scholarly journals Comparison of the impacts of urban development and climate change in exposing European cities to pluvial flooding

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Skougaard Kaspersen ◽  
Nanna Høegh Ravn ◽  
Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen ◽  
Henrik Madsen ◽  
Martin Drews
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
Pluvial Flooding ◽  
Rcp 8.5

Abstract. The economic and human consequences of extreme precipitation and the related flooding of urban areas have increased rapidly over the past decades. Some of the key factors that affect the risks to urban areas include climate change, the densification of assets within cities and the general expansion of urban areas. In this paper, we examine and compare quantitatively the impact of climate change and recent urban development patterns on the exposure of four European cities to pluvial flooding. In particular, we investigate the degree to which pluvial floods of varying severity and in different geographical locations are influenced to the same extent by changes in urban land cover and climate change. We have selected the European cities of Odense, Vienna, Strasbourg and Nice for analyses to represent, different climatic conditions, trends in urban development and topographical characteristics. We develop and apply a combined remote-sensing and flood-modelling approach to simulate the extent of pluvial flooding for a range of extreme precipitation events for historical (1984) and present-day (2014) urban land cover and for two climate-change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Changes in urban land cover are estimated using Landsat satellite imagery for the period 1984–2014. We combine the remote-sensing analyses with regionally downscaled estimates of precipitation extremes of current and expected future climate to enable 2D overland flow simulations and flood-hazard assessments. The individual and combined impacts of urban development and climate change are quantified by examining the variations in flooding between the different simulations along with the corresponding uncertainties. For all four cities, we find an increase in flood exposure corresponding to an observed absolute growth in impervious surfaces of 7–12 % during the past thirty years of urban development. Similarly, we find that climate change increases exposure to pluvial flooding under both the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. The relative importance of urban development and climate change on flood exposure varies considerably between the cities. For Odense, the impact of urban development is comparable to that of climate change under an RCP 8.5 scenario (2081–2100), while for Vienna and Strasbourg it is comparable to the impacts of an RCP 4.5 scenario. For Nice, climate change dominates urban development as the primary driver of changes in exposure to flooding. The variation between geographical locations is caused by differences in soil infiltration properties, historical trends in urban development and the projected regional impacts of climate change on extreme precipitation.

scholarly journals Comparison of the impacts of urban development and climate change on exposing European cities to pluvial flooding

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 4131-4147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Skougaard Kaspersen ◽  
Nanna Høegh Ravn ◽  
Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen ◽  
Henrik Madsen ◽  
Martin Drews
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
Pluvial Flooding ◽  
Rcp 8.5

Abstract. The economic and human consequences of extreme precipitation and the related flooding of urban areas have increased rapidly over the past decades. Some of the key factors that affect the risks to urban areas include climate change, the densification of assets within cities and the general expansion of urban areas. In this paper, we examine and compare quantitatively the impact of climate change and recent urban development patterns on the exposure of four European cities to pluvial flooding. In particular, we investigate the degree to which pluvial floods of varying severity and in different geographical locations are influenced to the same extent by changes in urban land cover and climate change. We have selected the European cities of Odense, Vienna, Strasbourg and Nice for analyses to represent different climatic conditions, trends in urban development and topographical characteristics. We develop and apply a combined remote-sensing and flood-modelling approach to simulate the extent of pluvial flooding for a range of extreme precipitation events for historical (1984) and present-day (2014) urban land cover and for two climate-change scenarios (i.e. representative concentration pathways, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Changes in urban land cover are estimated using Landsat satellite imagery for the period 1984–2014. We combine the remote-sensing analyses with regionally downscaled estimates of precipitation extremes of current and expected future climate to enable 2-D overland flow simulations and flood-hazard assessments. The individual and combined impacts of urban development and climate change are quantified by examining the variations in flooding between the different simulations along with the corresponding uncertainties. In addition, two different assumptions are examined with regards to the development of the capacity of the urban drainage system in response to urban development and climate change. In the stationary approach, the capacity resembles present-day design, while it is updated in the evolutionary approach to correspond to changes in imperviousness and precipitation intensities due to urban development and climate change respectively. For all four cities, we find an increase in flood exposure corresponding to an observed absolute growth in impervious surfaces of 7–12 % during the past 30 years of urban development. Similarly, we find that climate change increases exposure to pluvial flooding under both the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. The relative importance of urban development and climate change on flood exposure varies considerably between the cities. For Odense, the impact of urban development is comparable to that of climate change under an RCP 8.5 scenario (2081–2100), while for Vienna and Strasbourg it is comparable to the impacts of an RCP 4.5 scenario. For Nice, climate change dominates urban development as the primary driver of changes in exposure to flooding. The variation between geographical locations is caused by differences in soil infiltration properties, historical trends in urban development and the projected regional impacts of climate change on extreme precipitation. Developing the capacity of the urban drainage system in relation to urban development is found to be an effective adaptation measure as it fully compensates for the increase in run-off caused by additional sealed surfaces. On the other hand, updating the drainage system according to changes in precipitation intensities caused by climate change only marginally reduces flooding for the most extreme events.

