Characterization of Terrain-Induced Turbulence by Large-Eddy Simulation for Air Safety Considerations in Airport Siting

Abstract

Topography-induced turbulence poses a potential hazard for aviation safety, in particular during the final approach and landing. In this context, it is essential to assure that the impact of topography-induced turbulence on the flight paths during take-off and landing is minimized already during the design and planning phase. As an example of the siting and planning of a potential new airport in complex terrain, this study investigates the distribution of terrain-induced boundary layer turbulence in the vicinity of the current Lofoten airport at Leknes (LKN). For that purpose, large-eddy simulations (LES) have been performed with the PAralellized Large-eddy Simulation Model (PALM) on a 40×45×4km3 computational domain around LKN. An initial parametric sensitivity study resulted in a grid spacing of 50 m and an overall simulation time of 12 h for our individual model runs. A suite of 32 model simulations for 16 different wind directions and two geostrophic wind speeds of 10 ms−1 and 20 ms−1, was then performed and analysed. A turbulence risk analysis along idealized flight trajectories shows that the high-risk conditions are substantially determined by the wind conditions and their interaction with the topography. With respect to wind speed, the results indicate that for a geostrophic flow below 10 ms−1, the risk of aviation critical, terrain-induced boundary layer turbulence (BLT), is rather low in the vicinity of LKN. At 20 ms−1 the situation has completely changed, as for 14 out of 16 investigated wind directions the 9 m2s−2 aviation critical threshold of turbulent kinetic energy per unit air mass (TKE) is exceeded. In the northwesterly wind scenarios, the largest areas with critical turbulence in the vicinity of LKN are observed.