This paper investigates the flow through and over two-dimensional rectangular roughness elements, arranged in a building-street canyon geometry through a series of experiments. Geometries of different packing densities of the roughness elements (λp) were examined and the packing density values ranged from λp = 0.30 to 0.67. The purpose of the work is: (i) to investigate the flow physics observed both at the boundary layer scale as well as at the scale within the roughness elements for a range of packing densities, (ii) to deduce parameterizations of the adjusted rough boundary layer and their variation with a change in the packing density, and (iii) given a particular interest in and application to the urban atmosphere, a final aim at the roughness-element scale is to deduce the variation of the breathability with the packing density variation. Particle image velocimetery measurements of the velocity flow field as well as the turbulent kinetic energy and the Reynolds Stress (within and up to well-above the street canyons) were conducted. The results reveal qualitative flow features as well as features of the adjusted boundary layer structure—in particular the roughness and inertial sublayers, which can be associated with the surface roughness length, zero-plane displacement thickness, and the friction velocity. The lowest friction velocities are exhibited in the geometries with the highest- and lowest packing densities while the maximum friction velocities are observed in the medium-packed geometries. The exchange processes and breathability at the level of the roughness elements top were characterized and quantified by a mean exchange velocity. The results show that unlike friction velocity, the normalized exchange velocity (over the mean bulk velocity) for the most dense and sparse geometries differ by more than 80%, with the denser-packed geometries exhibiting lower exchange velocities; this is shown to be related with the thickness of the developed roughness sublayer.
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