A Quantitative Morphological Method for Mapping Local Climate Types

Morphological characteristics of cities significantly influence urban heat island intensities and thermal responses to heat waves. Form attributes such as density, compactness, and vegetation cover are commonly used to analyse the impact of urban morphology on overheating processes. However, the use of abstract large-scale classifications hinders a full understanding of the thermal trade-off between single buildings and their immediate surrounding microclimate. Without analytical tools able to capture the complexity of cities with a high resolution, the microspatial dimension of urban climate phenomena cannot be properly addressed. Therefore, this study develops a new method for numerical identification of types, based on geometrical characteristics of buildings and climate-related form attributes of their surroundings in a 25m and 50m radius. The method, applied to the city of Rotterdam, combines quantitative descriptors of urban form, mapping GIS procedures, and clustering techniques. The resulting typo-morphological classification is assessed by modelling temperature, wind, and humidity during a hot summer period, in ENVI-met. Significant correlations are found between the morphotypes’ characteristics and local climate phenomena, highlighting the differences in performative potential between the classified urban patterns. The study suggests that the method can be used to provide insight into the systemic relations between buildings, their context, and the risk of overheating in different urban settings. Finally, the study highlights the relevance of advanced mapping and modelling tools to inform spatial planning and mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of urban overheating.

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Measuring urban form: Overcoming terminological inconsistencies for a quantitative and comprehensive morphologic analysis of cities

Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science ◽

10.1177/2399808320910444 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 239980832091044 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Martin Fleischmann ◽

Ombretta Romice ◽

Sergio Porta

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Quantitative Analysis ◽

Urban Form ◽

Large Scale ◽

Global Scale ◽

Urban Morphology ◽

Systematic Classification ◽

Social Patterns ◽

The Impact

Unprecedented urbanisation processes characterise the Great Acceleration, urging urban researchers to make sense of data analysis in support of evidence-based and large-scale decision-making. Urban morphologists are no exception since the impact of urban form on fundamental natural and social patterns (equity, prosperity and resource consumption’s efficiency) is now fully acknowledged. However, urban morphology is still far from offering a comprehensive and reliable framework for quantitative analysis. Despite remarkable progress since its emergence in the late 1950s, the discipline still exhibits significant terminological inconsistencies with regards to the definition of the fundamental components of urban form, which prevents the establishment of objective models for measuring it. In this article, we present a study of existing methods for measuring urban form, with a focus on terminological inconsistencies, and propose a systematic and comprehensive framework to classify urban form characters, where ‘urban form character’ stands for a characteristic (or feature) of one kind of urban form that distinguishes it from another kind. In particular, we introduce the Index of Elements that allows for a univocal and non-interpretive description of urban form characters. Based on such Index of Elements, we develop a systematic classification of urban form according to six categories (dimension, shape, spatial distribution, intensity, connectivity and diversity) and three conceptual scales (small, medium, large) based on two definitions of scale (extent and grain). This framework is then applied to identify and organise the urban form characters adopted in available literature to date. The resulting classification of urban form characters reveals clear gaps in existing research, in particular, in relation to the spatial distribution and diversity characters. The proposed framework reduces the current inconsistencies of urban morphology research, paving the way to enhanced methods of urban form systematic and quantitative analysis at a global scale.

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Recovering the Habitat concept within Urban Morphology

Proceedings 24th ISUF 2017 - City and Territory in the Globalization Age ◽

10.4995/isuf2017.2017.5217 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Teresa Marat-Mendes ◽

Maria Amélia Cabrita

Keyword(s):

