PLEA 2011 - 27th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 13-15 July 2011.

Measuring the effects of urban form on urban microclimate

MATTHIAS IRGER1
1

Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia; CSIRO, National Climate Adaptation Research Flagship, Urban Systems, Canberra, ACT, Australia

ABSTRACT: The current literature on the Urban Heat Island fails to adequately quantify the modifying effect of various elements of the urban form on the urban microclimate, in particular within the urban canopy layer at pedestrian level. The ongoing research compares urban form in relation to the thermal performance of precincts with the aim to quantify the contributions of various elements, such as vegetation, urban canyon geometry and orientation and urban surface characteristics, to microclimate alteration, in particular elevated urban temperatures. The study employs multi-spectral remote imaging to examine the spatial structure of thermal patterns in selected regions in Sydney. This data will be combined with ground-based measurements using the software ArcGIS for spatial analysis, data management, and mapping. Once the complex interplay between urban form and the urban microclimate is better understood, it would be possible to mitigate the effects of climate change, enhance human comfort and reduce CO2-emissions through urban design interventions that focus on the resilience of the built environment to the effects of urban warming. Keywords: Sustainable urban design, Urban microclimate, Urban Heat Island, Climate change adaptation, Remote sensing

1. INTRODUCTION
For the first time in history, more than half of the worlds population now live in cities, which is expected to increase to two thirds by the middle of this century [1]. Australia is one of the most urbanized nations in the world, with the majority of residents living in its five largest cities [2]. Additionally, Australia has one of the highest immigration rates of all developed countries, leading to an almost doubling of its population within the next 50 years [3]. The process of urban settlement has profoundly impacted on the environment and dramatically changed the climatic conditions of previously rural regions. th In the early 19 century Luke Howard first recorded that urban areas tend to have higher average temperatures than their rural surroundings, a phenomenon later named the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect [4]. The UHI can be experienced to a varying degree in every settlement and is attributed to gradual surface modifications, including the replacement of the natural vegetation with dark coloured surfaces, such as roads and roofs, which absorb large amounts of radiation during the day, and slowly emit the stored energy during the night [5, 6]. Oke (1973) has correlated the UHI intensity to the size of a cities population, importantly noting that cities in Europe feature a weaker UHI than those in the USA, which is likely due to morphological differences [7]. Precisely this disparity is of great importance, as its understanding could enable urban designers to advantageously manipulate the urban microclimate. Furthermore, it is argued that suburbs, which are

characteristic of Australian cities with relatively low population and dwelling densities, can support strong UHIs, given their particular urban form. While urban warming may be desirable in cold climates, in hot and arid regions it can present significant threats to human health, increase the discomfort of people, reduce their efficiency, limit their enjoyment and use of their environment, impede on opportunities for active travel such as walking and cycling, and cause damage to the built environment [8]. In the course of recent heat waves in Australia, France, Russia and other countries, morgues exceeded capacity as mortality rates multiplied during prolonged extreme heat for several days [912]. As older people are more vulnerable to extreme heat events, a changing demographic profile with a doubling of people aged 65 years and over by the middle of the century will potentially expose large proportions of the population to discomfort and an elevated risk to their health during days with high temperatures and more frequent heat waves [13]. Despite some international climate change mitigation efforts, the world has already committed to a significant amount of global warming over the next decades and even centuries [14]. Already elevated temperatures attributed to the UHI will be further amplified by the effects of global warming [8]. Australia, with its extensive arid and semi-arid areas and high rainfall variability, is one of the countries most at risk from climate change [15]. Across the nation, warming of up to 2.0C over the past 50 years has already been documented, with 2010 on track to become the hottest year ever recorded [16]. As economic growth centred in Asia continues to drive rapid greenhouse gas emissions significantly beyond those projected by the Intergovernmental

