arXiv subjects

Maarten van Reeuwijk

Publications and source records attributed to Maarten van Reeuwijk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Particle settling in turbidity currents: inertia-independent biased sampling

We investigate the mechanisms governing particle settling in turbidity currents using Eulerian-Lagrangian direct numerical simulations. The Eulerian carrier flow is driven either by solutal buoyancy or particle feedback, with the Lagrangian phase comprising passive tracers or inertial particles, respectively. The effective particle settling velocity is decomposed into a fluid velocity sampled at particle positions and a particle-fluid slip velocity. The Eulerian mean profiles of these velocities are obtained using a concentration-weighted average of the coarse-grained fields. The mean sampled fluid velocity is shown to be approximately equal to the ratio of the vertical turbulent flux of particles to their mean concentration and reflects biased sampling of upward turbulent fluctuations at particle positions, despite the zero Eulerian mean vertical fluid velocity. The passive-tracer cases show that the upward bias is inertia-independent and arises from turbulent transport acting on concentration gradients, as it persists for inhomogeneous tracer seeding but disappears under uniform seeding. For the weakly inertial regime considered here, the upward bias dominates downward-directed biases associated with particle inertia. The mean slip velocity is well approximated by the terminal settling velocity predicted for a quiescent fluid. This is consistent with a leading-order balance between buoyancy and drag in the slope-normal direction. Modelling the sampled fluid velocity from the turbulent flux and using the slip-velocity approximation yield an Eulerian prediction for the settling velocity, in good agreement with the simulation data for the dilute, weakly inertial particles considered here.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Intermittent turbulence in inclined gravity currents

Inclined gravity currents on shallow slopes can exhibit pronounced turbulence intermittency. Using direct numerical simulations, we investigate this behaviour for a temporal gravity current over a range of initial Reynolds numbers $Re_0$. For $Re_0=2500$ and a slope angle of $0.5^\circ$, the outer layer of the current exhibits large excursions in turbulence intensity and repeated transitions between turbulent and weakly turbulent states. Analysis of the flow energetics reveals that the intermittency is associated with a finite delay between shear production and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy. During transitional phases, this delay permits a transient amplification of turbulence, which significantly weakens the mean shear by extracting kinetic energy from the mean flow and promoting entrainment-driven layer growth, ultimately leading to relaminarisation. Increasing $Re_0$ reduces the delay and progressively suppresses intermittency, steering the flow towards a more sustained turbulent state. Motivated by these observations, we develop an autonomous delay-differential model based on the coupled evolution of the mean and turbulent kinetic energies. The model reproduces the observed transition from intermittent to sustained turbulence as the delay is reduced and predicts an increased tendency towards intermittency at larger flux Richardson numbers. The results support an interpretation of intermittent turbulence in inclined gravity currents as a delay-induced oscillation arising from the finite adjustment time of turbulence to changes in the mean flow.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Revisiting the phenomenon of bouncing of inertial particles crossing density stratified interfaces

Inertial spheres settling through sharp density interfaces can arrest, reverse direction, and resume descent, a phenomenon known as bouncing. Using synchronized particle image velocimetry and tracking in water-salt and water-glycerol stratifications, we demonstrate that bouncing is the dynamic response of a coupled sphere-fluid composite. As the sphere crosses the interface, it entrains a boundary layer of lighter fluid, creating a transient buoyant wake. We formalize this mechanism into a phenomenological dynamic model that couples the momentum of the sphere with the entrainment and detachment of the wake. Evaluating the stationary points of this system yields a criterion that classifies trajectory archetypes (smooth crossing, deep minima, and bouncing) across different fluid regimes. We identify a dual role of viscosity, which is often overlooked by density-only models: it acts kinematically to thicken the boundary layer and increase the entrained wake volume, and dynamically to alter the drag-to-weight balance. Furthermore, we describe the spatial dynamics of the crossing: inertia-dominated spheres penetrate further into the lower fluid before arresting due to a longer wake-detachment length, whereas buoyancy-dominated spheres arrest closer to the interface. Finally, we show that the retention time is governed by the buoyancy-driven detachment of the entrained film. By normalizing the measured retention times with a characteristic detachment timescale, we collapse the data from different viscosity regimes onto a single curve. These physical insights allow the prediction of trajectory archetype, deceleration depth, and retention time from bulk properties.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Parameter estimation for land-surface models using Neural Physics

