Wind damage propagation in forests
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2015, vol. 214–215, p. 243-251
Elsevier Masson
English Abstract
A key issue for predicting and mitigating the risk of wind damage in forests is to understand the mechanics of damage propagation during windstorms. Until now the acting processes have been poorly understood due to the ...Read more >
A key issue for predicting and mitigating the risk of wind damage in forests is to understand the mechanics of damage propagation during windstorms. Until now the acting processes have been poorly understood due to the difficulty of performing measurements in such extreme conditions. Here we use an innovative wind–tree interaction model, which allows for large deflection and tree breakage, to unravel for the first time the mechanisms of damage propagation at forest scale. We find that damage propagation involves two stages. Firstly, initial damage is caused by the impact of strong downward wind gusts. Trees break preferentially at the end of such critical passing sweeps, as the tree motion decelerates. The second stage starts when the damaged areas reach about 5 canopy heights in length and 1 canopy height in width: as the flow accelerates within the damaged areas the mean wind load becomes sufficient to break newly-created edge trees. From this bifurcation point tree damage increases drastically, irrespective of the tree motion state and the type of passing gusts. In addition to demonstrating the possibility of simulating wind damage propagation, these results have considerable potential for improving wind risk models.Read less <
Keywords
damage propagation
English Keywords
forest wind damage
tree motion
wind risk
Origin
Hal imported