Effects of planting patterns of shuikou Woodland on outdoor wind environment in traditional villages

With the in-depth advancement of rural revitalization, the improvement of rural wind environment has emerged as a critical criterion for evaluating human settlement quality. Here, we investigated shuikouWoodland, a unique ecological and cultural landscape distributed at the entrances and exits of traditional Huizhou villages. We employed PHOENICS numerical simulation validated by field measurements using a Biaozhi GM8902 + anemometer combined with an L1645 orthogonal design. Five key factors including tree height, crown shape, planting spacing, distance to the village and number of planting rows were selected to establish 16 planting patterns. Wind environment impacts at the 1.5 m pedestrian height were examined across three typical village types: strip-type, concentrated-type, and symbolic-type. Results demonstrated that adjusting planting patterns significantly enhanced outdoor wind comfort in villages. Under the optimal planting scheme, the proportion of the comfortable wind speed zone increased by 18.3% for strip-type villages, 15.1% for symbolic-type villages, and 12.7% for concentrated-type villages. The order of factor influence varied by village type: strip-type villages followed the order: number of planting rows > tree height > distance to the village > planting spacing > crown shape.symbolic-type villages showed the order of tree height greater than number of planting rows greater than crown shape greater than planting spacing greater than distance to the village; and concentrated-type villages showed the order of distance to the village greater than crown shape greater than planting spacing greater than number of planting rows greater than tree height. Prioritizing the top two dominant factors for each village type in shuikou Woodland planning can effectively reduce excessive wind speeds and improve wind comfort. This study provides valuable technical support for constructing livable rural wind environments adapted to the subtropical monsoon climate of Huizhou.