Quantifying the impact of urban geometric detail for urban air mobility risk forecasting

Journal Article (2025)
Author(s)

A. Patil (TU Delft - Urban Data Science)

C. Garcia Sanchez (TU Delft - Urban Data Science)

Research Group
Urban Data Science
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106750
More Info
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Publication Year
2025
Language
English
Research Group
Urban Data Science
Volume number
132
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Abstract

Wind flow predictions in realistic urban areas are sensitive to a wide range of governing parameters such as building resolution, wind incidence, urban morphology, and underlying topography, to name a few. In this study, we systematically study the impact of the geometric level of detail (LoD) of the urban built environment using a Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) computational framework specifically tailored for urban air mobility. Using a wind-incidence angular resolution of 1 ◦ , we simulated a total of 1440 simulations for two distinct urban areas and developed a probabilistic risk metric ([...]) based on velocity and turbulence fields that allow us to compare the impact of LoD 1.2 (lower geometric detail) and LoD 2.2 (higher geometric detail). Comparing the wind-rose weighted average velocity and the risk map, we found that LoD 2.2 provides a more conservative prediction for high-risk areas than LoD 1.2, suggesting the need to adopt higher geometric details when applicable. Our results present a cautionary view on the impact of LoD and how automatic reconstruction can further the efficiency of current wind engineering practices.