How Does WindNinja Work?
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- Build a 3-D model (mesh) of the air
- prescribe an initial wind field
- compute final mass/momentum conserving wind field.
- Requires a good estimate of the initial wind field
- Adjusts for terrain (conservation of mass/momentum)
- Parameterizations for some other effects (e.g., diurnal slope flows)
To see a live WindNinja Simulation Online click here
Assumptions
- No moisture/latent heat effects, steady-state, no conservation of energy
- Conservation of momentum is optional
- Some thermal energy parameterizations
- diurnal slope flows, non-neutral atmospheric stability
Advantages
- Fast
- low computational requirements
- simple to run
- high spatial resolution
Limitations
- No conservation of energy or large-scale/complex flow effects (e.g., land-sea breezes, thunderstorms)
