Large Eddy Simulation of Pollen Dispersion in the Atmosphere

Abstract

Pollen dispersion by the wind is a subject of interest in many fields which has gained renewed attention in the recent years due to the increasing level of landscape fragmentation and the introduction of genetically modified crops. Accurate quantitative estimates of the three-dimensional plume of airborne pollen grains and consequent ground deposition from an emitting field are usually required. A large number of field experiments has been conducted to investigate the problem. However, the results are expected to depend upon several factors, such as aerodynamic properties of the pollen grains, geometric properties of the field, and local vegetation and atmospheric conditions, limiting the validity of experimental results to specific field conditions. Up to date, simulations of pollen dispersal were restricted to the use of Lagrangian stochastic models [6] and two-dimensional RANS models [4]. In this work we describe tools and frameworks to simulate pollen dispersal using large eddy simulation (LES).