Urban Form ◽

Urban Morphology ◽

Human Dimensions ◽

Cultural Dimensions ◽

The Social ◽

The Impact ◽

Physical Dimensions

The purpose of this paper is to provide an opportunity to explore the Habitat debate within ISUF. We quest that within this concept, as placed by Moudon (1997) in her inaugural paper to Urban Morphology, there is an intrinsic call towards an equilibrium between the various dimensions of urban form and a trans-disciplinary approach to the study of urban form, which deserves further investigation.According to Whitehand (2012) specific constrains affected the full concretization of such trans-disciplinary efforts, namely the further specialization of the disciplinary areas. Moreover, as argued by Marat-Mendes (2016), the focus placed by urban morphology on the physical dimensions of urban form has been significantly higher than on the social or human dimensions of the urban form, thus affecting in turn the above-identified equilibrium. In order to contribute to such debate, this paper presents the results of an ongoing investigation (Marat-Mendes, Cabrita, 2015), which seeks to recuperate the concept of Habitat within urban morphology. To do that, it first identifies the concept of Habitat as it was first defined in a number of seminal works to urban morphology (Demangeon, 1926). Secondly, it exposes how did such concept evolved throughout specific historical, disciplinary and methodological contexts (Deyong, 2011). And thirdly, it reveals the impact that such evolution had on the various problematics and scales of approach by those to which the Habitat issue was central for the study of urban from, including some contemporary contributions from various interdisciplinary areas, which seem to be recuperating that concept, although not explicitly. References Demangeon, A. (1926) ‘Un Questionnaire sur L’Habitat Rural, Annales de Géographie 35 (196), 289-292. Deyong, S. (2011) ‘Planetary habitat: the origins of a phantom movement’ The Journal of Architecture 6 (2), 113-128. Moudon, A. V. (1997) ‘The need for a Habitat Agenda within Urban Morphology’ Urban Morphology 1 3-10. Marat-Mendes, T. (2016) ‘Physical, social and cultural dimensions of Urban Morphology: redressing the balance?’ Urban Morphology 20 (2)167-168. Marat-Mendes, T., Cabrita, M. A. (2015) ‘A Morfologia Urbana na Arquitectura em Portugal. Notas sobre uma abordagem tipo-morfológica’, in Oliveira et al. (eds.) O estudo da forma urbana em Portugal (UPorto, Porto) 65-94. Whitehand, J. W. R. (2012) ‘Issues in Urban Morphology’ Urban Morphology 16 (1), 55-65.

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The Effect of Pre-milking Stimulation on Teat Morphological Parameters and Milk Traits in the Italian Water Buffalo

Frontiers in Veterinary Science ◽

10.3389/fvets.2020.572422 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Angela Costa ◽

Massimo De Marchi ◽

Giulio Visentin ◽

Maria Concetta Campagna ◽

Antonio Borghese ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mammary Gland ◽

Somatic Cell ◽

Milk Yield ◽

Large Scale ◽

Chloride Concentration ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Health Indicators ◽

Milk Traits ◽

Manual Stimulation ◽

The Impact

Water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are very sensitive to environmental stimulus before and during milking, and this explains why disrupted milk ejections due to blood oxytocin level instability are frequent in this species. According to the literature, the manual stimulation (MS) of teats before milking promotes oxytocin release and allows milk ejection to start within 2–3 min. However, the pre-milking stimulation of teats is not always part of the milking routine in Italian buffalo farms; moreover, buffaloes with unstable milk let-down are sometimes treated with exogenous oxytocin (OX). Different types of pre-milking stimulation can impact differently on the mammary gland epithelium and structures and, therefore, on milk yield. In this study, we observed the changes in teat morphological traits before and after the application of three types of stimuli, i.e., no manual stimulation (NS), MS, and OX, in buffaloes reared in an Italian dairy farm. In particular, measurements were available for 23 and 21 buffaloes for front and rear teats, respectively. Subsequently, the effect of the pre-milking stimulation type was estimated on teat morphological characteristics and on milk traits recorded after the application of stimuli. The results showed that the teat canal length was shorter (P < 0.05) after stimulation in the case of MS and OX compared to NS. Cistern diameter was overall greater for MS and lower for OX. On the contrary, teat wall thickness was greater and lower for OX and MS, respectively. Milk yield and quality (fat, protein, and somatic cell score) were similar across the three types of pre-milking stimulation. In perspective, the impact of these types of pre-milking stimulation should be evaluated on a large scale, and the focus might be put on mammary gland epithelium integrity, mastitis incidence, and other udder health indicators in milk, e.g., electrical conductivity, differential somatic cell count, lactose content, and sodium and chloride concentration.