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Panel of Climate Change, this trend is projected to accelerate over the next century, leading to a further increase in average annual temperatures of 2.0C above 1990 levels by 2030 [16, 17]. In response to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change, different forms of settlement patterns are being explored by the planning community. As articulated in many of the metropolitan plans for Australian cities, development policies aim to constrain the urban footprint by establishing urban growth boundaries and proposing a more compact settlement form with higher population and dwelling densities, particularly to reduce emissions from the transport sector [18, 19]. In practise, densification strategies have led to the simple reduction in plot sizes, while the long-term trend towards larger houses has continued, despite a trend to smaller household sizes [2, 20]. The owneroccupied detached house remains the signature of Australian cities, where outdoor areas are either paved over or non-existent, as developers seek to maximize the buildings footprint to meet perceived customer preference [20]. The marginalization of private outdoor areas combined with the absence of vegetation on public land have consequently created very dry urban areas featuring predominantly impervious surfaces, lack of natural shading and evapotranspiration, and a high degree of thermal mass. This urban form supports strong UHIs, in particular at street scale on pedestrian level, and inhibits sustainable design principles, such as natural daylight access, cross ventilation and night-flush of buildings with cool air during the night. In combination with poor construction techniques and the lack of insulation, this has resulted in an increased reliance on technological appliances like air-conditioning to maintain human comfort levels leading to growing electricity demand. Additionally, the absence of urban design strategies to protect pedestrians from solar radiation and traffic have contributed to a further increase in car use, as temperatures in neighbourhoods have become too hot to walk or cycle. Thus, urban densification policies implemented as a strategy for climate change mitigation have conflicted with the goal they aim to achieve. The need to restructure Australias cities to accommodate significant population growth presents an opportunity to redevelop outdated building stock and disadvantageous urban from. It is therefore imperative to develop urban design guidelines with the focus on reducing the carbon footprint of new precincts, and to explore possible design interventions for existing suburbs, in order to minimize the adverse implications of urban warming due to the combined effects of climate change and the UHI. There is, however, a lack of knowledge in the urban design and planning community regarding the implications of different urban form characteristics and their impact on the urban microclimate, and thus on human comfort and energy consumption.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Over the decades, the field of urban climatology has produced a considerable volume of research with diverse focus and methodologies in various spatial and temporal scales. Since the 19th century, climatologists have been interested in the balance of energy fluxes within urban areas, and their difference to their rural surroundings [21]. Most early descriptive studies focused on individual climatic phenomena, comparing records of different weather stations in urban and rural areas, or applying city-wide automobile traverses [7, 22, 23]. Since the 1970s significant progress has been made in understanding atmospheric processes, such as radiant energy budgets and the urban wind field [21]. The investigation into the causality of urban climate modifications was greatly facilitated by Okes (1987) differentiation between the Urban Canopy Layer (UCL), which extends from the surface to the roofs of buildings; and the Urban Boundary Layer (UBL), situated directly above [24]. 2.1. Urban form parameters The application of micrometeorological theory in diagnostic studies, exploring the spatial and temporal variability of the urban climate and its modification by isolated elements of the urban form, have led to the development of theoretical models of the urban energy balance [21, 22]. Simulative studies have identified the properties of the urban surface and the geometry of the urban canyon as the most influential factors for thermal modification of the urban climate [22, 25, 26]. The urban environment consist of multiple surfaces with material specific characteristics that govern the amount of absorbed and re-emitted longand short-wave radiation, thus each contributing in varying degrees to the urban energy balance [27]. Simulative studies of a typical U.S. city have shown that the combined effect of direct and indirect energy savings through an increase of the overall city-wide albedo - a surfaces ability to reflect incoming radiation - could lower the average urban air temperature by 5K, while reducing the energy demand for air-conditioning up to 40% [28]. The geometry of the urban canyon is defined as the ratio between the height of the canyons flanking buildings (H) and the width of the street (W), thus controlling the amount of solar radiation admitted into the canyon, radiative loss towards the sky, wind flow, and degree of air dispersion and ventilation [25, 29]. Additionally, the orientation of the urban canyon also affects the solar exposure of its vertical and horizontal surfaces, the degree of ventilation within the canyon and the overall wind conditions in the area [29]. While the H/W-ratio together with the length (L) of an urban canyon governs the quantity of low- and short-wave radiation accessible to increase air and surfaces temperatures and the degree of shade that is available to pedestrians and buildings during the day, it also controls the rate of a surfaces cooling at night [25]. The magnitude of this long-wave radiative

