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The "Lascaux Simulator" revisited ? |
The
"Lascaux Simulator" is a digital simulator aimed at modeling the
climate of the cave so as to predict the effects of changes in the
external climate and of human interventions in the cavity on climatic
parameters inside the cave such as temperature, humidity, carbon
dioxide contents and convection currents.
Michel GoldbergDuring a recent communication to the members of the Lascaux International Scientific Council, it seems that a member of the team in charge of the Lascaux Simulator project has indicated that the model, as developped today, carries a flaw in the calculation of the "initial conditions" of the simulations. This flaw originates from the hypothesis, implicit to the model though not stated explicitely, that the surface of the ground above the cave is horizontal. According to this scientist, the consequence of this erroneous hypothesis is that the isotherms in the rock are supposed to be horizontal planes. According to the same source, this error should be soon corrected by taking into account, in the model, the shape of the hill above the cave. The LIST is happy to hear about the correction of this mistake, pointed out over a year ago in the "Post-symposium LIST report" as well in an analysis recently published on this site (Analyse critique du Simulateur de Lascaux fondée sur l’article de Lacanette et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (2009) 52, 2528-2542 - par Michel Goldberg – Octobre 2010), but wishes to draw the attention of the researchers involved in the development of the simulator on other factors, listed in the analysis cited above, likely to influence the shape of the underground isotherms. The LIST therefore strongly suggests that the simulator, once corrected by taking into account the shape of the surface, should be submitted - under conditions indicated in our analysis - to a rigorous experimental test of the predicted initial conditions. |
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