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| Introduction |
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When does a windbreak need renovation?
How does a windbreak work? (Underlined terms can be found in the glossary.)
Windbreaks slow down the wind and redirect the wind because of two main characteristics – trees are flexible and the windbreak as a whole is porous. Trees sway in the wind, absorbing some of the energy from the air current. They’re comparable to the shock-absorbers on a vehicle – the shocks absorb the up-and-down energy transmitted to the tires, minimizing the effects on the rest of the car. Also, windbreaks are not solid objects. They are porous and force wind to change direction from smooth, laminar flow to turbulent flow. This also slows down the wind, resulting in potentially large changes in the microclimate of the protected zone. The amount of area and location of the protected zone are based on the windbreak’s structure. The components of structure include: density, height, length, orientation, continuity, species and number of rows. However, the amount of windspeed reduction depends mainly on density.
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How does a windbreak work? |
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