We propose a novel inverse-modelling approach that estimates the parameters of a simple land-surface model (LSM) by assimilating data into a differentiable, physics-based forward model formulated using convolutional operations. The governing equations are expressed within the Neural Physics framework, allowing direct gradient-based optimisation of time-dependent parameters without the need to derive and maintain adjoint formulations. The model parameters are estimated by minimising the mismatch between model predictions and synthetic or observational data. Although differentiability is enabled through machine-learning libraries, the forward model itself remains entirely physics-based and neither the forward model nor the parameter estimation procedure involve training. To evaluate the approach, we first generate synthetic observations of soil temperature by running the forward model with known parameter values and subsequently treat these parameters as unknown in an inverse problem. We show that observations of soil temperature at a single depth are insufficient to reliably constrain the model parameters. Using observations at two depths, however, does yield reliable parameter estimates, although the individual contributions of latent and sensible heat fluxes cannot be distinguished. We also apply the approach to urban flux tower data from Phoenix, United States, and show that the thermal conductivity, volumetric heat capacity and the combined sensible-latent heat transfer coefficient can be reliably estimated whilst using an observed value for the effective surface albedo. The resulting model accurately predicts the outgoing longwave radiation, conductive soil fluxes and the combined sensible-latent heat fluxes, demonstrating that the Neural Physics framework can be used to accurately determine the parameters of the particular LSM used here...

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2026

Inpainting U-Net for seamless pedestrian-level wind prediction across urban morphologies

Pedestrian-level wind prediction is essential for urban design and wind-comfort assessment, but high-fidelity simulations such as LES remain computationally expensive for rapid evaluation. This study develops a two-stage U-Net framework for efficient prediction of time-averaged pedestrian-level wind speed over realistic urban morphologies. The model is trained and evaluated using the UrbanTALES dataset, which contains realistic city configurations under different approaching wind directions. In the first stage, a baseline U-Net model (M1) predicts wind fields patch-by-patch from normalised building height and fetch information. This formulation allows application to urban domains of arbitrary size, but independent patch inference can introduce discontinuities at patch boundaries. To address this, a second U-Net model (M2) is introduced as an inpainting-based refinement model. M2 uses a larger contextual window containing the initial M1 prediction and local morphology to reduce discontinuities using neighbouring flow information. During full-field inference, M2 is applied iteratively using a Gauss-Seidel scheme until convergence. Results show that M1 captures the main spatial distribution of pedestrian-level wind speed and performs well in low- and moderate-velocity regions, although high-velocity peaks are less accurate. M2 substantially reduces patch-boundary artefacts and improves spatial coherence. Across unseen urban cases, the framework reproduces mean velocity and spatial variability reasonably well, while maximum velocities remain underestimated. Overall, the proposed framework provides an efficient and flexible surrogate model for high-resolution pedestrian-level wind prediction across realistic urban morphologies.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2026

Building drag and shielding in a realistic urban environment

Shielding by upstream buildings is a fundamental control on urban drag, yet its influence remains poorly quantified in realistic urban environments. Here, we investigate shielding effects using building-resolved large-eddy simulations of the University of Bristol campus, comprising 110 buildings of varying height, shape and orientation. Twenty-four wind directions are considered, allowing each building to experience a wide range of upstream shielding conditions. While the total drag of the campus exhibits only moderate directional variability, the drag acting on individual buildings varies substantially. In the present case, approximately $20\%$ of buildings account for $80\%$ of the total drag, which is primarily attributed to a small number of large buildings that contribute disproportionately high drag forces. To quantify shielding, we introduce two dimensionless parameters: the upstream fetch ratio, $L_s/H_s$, and the relative height ratio, $H_s/H$, where $L_s$ is the distance to the nearest upstream obstacle, $H_s$ is the height of the upstream obstacle, and $H$ is the height of the target building. These parameters distinguish between near- and far-wake conditions and between sheltered and exposed buildings, providing a simple method to characterise shielding effects in realistic urban environments. The study provides valuable quantitative insight into drag and shielding in the Bristol campus morphology; more importantly, it establishes a general framework for analysing drag and shielding that can be applied in other complex urban environments. The results identify shielding as a primary control on building drag and motivate shielding-aware measures of effective frontal area and drag coefficient

