Laser Doppler velocimetry and particle image velocimetry measurements in a wind tunnel model of the jack rabbit II special sonic anemometer study

A 1:50 scale model of the Jack Rabbit II (JR-II) Mock Urban Environment (MUE) was constructed in the wind tunnel of the University of Arkansas. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) measurements show agreement between the approach wind characteristics in the tunnel model and field test. LDV velocity measurements within the MUE wind tunnel model also agree with the anemometry results obtained in JRII Special Sonic Anemometer Study (JRII-S) conducted in 2016. After demonstrating that the wind tunnel models the JRII-S field test with LDV measurements, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experiments were conducted to provide velocity measurements that could not be obtained in the field tests. Velocity measurements in a horizontal plane parallel to the ground were made to compare to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the JRII-S field tests found in the literature. PIV measurements taken in the wind tunnel model pointed out concerns with those simulations. •A 1:50 scale model of the Jack Rabbit II Field Test Mock Urban Environment was built in a wind tunnel.•Laser Doppler Velocimetry measurements agreed with upwind field-scale velocity and turbulence measurements.•2D Particle Image Velocimetry measurements are compared to field test Sonic Anemometer measurements around the model buildings.•Comparisons between wind tunnel PIV measurements and computational model predictions available in the literature are made.