scholarly journals Urban Influences on the Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Runoff and Precipitation during the 2009 Atlanta Flood

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Debbage ◽  
J. Marshall Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Antecedent Conditions ◽  
Urban Simulation ◽  
Enhanced Surface ◽  
Urban Footprint

Abstract The 2009 Atlanta flood was a historic event that resulted in catastrophic damage throughout the metropolitan area. The flood was the product of several hydrometeorological processes, including moist antecedent conditions, ample atmospheric moisture, and mesoscale training. Additionally, previous studies hypothesized that the urban environment of Atlanta altered the location and/or overall quantities of precipitation and runoff that ultimately produced the flood. This hypothesis was quantitatively evaluated by conducting a modeling case study that utilized the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. Two model runs were performed: 1) an urban run designed to accurately depict the flood event and 2) a nonurban simulation where the urban footprint of Atlanta was replaced with natural vegetation. Comparing the output from the two simulations revealed that interactions with the urban environment enhanced the precipitation and runoff associated with the flood. Specifically, the nonurban model underestimated the cumulative precipitation by approximately 100 mm in the area downwind of Atlanta where urban rainfall enhancement was hypothesized. This notable difference was due to the increased surface convergence observed in the urban simulation, which was likely attributable to the enhanced surface roughness and thermal properties of the urban environment. The findings expand upon previous research focused on urban rainfall effects since they demonstrate that urban interactions can influence mesoscale hydrometeorological characteristics during events with prominent synoptic-scale forcing. Finally, from an urban planning perspective, the results highlight a potential two-pronged vulnerability of urban environments to extreme rainfall, as they may enhance both the initial precipitation and subsequent runoff.

scholarly journals Influence of the local urban environment on the thermo-radiative and hydrological behaviour of a garden lawn

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aude Lemonsu ◽  
Cécile de Munck ◽  
Emilie Redon ◽  
Valéry Masson ◽  
Pascal Keravec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Canopy ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Coupled Modelling ◽  
Vertical Heterogeneity ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Present Case Study

Abstract Several urban canopy models now incorporate urban vegetation to represent local urban cooling related to natural soils and plants evapotranspiration. Nevertheless, little is known about the realism of simulating these processes and turbulent exchanges within the urban canopy. Here, the coupled modelling of thermal and hydrological exchanges was investigated for a lawn located in an urban environment, and for which soil temperature and water content measurements were available. The ISBA-DF surface-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model is inline coupled to the TEB urban canopy model to model mixed urban environments. For the present case study, ISBA-DF was applied to the lawn and first evaluated in its default configuration. Particular attention was then paid to the parameterization of turbulent exchanges above the lawn, and to the description of soil characteristics. The results highlighted the importance of taking into account local roughness related to surrounding obstacles for computing the turbulent exchanges over the lawn, and simulating realistic surface and soil temperatures. The soil nature and texture vertical heterogeneity are also key properties for simulating the soil water content evolution and water exchanges.

scholarly journals Potential of a geostationary geoCARB mission to estimate surface emissions of CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> and CO in a polluted urban environment: case study Shanghai

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 4633-4654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis M. O'Brien ◽  
Igor N. Polonsky ◽  
Steven R. Utembe ◽  
Peter J. Rayner
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Instrument Noise

Abstract. This paper describes a numerical experiment to test the ability of the proposed geoCARB satellite to estimate emissions of trace gases (CO2, CH4 and CO) in the polluted urban environment of Shanghai. The meteorology over Shanghai is simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for a 9-day period in August 2010. The meteorology includes water and ice clouds. The chemistry version of WRF (WRF-Chem V3.6.1) is used to predict the chemical composition, mass density and number density of aerosol species. Spectra in the bands measured by geoCARB are calculated, including the effects of polarisation and multiple scattering of radiation by clouds, aerosols and molecules. Instrument noise is added, and column-averaged trace-gas mole fractions are estimated from the noisy spectra using an algorithm based on that for the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) but adapted to geoCARB. As expected, the high aerosol loadings are challenging. However, when the retrieval algorithm is provided with regionally adjusted aerosol optical properties, as might be determined from observations of dark targets within the field of regard, the accuracies of retrieved concentrations are comparable to those reported earlier for geoCARB. Statistics of the errors in the retrieved column-averaged concentrations are used to predict the reduction in uncertainty of surface emissions possible with remotely sensed data.

scholarly journals Walkable Urban Environments: An Ergonomic Approach of Evaluation

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8347
Author(s):  
Letizia Appolloni ◽  
Alberto Giretti ◽  
Maria Vittoria Corazza ◽  
Daniela D’Alessandro
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Model Structure ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Definition Of

