Numerical Simulation of Snow Deposition Around living Snow Fences

John Petrie et al.
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:15:32 PDT

In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the air flow around porous snow fences to gain insight into snow transport and deposition in the vicinity of fences. Numerical simulations were performed to validate the CFD approach using experimental data from a wind tunnel study. Subsequent simulations were used to test the use of a porosity model to represent fence geometry and determine the effect of fence spacing for fences comprised of multiple rows. The results demonstrate that CFD simulations can reproduce the aerodynamics around porous fences. Additionally, the flow field generated with a porosity model is in close agreement with that from a model with explicit representation of fence porosity. Simulations of fences comprised of two rows spaced at various distances demonstrate that when the row spacing is small the fence behaves as a single row.