness parameter is proportional to the average size of the roughness elements.A practical method of estimating the aerodynamic roughness parameter over an extensive area with various inhomogeneities is developed. In this method, the Digital National Land Information data bank is employed. As an example, the roughness parameter distribution around Tsukuba Academic City is presented.