Background. The salutogenicity of urban environments is significantly affected by their ergonomics, i.e., by the quality of the interactions between citizens and the elements of the built environment. Measuring and modelling urban ergonomics is thus a key issue to provide urban policy makers with planning solutions to increase the well-being, usability and safety of the urban environment. However, this is a difficult task due to the complexity of the interrelations between the urban environment and human activities. The paper contributes to the definition of a generalized model of urban ergonomics and salutogenicity, focusing on walkability, by discussing the relevant parameters from the large and variegated sets proposed in the literature, by discussing the emerging model structure from a data mining process, by considering the background of the relevant functional dependency already established in the literature, and by providing evidence of the solutions’ effectiveness. The methodology is developed for a case study in central Italy, with a focus on the mobility issue, which is a catalyst to generate more salutogenic and sustainable behaviors.

scholarly journals Optimized indoor daylight for tropical dense urban environments

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iara Gonçalves dos Santos ◽  
Thomas Auer ◽  
Roberta Vieira Gonçalves de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Cardinal Directions ◽  
Daylight Performance ◽  
Sky Conditions

Abstract Studies using metrics related to dynamic sky conditions for indoor daylight performance assessment in urban environment are rare in tropical latitudes. This study applied one of these metrics, the spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA 300,50% ≥75%, IES LM 83-12) for Cuiabá (15ºS, 56ºW, Brazil), a savanna climate city with a high frequency of partly cloudy skies. Parametric simulations were used to investigate the availability of daylight in dense urban areas. So daylight conditions inside a reference room with varied depths located within a continuous urban canyon were simulated with Radiance/Daysim in Grasshopper/Honeybee. Dimensions of the street and heights of front buildings (obstructions) are also varied in order to observe the relation between the sky angle and the sDA, for the four main cardinal directions. The results of regression analysis for this case study showed that among all evaluated parameters, room depth tended to be the most relevant for the optimization of indoor daylight. Finally, limitations of this approach and opportunities for further investigations were discussed.

Relationships

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip James
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Exotic Pets

Relationships between organisms within urban environments are many and varied. Plants are found in many households, and in addition to the benefits derived from their decorative properties, they also purify the air by removing pollutants. Over the course of history some animals have become domesticated: cows, horses, goats, providing food and transport. Of these, a select group have become companions (cats, dogs, and more exotic pets). Such domesticated and companion animals are an important part of the overall biology of urban environments and these relationships are explored and discussed. Some former companion or domestic animals have become feral, and other animals have never been domesticated and live freely in the urban environment. Some of these animals have beneficial relationships with humans whereas others are parasitic or are considered pests. These relationships are the focus for the later part of the exploration set out in this chapter.

What is the urban environment and what is biology?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip James
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
First Century ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Genes To Ecosystems ◽  
Micro Organisms ◽  
Initial Focus

The two main themes contained within the title The Biology of Urban Environments are explored. The initial focus is on urban environments. A discussion of the origins of cities and the global spread of urbanization leads on to a consideration of urban environments in the twenty-first century. In the second section, the focus switches to biology. The scope of the discipline is set out in terms of both the range of sub-disciplines and of biological scales. It is established from this discussion that in this book the topics considered span from genes to ecosystems and will be illustrated by examples of the biology of micro-organisms, plants, and animals. Importantly humans will be included within this consideration: our biology is affected by urban environments. The final part presents the structure of the book.

A novel expert opinion-based approach to compute estimations of flood damage to property in dense urban environments. Barcelona case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 598 ◽  
pp. 126244
Author(s):  
Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz ◽  
Edwar Forero-Ortiz ◽  
Beniamino Russo ◽  
Luca Locatelli ◽  
Maria Guerrero-Hidalga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Expert Opinion ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Urban Environments

scholarly journals Applying the PECSL: using case studies to demonstrate the Pedagogy of Experience Complexity for Smart Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pen Lister
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Smart Learning

AbstractThis paper discusses the uses and applications of the Pedagogy of Experience Complexity for Smart Learning (PECSL), a four-tier model of considerations for the design and development of smart learning activities. Using existing mobile apps and relevant activities as illustrative examples, the PECSL is applied to indicate concepts and mechanisms by which useful pedagogical considerations can work alongside user-centred design principles for the design and development of smart learning in urban hyper-localities. Practical application of the model is discussed using real world examples of activities as a basis to demonstrate the potential for manifold opportunities to learn, and plan for experience complexity in a smart learning activity. Case study approaches reflect on aspects of the PECSL in how it might be a useful and pragmatic guide to some of the issues faced when designing digital citizen learning activities in complex urban environments.

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