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2026

Multi-scale flow analysis for scale-aware urban-canopy models

As Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models approach hectometric resolution, they increasingly enter a regime where urban heterogeneity is only partially resolved and the assumptions underlying conventional urban canopy models (UCMs) become questionable. To address this scale gap, we apply a multi-scale coarse-graining framework (van Reeuwijk and Huang 2025, Boundary-Layer Meteorology) to building-resolving Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) of the University of Bristol campus. Two related morphologies are considered: an original layout with large open-space contrasts and a modified configuration with these regions infilled. By systematically filtering the LES fields, we quantify how flow heterogeneity evolves with resolution and identify a characteristic urban length scale at which resolved and unresolved variability are comparable. This scale is strongly morphology-dependent, with values of about 256 m for the original layout and 64 m for the modified case, showing that neighbourhood-scale organisation can remain important at resolutions relevant to next-generation NWP. We then perform an a priori assessment of distributed drag and turbulent-stress parameterisations. Parameterisations derived from idealised geometries perform reasonably well only at sufficiently coarse resolutions, where horizontal transport is negligible and the flow appears approximately homogeneous. At finer resolutions, their fidelity degrades rapidly because of increasing heterogeneity and filter-to-filter variability in morphology, with stronger limitations in realistic layouts than in idealised cuboid arrays. Overall, the results show that the applicability of urban parameterisations depends critically on the relationship between model resolution and a morphology-dependent heterogeneity scale, providing a systematic route for developing scale-aware UCMs for high-resolution NWP.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Multi-scale analysis of flow over heterogeneous urban environments

A computationally efficient multi-scale planar-averaging framework for urban areas is developed, which enables efficient computation of coarse-grained velocity and scalar fields. We apply the multi-scale framework to a large-eddy simulation of an idealised heterogeneous urban environment of 512 buildings based on a typical London height distribution. We observe that for this geometry, the characteristic urban lengthscale $\ell \approx$ 50 m, which is the averaging lengthscale L at which as much variance in the mean flow is resolved as is unresolved. For $L>400$ m, the statistics become approximately homogeneous, suggesting that non-building-resolving numerical weather prediction (NWP) models can be applied without modification at resolutions of 400 m and above for the case under consideration. We derive the multi-scale plane- and Reynolds-averaged momentum equation and show that for neutral cases, NWP models require parameterisation of the distributed drag and the unresolved turbulence and dispersive stress. An a priori analysis reveals that the drag parameterisation from Sutzl et al. 2020, Bound-Layer Meteorol., 178:225-248 holds reasonably well for resolutions $L$ above 200 m. Below this value, the problem becomes inhomogeneous and the parameterisation works less well. The unresolved stresses are well represented by a $k-ω$ closure with a value of $ω=0.4/s$. However, an even more accurate closure can be derived from the Sutzl drag parameterisation that does not require further turbulence information.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Structure and scaling of inclined gravity currents

We explore the fundamental flow structure of inclined gravity currents with direct numerical simulations. A velocity maximum naturally divides the current into inner and outer shear layers, which are weakly coupled by exchange of momentum and buoyancy on timescales that are much longer than the typical timescale characterizing either layer. The outer layer evolves to a self-similar regime with flow parameters taking constant characteristic values. The flow behaviour in the outer layer is consistent with that found in a current on a free-slip slope by van Reeuwijk et al. ($\textit{J. Fluid Mech.}$, vol. 873, 2019, pp. 786-815), and the integral buoyancy forcing in the layer is balanced solely by entrainment drag. The inner layer evolves to a quasi-steady state, in which the buoyancy forcing is approximately balanced by wall drag. The inner layer can be further decomposed into viscous and turbulent wall regions that have much in common with fully developed open channel flow. Using scaling laws within each layer and a matching condition at the velocity maximum, we solve the entire flow system as a function of slope angle $α$, in good agreement with the simulation data. We further derive an entrainment law from the solution, which exhibits relatively high accuracy across a wide range of Richardson numbers and provides new insights into the long-runout of oceanographic gravity currents on mild slopes.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

