Planning Strategies of Wind Corridor Forests Utilizing the Properties of Cold Air

Abstract

A wind corridor forest is defined as an urban forest for utilizing the functions of a wind corridor that allow “cool and fresh air (cold air)” generated in forests at night to flow to urban development areas. This study aims to provide planning strategies for implementing a wind corridor forest by analyzing current conditions in Haengbok City (HBC region), Sejong, South Korea. The HBC region had many wind-generating forests (WGF), wind-spreading forests (WSF), and wind-connecting forests (WCF), and secured the connections among the target areas of each wind corridor forest. Despite the favorable conditions for a wind corridor forest, cold air flow showed that there are regions with unfavorable wind conditions in the HBC region. In order to strengthen the functions of a wind corridor forests in the HBC region, four zones were distinguished according to the functional characteristics. Additionally, the planning strategies of a wind corridor forests suitable for each zone were provided, and the strategies for establishing a wind corridor forest were proposed. The results of this study can be used as the fundamental data for establishing guidelines for a wind corridor forest and utilized as resources for selecting regions suitable for a wind corridor forest.