scholarly journals Influence of urban land cover changes and climate change for the exposure of European cities to flooding during high-intensity precipitation

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Skougaard Kaspersen ◽  
N. Høegh Ravn ◽  
K. Arnbjerg-Nielsen ◽  
H. Madsen ◽  
M. Drews
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Land Cover Changes ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
Pluvial Flooding

Abstract. The extent and location of impervious surfaces within urban areas due to past and present city development strongly affects the amount and velocity of run-off during high-intensity rainfall and consequently influences the exposure of cities towards flooding. The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall are expected to increase in many places due to climate change and thus further exacerbate the risk of pluvial flooding. This paper presents a combined hydrological-hydrodynamic modelling and remote sensing approach suitable for examining the susceptibility of European cities to pluvial flooding owing to recent changes in urban land cover, under present and future climatic conditions. Estimated changes in impervious urban surfaces based on Landsat satellite imagery covering the period 1984–2014 are combined with regionally downscaled estimates of current and expected future rainfall extremes to enable 2-D overland flow simulations and flood hazard assessments. The methodology is evaluated for the Danish city of Odense. Results suggest that the past 30 years of urban development alone has increased the city's exposure to pluvial flooding by 6% for 10-year rainfall up to 26% for 100-year rainfall. Corresponding estimates for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios (2071–2100) are in the order of 40 and 100%, indicating that land cover changes within cities can play a central role for the cities' exposure to flooding and conversely also for their adaptation to a changed climate.

scholarly journals Measuring Urban Land Cover Influence on Air Temperature through Multiple Geo-Data—The Case of Milan, Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Oxoli ◽  
Giulia Ronchetti ◽  
Marco Minghini ◽  
Monia Molinari ◽  
Maryam Lotfian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Urban Land Cover

Climate issues are nowadays one of the most pressing societal challenges, with cities being identified among the landmarks for climate change. This study investigates the effect of urban land cover composition on a relevant climate-related variable, i.e., the air temperature. The analysis exploits different big geo-data sources, namely high-resolution satellite imagery and in-situ air temperature observations, using the city of Milan (Northern Italy) as a case study. Satellite imagery from the Landsat 8, Sentinel-2, and RapidEye missions are used to derive Local Climate Zone (LCZ) maps depicting land cover compositions across the study area. Correlation tests are run to investigate and measure the influence of land cover composition on air temperature. Results show an underlying connection between the two variables by detecting an average temperature offset of about 1.5 ∘ C between heavily urbanized and vegetated urban areas. The approach looks promising in investigating urban climate at a local scale and explaining effects through maps and exploratory graphs, which are valuable tools for urban planners to implement climate change mitigation strategies. The availability of worldwide coverage datasets, as well as the exclusive use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), provide the analysis with a potential to be empowered, replicated, and improved.

A Comparison of Urbanization Effects on Stream Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Water Chemistry in an Urban and an Urbanizing Basin in Southern Ontario, Canada

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Normand L. Bazinet ◽  
Beth M. Gilbert ◽  
Angela M. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Biotic Index ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
Linear Relationships ◽  
Lake Simcoe

Abstract Benthic invertebrate communities were compared in several watersheds within an urban basin and an urbanizing basin in southern Ontario, Canada. The urban watersheds of the Lake Ontario basin and the urbanizing watersheds within the Lake Simcoe basin share similar geologies, soils, and climates, but differ in the stage of urban development within these two basins. Correspondence analysis showed that invertebrate populations formed distinct groups split between these two basins owing to intense urban development in the Lake Ontario watersheds versus the agricultural nature of the Lake Simcoe basin. Canonical correspondence analysis ordinations indicated that the major environmental gradients were related to urban land cover (imperviousness), chloride, nitrates and stream order factors. Urban land cover and chloride were most strongly associated with the first axis. The typical logarithmic relationship between urban land cover and benthos found in other studies was not evident in this study. Rather, 9 of the 12 metrics tested had significant linear relationships with urban land cover. The Hilsenhoff Family Biotic Index and percent Oligochaeta metrics showed the strongest positive linear relationships with urban land cover. Pollution sensitive groups (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) along with richness and diversity measures decreased with increasing urbanization.

