scholarly journals Three-dimensional urban solar potential maps: Case study of the i-Scope Project

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1 Part B) ◽  
pp. 663-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragutin Protic ◽  
Milan Kilibarda ◽  
Marina Nenkovic-Riznic ◽  
Ivan Nestorov
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Digital Surface Model ◽  
Information Models ◽  
Scope Project

Solar maps as web cartographic products that provide information on solar potential of surfaces on the Earth have been exploited in decision making, awareness raising, and promoting the use of solar energy. Web based solar maps of cities have become popular services as the use of solar energy is especially attractive in urban environments. The article discusses the concept and aspects of urban solar potential maps on the example of the i-Scope project as a case study. The i-Scope roof solar potential service built on 3-D urban information models was piloted in eight European cities. To obtain precise data on solar irradiation, a good quality digital surface model is required. A cost efficient innovative method for generation of digital surface model from stereophotogrammetry for urban areas where no advanced source data (e. g. LiDAR) exist is developed. The method works for flat, shed and gable roofs and provides sufficient accuracy of digital surface model .

Prospecting urban rooftop solar farm potential in Dublin, Ireland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankit Verma ◽  
John Connolly ◽  
Noel O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Industrial Building ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Very High ◽  
Rooftop Solar

<p>The development of a sustainable and renewable energy system is a significant challenge for Ireland. In line with UN and EU policies, Ireland aims to transition to a competitive, low carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050 (Project Ireland 2040 National Planning Framework). Ireland is committed to an aggregate reduction in CO<sub>2</sub> emissions of at least 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050 across the electricity generation, built environment and transport sectors. Renewable energy can help Ireland reduce GHG emissions and carbon footprint as energy demands grow. It also reduces dependencies on fossil fuels as well as increases energy supply security.</p><p>According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s “Energy in Ireland 2020” report, 36.5% of electricity demand was met by renewable energy sources in 2019. Wind energy contributes 32% while solar energy contributes to <1%. Significant investment has been made in Ireland’s wind sector; however, the solar energy sector is relatively new. Ireland has the second-lowest total installed and cumulated solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the EU with just 36 MW or 7.3 W per inhabitant. (EurObserv'ER 2019).</p><p>Solar prospecting is necessary to identify optimum locations where solar farms can be established. Commercial and industrial building rooftops in urban areas offer a suitable location for establishing rooftop solar farms due to good connectivity with the electricity grid and proximity to users. Here we present an urban solar prospecting study in Dublin, Ireland.</p><p>A very high-resolution geospatial dataset was acquired for 47 industrial areas covering 53.3 km<sup>2</sup>. The data comprises of very high-resolution aerial images (12.5 cm/pixel) and digital surface model (DSM) (25 cm/pixel).</p><p>The high-resolution DSMs were used to model solar irradiation on building rooftops in ArcGIS Pro using the area solar analyst tool. These models were optimised for Irish conditions using Met Éireann solar radiation data for Dublin. The maximum solar insolation received in Dublin is 1000-1050 kWh/m<sup>2</sup>. The results demonstrate that there is potentially a large amount of commercial and industrial rooftop surface area available for PV installation in Dublin. These rooftops can generate a significant amount of electricity and help to offset CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p><p> </p>

Understanding the Role of Urban Morphology and Green Areas Configuration During Heat Waves

2020 ◽  
pp. 502-517
Author(s):  
Marialuce Stanganelli ◽  
Carlo Gerundo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Statistical Correlation ◽  
Urban Morphology ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Planning Strategies

This paper focuses on urban planning strategies to adapt cities to the increasing rising of temperatures during summer heat waves. The main target is to investigate which configuration and distribution pattern of green spaces could effectively improve natural cooling of urban environments. Although the benefit that green areas give to natural cooling is well known, this kind of studies has hardly been carried out, especially at an urban scale where it is crucial to define quantities and density of green areas to address open spaces design. To reach this goal, a methodology based on the interpretation of the statistical correlation among temperature, urban parameters and green areas configurational indicators was implemented and applied to the case study of the Municipality of Naples, performing all the analysis in a GIS. Results provide guidelines to improve natural cooling in urban areas adopting the most effective configuration and distribution of green areas within a densely-built context.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Reduction of CO2 Emissions in Urban Environments by Replacing Conventional City Buses by Electric Bus Fleets: Spain Case Study

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin R. Grijalva ◽  
José María López Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Electric Bus

The emissions of CO2 gas caused by transport in urban areas are increasingly serious, and the public transport sector plays a vital role in society, especially when considering the increased demands for mobility. New energy technologies in urban mobility are being introduced, as evidenced by the electric vehicle. We evaluated the positive environmental effects in terms of CO2 emissions that would be produced by the replacement of conventional urban transport bus fleets by electric buses. The simulation of an electric urban bus conceptual model is presented as a case study. The model is validated using the speed and height profiles of the most representative route within the city of Madrid—the C1 line. We assumed that the vehicle fleet is charged using the electric grid at night, when energy demand is low, the cost of energy is low, and energy is produced with a large provision of renewable energy, principally wind power. For the results, we considered the percentage of fleet replacement and the Spanish electricity mix. The analysis shows that by gradually replacing the current fleet of buses by electric buses over 10 years (2020 to 2030), CO2 emissions would be reduced by up to 92.6% compared to 2018 levels.

