Pukyong National University

Pukyong National University Student Significantly Improves Accuracy of Urban Wind Corridor Prediction

- Master’s student Lee Hyun-Jong and Professor Kim Jae-Jin’s team successfully implement “Cut-cell” technology

- Published in the international journal Sustainable Cities and Society

Lee Hyun-Jong, a first-year master’s student in the Major in Environmental Atmospheric Sciences at Pukyong National University, has successfully implemented “Cut-cell” technology that significantly improves the accuracy of urban wind corridor prediction using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model.

Lee Hyun-Jong (first author) and Professor Kim Jae-Jin (corresponding author) published their paper, ‘Enhancing geometric fidelity and wind-field prediction accuracy in complex urban environments using a Cartesian cut-cell CFD model,’ in the globally renowned journal in urban microclimate and thermal environment studies, <Sustainable Cities and Society> (Impact Factor: 12.0) on April 1.

The complex arrangement of buildings in modern cities distorts airflow patterns, directly affecting the dispersion of air pollutants and the urban heat island effect. Conventional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models have primarily used the “Stair-step” method, which represents sloped or curved building surfaces in a step-like form. However, this approach has had a persistent limitation in that it distorts actual terrain and building geometry, thereby reducing prediction accuracy.

In this study, Lee Hyun-Jong, a master’s student, successfully integrated the ‘Cartesian cut-cell’ method into a Reynolds-Averaged Navier？Stokes (RANS)-based CFD model. This technique enables the precise representation of building edges and road boundaries in a manner closely resembling real-world conditions, without requiring a significant increase in mesh resolution.

The research team validated the model using real observational data from Niigata City provided by the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ). The results showed that the new cut-cell model improved the Index of Agreement (IOA) by 18% compared to conventional methods, while reducing the Mean Bias (MB) by 55%, demonstrating outstanding performance.

In particular, the model was highly evaluated for its ability to accurately reproduce fine-scale airflow occurring in narrow gaps between buildings and densely built urban areas, closely reflecting real-world conditions.

Professor Kim Jae-Jin stated, “It is quite rare for research of this level to be published in a top-tier journal during a short master’s program. This study is expected to serve as a key technological foundation for future applications such as urban wind corridor design, the production of meteorological information for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), and the development of fine dust reduction strategies.”

Professor Kim Jae-Jin’s research team conducted this study with support from the Korea Meteorological Administration’s project on developing core technologies for the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) safe operation system (RS-2024-00404042) and the Forest Science and Technology R&D Program of the Korea Forest Service (RS-2025-25404070). <Pukyong Today>