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SUMMARY:Idioms of sustainability in ancient Anuradhapura - Dr Sat Ghosh
DTSTART:20150608T103000Z
DTEND:20150608T113000Z
UID:TALK59701@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Amanda Maycock
DESCRIPTION:Located in the North Central Province region\, Anuradhapura wa
 s established as the first capital of Sri Lanka in the 4th century BC and 
 remained so for nearly 10 centuries. It is an archaeologist's paradise and
  is home to many monuments of historical significance like the Jetavana vi
 hara and the Great Brazen Monastery\, arguably the world's first sky-scrap
 er. It also contains some of the world's oldest\, tallest and best preserv
 ed stupas - the Ruwanveli and the Jetavana stupas. It continues to be one 
 of the most sacred cities for Buddhists all over the world and the stupas 
 enshrine the Buddha's bones and other relics of veneration.\n\nAlthough a 
 lot has been written about Anuradhapura from a historical view-point\, thi
 s seminar is a unique take on the sacred city from a mechanical engineerin
 g perspective. We use of state-of-the-art engineering software and models 
 to establish thermal comfort indices to ascertain the habitability of the 
 monks roughly a 1000 year ago. Additionally\, the WRF (Weather Research an
 d Forecasting) has been used to establish the flow rates through Anuradhap
 ura’s water channels\, and the structural integrity of the great stupas 
 after incorporating their unique form and fabric properties has been deter
 mined. \n\nThe talk will  show how buildings in Anuradhapura adapted to th
 e local microclimate. Anuradhapura receives limited rainfall\, mostly duri
 ng the north-east monsoon. The talk will illustrate first the replication 
 of the seasonal precipitation patterns using NASA’s WRF model along with
  the nuances of wind flow perturbations modulated by the undulating topogr
 aphy and  the presence of the massive stupas using ENVI Met. Thereafter\, 
 3D simulations will illustrate how the predicted received precipitation we
 re contained\, first into enormous catchment areas\, and thence siphoned o
 ff into ornate bathing tanks and conduits-amply justifying Anuradhpura’s
  fame in the ancient world as the pioneers of hydraulic air conditioning. 
 Atmospheric wind flow patterns in the lower boundary layer are replicated 
 in telling details and are used to ascertain the main thermal comfort indi
 ces.
LOCATION:Todd Hamied Room\,  Department of Chemistry
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