scholarly journals Considerations for post-processing parameters in mixed-method 3-D analyses: A Mesolithic mandibular case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Z. Selden ◽  
lauren butaric ◽  
Kersten Bergstrom ◽  
Dennis Van Gerven
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Digital Repositories ◽  
Computed Tomographic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Morphometric Analyses ◽  
Smoothing Parameters ◽  
Ct Data

The production of three-dimensional (3-D) digital meshes of surface and computed tomographic (CT) data has become widespread in morphometric analyses of anthropological and archaeological data. Given that processing methods are not standardised, this leaves questions regarding the comparability of processed and digitally curated 3-D datasets. The goal of this study was to identify those processing parameters that result in the most consistent fit between CT-derived meshes and a 3-D surface model of the same human mandible. Eight meshes, each using unique thresholding and smoothing parameters, were compared to assess whole-object deviations, deviations along curves, and deviations between specific anatomical features on the surface model when compared with the CT scans using a suite of \textit{comparison points}. Based on calculated gap distances, the mesh thresholded at "0" with an applied smoothing technique was found to deviate least from the surface model; although, it is not the most biologically accurate. Results have implications for aggregated studies that employ multi-modal 3-D datasets, and caution is recommended for studies that enlist 3-D data from websites and digital repositories, particularly if processing parameters are unknown or derived for studies with different research foci.

Assessing the impact of the urban landscape on heat wave episodes: a case study of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gara Villalba ◽  
Sergi Ventura ◽  
Joan Gilabert ◽  
Alberto Martilli ◽  
Alba Badia
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Anthropogenic Heat ◽  
Surface Model

<p>Currently, around 54% of the world's population is living in urban areas and this number is projected to increase by 66% by 2050. In the past years, cities have been experiencing heat wave episodes that affect the population. As the modern urban landscape is continually evolving, with green spaces and parks becoming a more integral component and with suburbs expanding outward from city centres into previously rural, agricultural, and natural areas, we need tools to learn how to best implement planning strategies that minimize heat waves.  In this study we use the Weather and Research Forecasting model (WRF) with a multi-layer layer scheme, the Building Effect Parameterization (BEP) coupled with the Building Energy Model (BEP+BEM, Salamanca and Martilli, 2010) to take into account the energy consumption of buildings and anthropogenic heat generated by air conditioning systems. The urban canopy scheme takes into account city morphology (e.g. building and street canyon geometry) and surface characteristics (e.g. albedo, heat capacity, emissivity, urban/vegetation fraction). The Community Land Surface Model (CLM) is used in WRF that uses 16 different plant functional types (PFTs) as the basis for land-use differentiation.  Furthermore, we use the Local Climate Zones (LCZ) classification which has 11 urban land use categories with specific thermal, radiative and geometric parameters of the buildings and ground to compute the heat and momentum fluxes in the urban areas.  The objective is to validate the model and establish relationships between urban morphology and land use with temperature, so that the model can be used to simulate land use scenarios to investigate the effectiveness of different mitigation strategies to lower urban temperatures during the summer months.</p><p> </p><p>We test the methods with the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) as a case study. The AMB is representative of the Mediterranean climate, with mild winters and hot summers. With a heterogeneous urban landscape, the AMB covers 636 km<sup>2 </sup>(34% built, 23% agricultural, and 31% vegetation) and has more than five million habitants. We simulate the heat wave that occurred in August 2018, during which temperatures stayed between 30 and 40ºC for five consecutive days and compare results with observed data from five different weather stations. We then simulate a potential scenario changing land surface from built to vegetation, in accordance with Barcelona´s strategic climate plan, and the potential impact the land use change has on reducing heat wave episodes.</p>

scholarly journals Quality Assessment of Milling Pavement Surface Using 3D Line Laser Technology

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Bing Hui ◽  
Mu Guo ◽  
Xiaofang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Premature Failure ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
Milled Surface ◽  
Surface Assessment

To ensure that a regular milled surface texture provides good bonding without residual distress, a new specification of milling surface assessment has been established for quantitatively evaluating the milled surface quality. This research explores the possibility of using three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology to develop an algorithm to obtain a milled surface model that can measure evaluating indicators, milling depth and texture depth, and identify poorly milled areas. A case study was conducted by using a laser scanning vehicular system to collect 3D continuous pavement transverse profiles data in a 500 m long segment of Highway S107. The results show that the proposed method is very promising and can measure the milling depth and texture depth to effectively and quantitatively differentiate between good- (milling depth between 47 mm and 53 mm and texture depth exceeding 2 mm) and poor-quality work. Moreover, the poorly milled areas such as those with residual distress and unmilled areas that will lead to premature failure can also be identified using the proposed method. The proposed method can effectively support remilling work and ensure the quality of the overlay pavement.

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