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Comparison of Large Woody Debris Prototypes in a Large Scale Non-flume Physical Model

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20184005010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 05010

Author(s):

Brian Perry ◽

Colin Rennie ◽

Andrew Cornett ◽

Paul Knox

Keyword(s):

Physical Model ◽

Flood Control ◽

Large Scale ◽

Woody Debris ◽

Water Levels ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Large Woody Debris ◽

Debris Accumulation ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Due to excessive rainfall in June of 2013, several rivers located in and near the City of Calgary, Canada experienced significant flooding events. These events caused severe damage to infrastructure throughout the city, precipitating a renewed interest in flood control and mitigation strategies for the area. A major potential strategy involves partial diversion of Elbow River flood water to the proposed Springbank Off-Stream Storage Reservoir. A large scale physical model study was conducted to optimize and validate the design of a portion of the new project. The goals of the physical model were to investigate diversion system behaviors such as flow rates, water levels, sediment transport and, debris accumulation, and optimize the design of new flow control structures to be constructed on the Elbow River. In order to accurately represent the behavior of debris within the system due to flooding, large woody debris created from natural sources was utilized in the physical model and its performance was compared to that of debris of the same size fabricated from pressed cylindrical wood dowels. In addition to comparing the performance of these two debris types, the impact of root wads on debris damming was also investigated. Significant differences in damming behavior was shown to exist between the natural debris and the fabricated debris, while the impact of root wad on damming affected the dam structure and formation. The results of this experiment indicate that natural debris is preferred for studies involving debris accumulation.

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Spatiotemporal Prediction of Increasing Winter Perceived Temperature across a Sub-Tropical City for Sustainable Planning and Climate Change Mitigation

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16030497 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 497 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hung Ho ◽

Sawaid Abbas ◽

Jinxin Yang ◽

Rui Zhu ◽

Man Wong

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Hong Kong ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Sustainable Planning ◽

Perceived Temperature ◽

The Impact ◽

Change Mitigation

Climate variability has been documented as being key to influencing human wellbeing across cities as it is linked to mortality and illness due to changes in the perceived weather cycle. Many studies have investigated the impact of summer temperature on human health and have proposed mitigation strategies for summer heat waves. However, sub-tropical cities are still experiencing winter temperature variations. Increasing winter perceived temperature through the decades may soon affect city wellbeing, due to a larger temperature change between normal winter days and extreme cold events, which may cause higher health risk due to lack of adaptation and self-preparedness. Therefore, winter perceived temperature should also be considered and integrated in urban sustainable planning. This study has integrated the increasing winter perceived temperature as a factor for developing spatiotemporal protocols for mitigating the adverse impact of climate change. Land surface temperature (LST) derived from satellite images and building data extracted from aerial photographs were used to simulate the adjusted wind chill equivalent temperature (AWCET) particularly for sub-tropical scenarios between 1990 and 2010 of the Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Compared with perceived temperature based on the representative station located at the headquarters of the Hong Kong Observatory, the temperature of half the study area in the Kowloon Peninsula has raised by 1.5 °C. The areas with less green space and less public open space in 2010 show higher relative temperatures. Socioeconomically deprived areas (e.g., areas with lower median monthly income) may suffer more from this scenario, but not all types of socioeconomic disparities are associated with poor sustainable planning. Based on our results and the “no-one left behind” guideline from the United Nations, climate change mitigation should be conducted by targeting socioeconomic neighborhoods more than just aging communities.

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Indoor and outdoor ambient air temperatures during summer 2019 in Augsburg, Germany

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-2734 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christoph Beck ◽

Marisa Fritsch ◽

Marco Linder ◽

Johanna Völkel ◽

Sabrina Beckmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indoor Air ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Central City ◽

Urban Climate ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Data Set ◽

Local Climate ◽

Air Temperatures ◽

Local Climate Zones ◽

Indoor And Outdoor

The summer of 2019 featured significantly too warm conditions in Germany during all summer months. This included several distinct warm episodes and heat waves, the most pronounced of these appearing around end of July.Within the framework of the interdisciplinary research project Abc (Augsburg bleibt cool &#8211; Augsburg stays cool) &#8211; funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety &#8211; it is intended to detect and quantify urban thermal hot-spots with respect to outdoor and as well indoor air temperatures in the city of Augsburg (Bavaria, SE Germany). The knowledge of such spatiotemporal patterns of thermal and especially heat-stress exposure are an indispensable basis for any further aspired local climate modeling and adaptation studies.To this end, in June 2019 around 500 low-cost thermometers and around 50 thermo-hygrometers have been distributed among residents of the central city parts of Augsburg to record ambient indoor temperatures during summer. As high indoor air temperatures are suspected to be health relevant in particular during night, participants placed the thermometers in their bedrooms.Outdoor temperature and humidity have been recorded simultaneously by an already existing comprehensive urban climate measuring network.In this contribution we present main features of the data set of indoor temperatures and show and discuss first analyses concerning temporal and spatial variability of indoor air temperatures during summer 2019. This includes a comparison of indoor and outdoor temperatures, analyses of the influence of urban structures (e.g. in terms of local climate zones) and as well the influence of building characteristics (e.g. age, building material, ...) on indoor air temperatures.

