Spatial Variability of Wind Over Lake Carnegie

Abstract

The goal of this study was to learn how wind affects Lake Carnegie and Princeton University’s Lake Campus. Wind over the lake and campus impacts the rowing on the lake, which I have a particular interest in because I am on the Princeton University Men’s Heavyweight Rowing team. The wind over the lake and campus also affects current and future construction and how land is used in the area. Given that Princeton University is urbanizing a lot of the land around the lake and adding buildings, it is useful to know the effect these changes will have on the environment. I answer two questions in this dissertation: (1) how does the vegetation, topography, and buildings surrounding Lake Carnegie affect the wind on the eastern part of the lake, and (2) how will the new Lake Campus Plan affect the wind on the western portion of Lake Carnegie and the Lake Campus environment. By running extensive simulations of realistic models in ENVI-met, I found that the elements surrounding the lake contribute to the roughness and heterogeneity of the area, which play a vital role in modulating wind speed over the region. I also found that the changes to the Lake Campus environment will not have profound effects on the lake; however, they will have an impact on the surrounding land that will significantly affect pedestrians.