This is the review of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) guidelines for dispersion modeling in the USA, Japan and Germany. Most parts of this review are based on the short report of the special meeting on CFD Guidelines held at the International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2014), University of Hamburg, June 2014. The objective of this meeting was to introduce and discuss the action program to make worldwide guidelines of CFD gas-dispersion modeling. The following six gas-dispersion guidelines including Verification and Validation (V&V) schemes are introduced by each author; (1) US CFD guidelines; (2) COST/ES1006; (3) German VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure) guidelines; (4) Atomic Energy Society of Japan; (5) Japan Society of Atmospheric Environment; (6) Architectural Institute of Japan. All guidelines were summarized in the same format table shown in the main chapters in order to compare them with each other. In addition to the summary of guidelines, the overview of V&V schemes and many guidelines of CFD modeling in the USA are explained.

Solving the hydrodynamical equations in urban canopies often requires substantial computational resources. This is especially the case when tackling urban wind comfort issues. In this article, a novel and efficient technique for predicting wind velocity is discussed. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations of the Michaelstadt wind tunnel experiment and the Tel Aviv center are used to supervise a machine learning function. Using the machine learning function it is possible to observe wind flow patterns in the form of eddies and spirals emerging from street canyons. The flow patterns observed in urban canopies tend to be predominantly localized, as the machine learning algorithms utilized for flow prediction are based on local morphological features.

The local climate in cities differs from the one in rural areas, most prominently characterized by increased surface and air temperatures, known as the “(surface) urban heat island”. As climate has changed and continues to change in all areas of the world, the question arises whether the effects that are noticeable in urban areas are “homemade”, or whether some of them originate from global and regional scale climate changes. Identifying the locally induced changes of urban meteorological parameters is especially relevant for the development of adaptation and mitigation measures. This study aims to distinguish global and regional climate change signals from those induced by urban land cover. Therefore, it provides a compilation of observed and projected climate changes, as well as urban influences on important meteorological parameters. It is concluded that evidence for climate change signals is found predominantly in air temperature. The effect of urban land cover on local climate can be detected for several meteorological parameters, which are air and surface temperature, humidity, and wind. The meteorology of urban areas is a mixture of signals in which the influencing parameters cannot be isolated, but can be assessed qualitatively. Blending interactions between local effects and regional changes are likely to occur.

Wind tunnel measurements over a regular array of cubes were carried out to investigate the influence of surface inhomogeneities on the development of the urban boundary layer. Two idealised cases were investigated. The first one was in terms of a strong step change in roughness from very smooth to very rough with a low turbulent approach flow and a thin approach boundary layer. For this case it was found that a very long fetch was needed until the flow reaches equilibrium with its underlying surface. In the second case the approach boundary flow was turbulent and equilibrium was reached much faster, but the necessary fetch was still significant. The results were compared and conclusions for roughness parameterisations in numerical models were drawn.