Similarity conditions and cube model tests of snow drift and precipitation preferential deposition patterns

We explore the process of modeling aeolian snow transport around buildings by proposing a set of similarity requirements on simulating a single snow fall event with drifting. The similarity criteria are used to guide our wind tunnel tests from the particle selection to the simulation set-up, including the determination of test wind speed, snowfall intensity and transported snow profile. In parallel, a specific field experiment on snow precipitation and drift around a 1-m prototype cube was achieved in Harbin to serve as the reference for the subsequent test validation. After reproducing a target wind and snow environment with a scale of 1:4 versus that of the prototype measurement, two verification tests were put forward using snow and substitution particles, which can mimic the effects of changing wind directions on the snow distribution. Herein, the wind tunnel and outside prototype results show good qualitative agreement in our limited range of length scales and particle properties. In future work, the range of scales and range of parameter values should be increased.