NCE SMART Blog

Abstract  A simple energy balance model which simulates the thermal regime of urban and rural surfaces under calm, cloudless conditions at night is used to assess the relative importance of the commonly stated causes of urban heat islands. Results show that the effects of street canyon geometry on radiation and of thermal properties on heat storage release, are the primary and almost equal causes on most occasions. In very ...

Abstract Observations show that the urban heat island in the atmospheric layer below roof level is most strongly developed during calm, cloudless conditions at night. This paper outlines two versions of a numerical model to describe the cooling of rural and street canyon surfaces under these conditions using surface thermal and radiative properties and the radiative geometry of the canyons. One version uses a full system of differential equations ...

Abstract Differences between the temperature of vegetated urban parks and that of their surrounding built environment are reported. The study is based on observations of surface and air temperature in Vancouver, BC and Sacramento, CA. during summer conditions. A combination of remotely sensed surface temperature and air temperature from fixed station and mobile (car and bicycle) traverses is used to characterize the magnitude of park-induced coolness the 'park cool ...