The drag length is key to quantifying tree canopy drag

The effects of trees on urban flows are often determined using computational fluid dynamics approaches which typically use a quadratic drag formulation based on the leaf-area density $a$ and a volumetric drag coefficient $C_{d}^V$ to model vegetation. In this paper, we develop an analytical model for the flow within a vegetation canopy and identify that the drag length $\ell_d = (a C_d^V)^{-1}$ is the key metric to describe the local tree drag characteristics. A detailed study of the literature suggests that the median $\ell_d$ observed in field experiments is $21$ m for trees and $0.7$ m for low vegetation (crops). A total of $168$ large-eddy simulations are conducted to obtain a closed form of the analytical model. The model allows determining $a$ and $C_d^V$ from wind-tunnel experiments that typically present the drag characteristics in terms of the classical drag coefficient $C_d$ and the aerodynamic porosity $α_L$. We show that geometric scaling of $\ell_d$ is the appropriate scaling of trees in wind tunnels. Evaluation of $\ell_d$ for numerical simulations and wind-tunnel experiments (assuming geometric scaling $1:100$) in literature shows that the median $\ell_d$ in both these cases is about $5$ m, suggesting possible overestimation of vegetative drag.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Energy and environmental impacts of air-to-air heat pumps in a mid-latitude city

Heat pumps (HPs) have emerged as a key technology for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This study evaluates the potential switch to air-to-air HPs (AAHPs) in Toulouse, France, where conventional space heating is split between electric and gas sources. In this context, we find that AAHPs reduce heating energy consumption by 57% to 76%, with electric heating energy consumption decreasing by 6% to 47%, resulting in virtually no local heating-related CO$_{2}$ emissions. We observe a slight reduction in near-surface air temperature of up to 0.5 °C during cold spells, attributable to a reduction in sensible heat flux, which is unlikely to compromise AAHPs operational efficiency. While Toulouse's heating energy mix facilitates large energy savings, electric energy consumption may increase in cities where gas or other fossil fuel sources prevail. Furthermore, as AAHPs efficiency varies with internal and external conditions, their impact on the electrical grid is more complex than conventional heating systems. The results underscore the importance of matching heating system transitions with sustainable electricity generation to maximize environmental benefits. The study highlights the intricate balance between technological advancements in heating and their broader environmental and policy implications, offering key insights for urban energy policy and sustainability efforts.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2024

Robustness of point measurements of carbon dioxide concentration for the inference of ventilation rates in a wintertime classroom

Indoor air quality in schools and classrooms is paramount for the health and well-being of pupils and staff. CO2 monitors offer a cost-effective way to assess and manage ventilation provision. However, often only a single point measurement is available which might not be representative of the CO2 distribution within the room. A relatively generic UK classroom in wintertime is simulated using CFD. The natural ventilation provision is driven by buoyancy through high- and low-level openings in both an opposite-ended or single-ended configuration, in which only the horizontal location of the high-level vent is modified. CO2 is modelled as a passive scalar and is shown not to be `well-mixed' within the space. Perhaps surprisingly, the single-ended configuration leads to a `more efficient' ventilation, with lower average CO2 concentration. Measurements taken near the walls, often the location of CO2 monitors, are compared with those made throughout the classroom and found to be more representative of the ventilation rate if made above the breathing zone. These findings are robust with respect to ventilation flow rates and to the flow patterns observed, which were tested by varying the effective vent areas and the ratio of the vent areas.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Uniformly distributed floor sources of buoyancy can give rise to significant spatial inhomogeneities within rooms

Displacement ventilation, where cool external air enters a room through low-level vents and warmer air leaves through high-level vents, is characterised by vertical gradients in pressure arising from the warmer indoor temperatures. Models usually assume that horizontal variations of temperature difference are small in comparison and are, therefore, unimportant. Small-scale laboratory experiments and computational fluid dynamics were used to examine these flows, driven by a uniformly heated floor. These experiments and simulations show that the horizontal variations of temperature difference can be neglected for predictions of the bulk ventilation rate; however, they also evidence that these horizontal variations can be significant and play a critical role in establishing the pattern of flow within the room -- this renders the horizontal position of the low- and high-level vents (relative to one another) important. We consider two cases: single-ended (where inlet and outlet are at the same end of the room) and opposite-ended. In both cases the ventilation flow rate is the same. However, in the opposite-ended case a dead zone is established in the upper part of the room which results in significant horizontal variations. We consider the formation of this dead zone by examining the streamline patterns and the age of air within the room. We discuss the implications for occupant exposure to pollutants and airborne disease.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