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Extending the concept of the morphological frame: a case study of Tangshan old military airport

Proceedings 24th ISUF 2017 - City and Territory in the Globalization Age ◽

10.4995/isuf2017.2017.5686 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Feng Song ◽

Rongxi Peng ◽

Zijiao Zhang ◽

Yixi Li

Keyword(s):

Urban Form ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Urban Morphology ◽

Morphological Transformation ◽

Ground Plan ◽

Plan Analysis ◽

Peking University ◽

Social Use ◽

The Impact

Extending the concept of the morphological frame: a case study of Tangshan old military airport Rongxi Peng, Zijiao Zhang, Yixi Li, Feng Song* College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University. 100871 Beijing E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]*(corresponding author)Telephone Number: +86 132-6990-0350, +86 139-1013-6101* Keywords: China, morphological frame, three-dimensional view, airport Conference topics and scale: Urban form and social use of space/ City transformations/ Stages in territorial configuration The concept of the morphological frame is important in urban morphology, but it has been discussed much less than other critical concepts, such as the fringe belt and the fixation line. Passing its features on as inherited outlines, the morphological frame contains not only the linear fixation line, but also ground plan and three-dimensional aspects. In this research, the linear, ground plan, and three-dimensional morphological frame of Tangshan old military airport during the expansion of the city after the removal of the airport is identified. The former boundary roads of the airport exert obvious influences on the division of plots. The former arterial roads also function as a linear morphological frame. In relation to the ground plan, property rights and plots containing important buildings have an impact on the consequent town plan. The distinct feature of the morphological frame of the airport is its three-dimensional constraint, i.e. the vertical clearance requirement, which restricted the height of surrounding buildings. The impact of this institutional limit can last a very long time owing to the high cost of demolishing the old surrounding buildings or adding extra storeys even if the limit ceased to exist with the removal of the airport. Based on this case study, this paper refines and extends the connotation of the concept of the morphological frame and further discusses the relationship between function and form. References Conzen, M. P. (2009) ‘How cities internalize their former urban fringes: a cross-cultural comparison’, Urban Morphology 13(1), 29. Conzen, M. R. G. (1969) Alnwick, Northumberland: a study in town-plan analysis (Institute of British Geographers, London). Lin, Y., De Meulder, B. and Wang, S. (2011) ‘From village to metropolis: a case of morphological transformation in Guangzhou, China’, Urban Morphology 15(1), 5-20. Whitehand, J. W. R. (2001) ‘British urban morphology: the Conzenion tradition’, Urban Morphology 5(2), 103-109. Whitehand, J. W. R., Conzen, M. P. and Gu, K. (2016) ‘Plan analysis of historical cities: a Sino-European comparison’, Urban Morphology 20(2), 139-158.

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Urban Climate and Risk

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190676889.013.11 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Teodoro Georgiadis

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Urban Climate ◽

Urban Heat Islands ◽

Urban Metabolism ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Management Skills ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Heat Islands ◽

Complex Interactions

This work reports on the main physical processes that arise in the environment of the megacity from the “urban metabolism”—the complex interactions of the climate with the activities performed in the city and its built structure and texture—as well as on associated large-scale processes that generate hazards for the megacity’s inhabitants. It is estimated that in a few decades most of the world’s population will live in urban centers. Both the growth of megacities and climate change will increase the vulnerability of huge sectors of the population to climatic consequences of the urban metabolism. These include urban heat islands, pollution, and extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods. Developing policies to mitigate these threats will require integrating scientific knowledge with management skills, communication among cities about effective approaches, and taking into account residents’ needs for health and the capacity to live safely.