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loss has been found to be proportional to its skyview factor, which can be measured as the proportion of the viewing hemisphere that is occupied by the sky [29]. The H/W/L-ratio describes the surface roughness of the urban environment towards the sky, which affects the wind speed above roof level, the degree of air intermixing between UCL and UBL above, and the amount of shelter provided from strong winds [29]. Field and wind tunnel studies have shown that the geometry and orientation of urban canyons and the organization of buildings and streets within precincts can greatly affect air flow and ventilation in neighbourhoods [29, 30]. In his evaluation of the benefits of minimizing heat-gain in summer versus utilizing the UHI to save energy for heating in winter, while maximizing shelter from wind, dispersion of pollutants and daylight access, Oke (1988b) recommended H/W-ratios of 0.4 to 0.7 for North American cities at mid latitude. Further studies have demonstrated that trees and other vegetation significantly improve the urban climate due to the provision of shade and evaporative cooling, promote biodiversity and enhance urban air quality by reducing airborne pollutants [31-33]. Researchers have found that parks as well as green walls and roofs have the potential to lower the air temperature in their immediate surroundings in excess of 10K at street level, and demonstrated a noticeable cooling effect extending up to 1100 m in windward directions [27, 34-36]. On a larger scale, simulative studies have shown that a doubling of the average tree cover in North American cities could reduce the UHI by about 2K [28, 37]. The availability of moisture is another factor influencing the urban microclimate by cooling the air through evaporation of water and enabling evapotranspiration by plants [32, 36]. Modelling has suggested that an increase in the average moisture availability in North American cities from currently 15% of that in rural areas to 30% would result in a reduction of the UHI by 20% [32]. Other studies have identified anthropogenic heat release through vehicles, transport systems, airconditioning units and other human activities as major contributors to the elevation of urban temperatures [21]. These inputs can be considerable in compact city centres, while less significant in residential and suburban areas [21, 26, 38]. 2.2. Remote sensing The utilization of satellite based remote sensing has enabled the detection of urban surface heat islands (SUHI) on a city wide scale [39-43]. In their review of urban climate studies, which have applied thermal remote sensing before the year 2000, Voogt and Oke (2003) note: While progress has been made, the thermal remote sensing of urban areas has been slow to advance beyond qualitative description of thermal patterns and simple correlations [42]. Most studies appear to be limited by the application of general land-use data to describe the urban surface and their lack of

comprehensive urban form classifications. Additionally, the relatively low resolution of satellite imaging, especially in the thermal infrared spectrum, only provides averaged information of urban thermal patterns at a meso or macro scale, and fails to contribute to the causal exploration of urban microclimate modification. More recently, technological advances have enabled airborne remote sensing to detect SUHIs at a micro scale with a resolution of <1m. Stone and Rogers (2001) were amongst the first to employ highresolution airborne remote imaging in the city of Atlanta, concluding that low-density residential areas can emit a larger amount of thermal energy than more compact districts of the city [44]. Regrettably, this powerful method of data collection has not been widely utilized to examine the microclimate in urban areas. In summary, while the mechanisms influencing the urban climate are largely understood, current research fails to quantify the modifying effect of various elements of the urban form on the urban microclimate, in particular at neighbourhood scale and pedestrian level. Many descriptive studies are limited by a small sample size or poor spatial resolution and seldom go beyond urban-rural temperature comparisons. Advances in remote sensing technology have the potential to enable future analyses of the urban climate at an appropriate spatial resolution required to examine the microclimate at precinct and street scale, while at the same time supporting large sampling areas. The results of simulative studies need to be validated by empirical measurements and expanded to a wider geographical range. Importantly, their findings need to be translated into guidelines in order to increase their accessibility for urban design and planning professionals.

3. METHODOLOGY
This new research aims to verify possible correlations between urban air and surface temperatures and different aspects of the urban form, in particular the urban canyon geometry, vegetation content within the built environment, surface characteristics of the urban structures and the street orientation within precincts, and seeks to quantify their relationship. This study employs airborne remote sensing to collect high-resolution information of urban surface temperature, vegetation content in precincts, soil moisture content, and geometry of the urban canyon, across the Sydney metropolitan region. This data will be supplemented and validated against simultaneously collected in-situ measurements of air temperature, long- and shortwave radiation and photography in selected case study areas located within the area covered by the aircraft. Using the software ArcGIS, this data will be assembled and geospatially analysed in combination with aerial photography, land-use and demographic data.

