Atmospheric Turbulence over Heterogeneous Landscapes: Canopy–Terrain Flows, Fires, and Firebrands

Speaker: Dr Alec Petersen, Duke University, USA Organiser: Prof. Mirko Musa, head of STREEM Lab <strong>Abstract</strong><br> Natural land surfaces exhibit complexity across surface type, spatial organization, and scale, yet their effects on the atmospheric boundary layer are commonly represented through bulk quantities such as roughness lengths, canopy-cover fractions, and drag coefficients. These representations can miss localized flow structures important for applications ranging from wind-energy forecasting to wildfire behavior.<br> I will present wind-tunnel experiments examining flow over valley terrain with six configurations of homogeneous and patchy canopy cover. Particle imag