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Needle longevity as a criterion of response to a climatic fluctuation (so called heat wave) in Scots pine populations at early phases of ontogeny

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/4805-jfs ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 58 (No. 1) ◽

pp. 27-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

V. Nárovec ◽

J. Nárovcová

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Age Classes ◽

Needle Age ◽

Local Climate ◽

Dry Spells ◽

Needle Longevity ◽

Reproduction Period ◽

The Impact

The paper presents results of an assessment of needle age classes in Scots pine partial populations in the period of three and five years after outplanting in a lowland site in relation to conditions created by climatic elements. The method is based on Skuhravý’s (1987) description when the state of needle age classes of the third whorl (from the apex) is evaluated just once. Five-year summary of meteorological data was assessed according to the criteria of determination of periods of heat waves and dry spells. Differences in numbers of living needle age classes in the groups of Scots pine populations in the period of three and five years after their outplanting in permanent lowland sites proved the highest total number of living needle classes in the group of local lowland populations. On the contrary, the lowest total number of living needle classes was found out in the group of mountain populations. Critical climatic periods are overlaps of heat waves and dry spells that illustrate the complexity of moisture and temperature conditions of lowland sites. Although the Scots pine is a xerophytic species, it responded to the cumulation of adverse factors by accelerated needle senescence. Its physiological response to heat and dry stress consists in needle shedding, i.e. reduction in the assimilating area. As mountain populations are not usually exposed to heat waves, the impact of this phenomenon on them was the highest. On the other hand, the local (lowland) populations carrying information on the patterns of local climate from the reproduction period do not undergo any marked reduction in needle age classes.  

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Lagrangian analysis of the dynamical and thermodynamic drivers of large-scale Greenland melt events during 1979-2017

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-365 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mauro Hermann ◽

Lukas Papritz ◽

Heini Wernli

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Greenland Ice Sheet ◽

Region Of Origin ◽

Air Masses ◽

Accumulation Zone ◽

Warm Anomaly ◽

Downward Longwave Radiation ◽

The Impact

We systematically investigate the dynamical and thermodynamic processes that lead to 77 large-scale melt events affecting high-elevation regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) in June-August (JJA) 1979-2017. For that purpose, we compute 8&#8201;day kinematic backward trajectories from the lowermost ~500&#8201;m above the GrIS. The key synoptic feature accompanying the melt events is an upper-tropospheric ridge over Southeast Greenland associated with a surface high-pressure system. This circulation pattern is favorable to induce rapid poleward transport (up to 40&#176; latitude) of warm (~15&#8201;K warmer than climatological air masses arriving on the GrIS) and moist air masses from the lower troposphere to the western GrIS and subsequently to distribute them in the anticyclonic flow over north and east Greenland. During transport to the GrIS, the melt event air masses cool by ~15&#8201;K due to ascent and radiation, which keeps them just above the critical threshold to induce melting.The thermodynamic analyses reveal that the final warm anomaly of the air masses is primarily owed to anomalous horizontal transport from a climatologically warm region of origin. However, before being transported to the GrIS, i.e., in their region of origin, these air masses were not anomalously warm. Latent heating from condensation of water vapor, occurring as the airstreams are forced to ascend orographically or dynamically, is of secondary importance. These characteristics were particularly pronounced during the most extensive melt event in early July 2012. In this event, importantly, the warm anomaly was not preserved from anomalously warm source regions such as North America experiencing a record heat wave. Considering the impact of moisture on the surface energy balance, we find that radiative effects are closely linked to the air mass trajectories and enhance melt over the entire GrIS accumulation zone due to (i) enhanced downward longwave radiation related to poleward moisture transport and a shift in the cloud phase from ice to liquid primarily west of the ice divide and (ii) increased shortwave radiation in clear-sky regions east of the ice divide.The temporal evolution, positioning, and intensity of synoptic scale weather systems deserve further attention as they are responsible for strong and partly opposing atmospheric forcing of the GrIS surface mass balance. Also, the mechanisms identified here are in contrast to melt events in the low-elevation high Arctic and to midlatitude heat waves, where the upper-tropospheric ridge is essential to induce adiabatic warming by large-scale subsidence. Given the ongoing increase in the frequency and the melt extent of large-scale melt events, the understanding of upper-tropospheric ridges over the North Atlantic, i.e., also Greenland blocking, and its representation in climate models is crucial in determining future GrIS accumulation zone melt and thus global sea level rise.&#160;

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