The internal structure of forced fountains

We study the mixing processes inside a forced fountain using data from direct numerical simulation. The outer boundary of the fountain with the ambient is a turbulent/non-turbulent interface. Inside the fountain, two internal boundaries, both turbulent/turbulent interfaces, are identified: 1) the classical boundary between upflow and downflow which is composed of the loci of points of zero mean vertical velocity; and 2) the streamline that separates the mean flow emitted by the source from the entrained fluid from the ambient (the separatrix). We show that entrainment due to turbulent fluxes across the internal boundary is at least as important as that by the mean flow. However, entrainment by the turbulence behaves substantively differently from that by the mean flow and cannot be modelled using the same assumptions. This presents a challenge for existing models of turbulent fountains and other environmental flows that evolve inside turbulent environments.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Machine Learning Emulation of Urban Land Surface Processes

Can we improve the modeling of urban land surface processes with machine learning (ML)? A prior comparison of urban land surface models (ULSMs) found that no single model is 'best' at predicting all common surface fluxes. Here, we develop an urban neural network (UNN) trained on the mean predicted fluxes from 22 ULSMs at one site. The UNN emulates the mean output of ULSMs accurately. When compared to a reference ULSM (Town Energy Balance; TEB), the UNN has greater accuracy relative to flux observations, less computational cost, and requires fewer input parameters. When coupled to the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model using TensorFlow bindings, WRF-UNN is stable and more accurate than the reference WRF-TEB. Although the application is currently constrained by the training data (1 site), we show a novel approach to improve the modeling of surface fluxes by combining the strengths of several ULSMs into one using ML.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2021

Transition from shear-dominated to Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence

Turbulent mixing layers in nature are often characterized by the presence of a mean shear and an unstable buoyancy gradient between two streams of different velocity. Depending on the relative strength of shear versus buoyancy, either the former or the latter may dominate the turbulence and mixing between the two streams. In this paper, we present a phenomenological theory that leads to the identification of two distinct turbulent regimes: an early regime, dominated by the mean shear, and a later regime dominated by the buoyancy. The main theoretical result consists of the identification of a cross-over time-scale that discerns between the shear- and the buoyancy-dominated turbulence. This cross-over time depends on three large-scale constants of the flow, namely the buoyancy difference, the velocity difference between the two streams, and the gravitational acceleration. We validate our theory against direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of a temporal turbulent mixing layer compounded with an unstable stratification. We observe that the cross-over time correctly predicts the transition from shear to buoyancy driven turbulence, in terms of turbulent kinetic energy production, energy spectra scaling and mixing layer thickness.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Unified description of turbulent entrainment

We present a mathematical description of turbulent entrainment that is applicable to free shear problems that evolve in space, time or both. Defining the global entrainment velocity $\overline V_g$ to be the fluid motion across an isosurface of an averaged scalar, we find that for a slender flow, $\overline V_g=\overline u_ζ- \overline{D}h_t/\overline{D}t$, where $\overline D/\overline D t$ is the material derivative of the average flowfield and $\overline u_ζ$ is the average velocity perpendicular to the flow direction across the interface located at $ζ=h_t$. The description is shown to reproduce well-known results for the axisymmetric jet, the planar wake and the temporal jet, and provides a clear link between the local (small-scale) and global (integral) descriptions of turbulent entrainment. Application to unsteady jets/plumes demonstrates that, under unsteady conditions, the entrainment coefficient $α$ no longer only captures entrainment of ambient fluid, but also time-dependency effects due to the loss of self-similarity.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Transient stratification force on particles crossing a density interface

We perform a series of experiments to measure Lagrangian trajectories of settling and rising particles as they traverse a density interface of thickness $h$ using an index-matched water-salt-ethanol solution. The experiments confirm the substantial deceleration that particles experience as a result of the additional force exerted on the particle due to the sudden change in density. This stratification force is calculated from the measurement data for all particle trajectories. In the absence of suitable parameterizations in the literature, a simple phenomenological model is developed which relies on parameterizations of the effective wake volume and recovery time scale. The model accurately predicts the particle trajectories obtained in our experiments and those of \cite{Fernando1999}. Furthermore, the model demonstrates that the problem depends on four key parameters, namely the entrance Reynolds number $Re_1$, entrance Froude number $Fr$, particle to fluid density ratio $ρ_p/ρ_f$, and relative interface thickness $h/a$.

physics.flu-dyn↗