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3.1. Remote sensing There are three main advantages of employing airborne remote sensing: the first is the ability to cover a large number and diversity of urban precincts; secondly, recent technological improvements have lead to the development of various sensors with very high resolutions in the submeter range; and thirdly an array of different scanners can be utilized simultaneously in a single flight. The flight will be carried out with a small research aircraft that will encompass a course departing from Sydney airport, located at the coast to the citys East, to the Western edge of the metropolitan region at Penrith, passing the North Shore area before returning the airport. This transect will provide a sufficiently large sampling area comprising a representative cross section of Sydneys typical urban environments, while allowing for specific regional geographical features and the influence of the proximity to the ocean. In order to analyse the effect that different urban phenomena, such as parks, bodies of water or clusters of trees, have on the air temperature in their immediate surroundings and surrounding neighbourhood, a swath width of 2000m is considered to be the minimum. Initially, two flights are proposed: the first on a hot, clear day and the second during the following night. The flights should be scheduled between two and three oclock in the afternoon and just before sunrise during the hottest month of the year. Ideally, the experiment is able to be conducted under heatwave conditions - after a few consecutive hot days and importantly, without cloudiness or precipitation during the experiment and the preceding 24 hours. These trips during summer should be supplemented with additional flights in spring or autumn and winter, in order to pick up changes in foliage cover and seasonal vegetation growth, as well as different radiation impacts due to changing sun angles. Sensors utilized in this study achieve a spatial resolution of better than 1m accuracy, and include a hyper-spectral scanner and a thermal imager to record images across visual (VIS), near (NIR) and short-wave (SWIR) spectral bands and thermal infrared (TIR) with a minimum temperature resolution of 0.1K. Additionally, a laser scanner measures the height of the underlying terrain to a vertical accuracy 0.02m and a full-waveform LiDAR provides detailed 3D-information of the urban form geometry. 3.2. In-situ measurements Stratified sampling based on a comprehensive urban form classification will support a randomized selection of a small number of case studies. Neighbourhood areas within the flight transect will be classified according to urban form features, such as street orientation, dwelling density and urban structure, H/W/L-ratio of urban canyon and vegetation content. In-situ measurements will be performed with mobile sensors mounted on a bicycle trailer along predefined routes within the sampling area. These traverses will be carried out simultaneously to the

airborne data collection, for a continuous period of 24 hours at one hour intervals in each case study area. The instrumentation mounted at approximately 1m height includes six radiation sensors oriented in different directions to measure long- and short-wave radiation from the sky and emitted or reflected by the urban form, including upward emissions from the ground and those sideways oriented from vertical surfaces, such as building structures or vegetation. Combined with a shielded thermometer, a humidity sensor and a GPS device, the equipment is connected to a laptop and powered by a solar panel.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

Despite the considerable amount of research that has been undertaken in the field of urban climatology over recent decades, findings have not been easily accessible to city planners and urban designers, and thus have rarely been employed in the design of neighbourhoods or streets [30]. There is a need for further research to explore the complex interplay between built environment and urban climate at a micro scale, with the aim to quantify the relationship between elevated urban temperatures and different elements of urban form. It is desirable to develop methodologies that enable an effective region wide risk assessment of urban areas to identify precincts and streets that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of urban warming. This ongoing research aims to demonstrate how urban design can play its part in reducing the carbon footprint of our cities and increase the resilience of the urban environment to the impacts of urban warming. This improved understanding can support the development of urban design guidelines for precincts, and to explore possible design interventions for existing suburbs, in order to ensure the continued wellbeing and prosperity of its Australias urban residents.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge the support of the University of Sydney and CSIROs Urban Systems Program in funding this research. I would like to thank Prof. Alan Peters, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Dr. Matthew Inman and Guy Barnett, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, and Alice Thompson for their ongoing support and advice. Furthermore I would like to thank Nik Midlam, City of Sydney, for facilitating access to thermal imagery and local weather station data.

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6. REFERENCES
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