scholarly journals A 30-meter resolution national urban land-cover dataset of China, 2000–2015

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenhui Kuang ◽  
Shu Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyong Li ◽  
Dengsheng Lu
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Urban Land Cover

Abstract. Accurate urban land-cover datasets are essential for mapping urban environments. However, a series of national urban land-cover data covering more than 15 years that characterizes urban environments is relatively rare. Here we propose a hierarchical principle on remotely sensed urban land-use/cover classification for mapping intra-urban structure/component dynamics. China's Land Use/cover Dataset (CLUD) is updated, delineating the imperviousness, green surface, waterbody and bare land conditions in cities. A new data subset called CLUD-Urban is created from 2000 to 2015 at five-year intervals with a medium spatial resolution (30 m). The first step is a prerequisite to extract the vector boundaries covered with urban areas from CLUD. A new method is then proposed using logistic regression between urban impervious surface area (ISA) and the annual maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value retrieved from Landsat images based on a big-data platform with Google Earth Engine. National ISA and urban green space (UGS) fraction datasets for China are generated at 30-meter resolution with five-year intervals from 2000 to 2015. The overall classification accuracy of national urban areas is 92 %. The root mean square error values of ISA and UGS fractions are 0.10 and 0.14, respectively. The datasets indicate that the total urban area of China was 6.28 × 104 km2 in 2015, with average fractions of 70.70 % and 26.54 % for ISA and UGS, respectively. The ISA and UGS increased between 2000 and 2015 with unprecedented annual rates of 1,311.13 km2/yr and 405.30 km2/yr, respectively. CLUD-Urban can be used to enhance our understanding of urbanization impacts on ecological and regional climatic conditions and urban dwellers' environments. CLUD-Urban can be applied in future researches on urban environmental research and practices in the future. The datasets can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2644932.

scholarly journals Quantifying Short-Term Urban Land Cover Change with Time Series Landsat Data: A Comparison of Four Different Cities

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 4319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsheng Zhang ◽  
Ting Wang ◽  
Yuhan Zhang ◽  
Yiru Dai ◽  
Jiangjie Jia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
Urban Land Cover Change

Short-term characteristics of urban land cover change have been observed and reported from satellite images, although urban landscapes are mainly influenced by anthropogenic factors. These short-term changes in urban areas are caused by rapid urbanization, seasonal climate changes, and phenological ecological changes. Quantifying and understanding these short-term characteristics of changes in various land cover types is important for numerous urban studies, such as urbanization assessments and management. Many previous studies mainly investigated one study area with insufficient datasets. To more reliably and confidently investigate temporal variation patterns, this study employed Fourier series to quantify the seasonal changes in different urban land cover types using all available Landsat images over four different cities, Melbourne, Sao Paulo, Hamburg, and Chicago, within a five-year period (2011–2015). The overall accuracy was greater than 86% and the kappa coefficient was greater than 0.80. The R-squared value was greater than 0.80 and the root mean square error was less than 7.2% for each city. The results indicated that (1) the changing periods for water classes were generally from half a year to one and a half years in different areas; and, (2) urban impervious surfaces changed over periods of approximately 700 days in Melbourne, Sao Paulo, and Hamburg, and a period of approximately 215 days in Chicago, which was actually caused by the unavoidable misclassification from confusions between various land cover types using satellite data. Finally, the uncertainties of these quantification results were analyzed and discussed. These short-term characteristics provided important information for the monitoring and assessment of urban areas using satellite remote sensing technology.

scholarly journals Is It Possible to Distinguish Global and Regional Climate Change from Urban Land Cover Induced Signals? A Mid-Latitude City Example

Urban Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Wiesner ◽  
Benjamin Bechtel ◽  
Jana Fischereit ◽  
Verena Gruetzun ◽  
Peter Hoffmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Cover

scholarly journals MONITORING URBAN LAND COVER/LAND USE CHANGE IN ALGIERS CITY USING LANDSAT IMAGES (1987–2016)

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W7 ◽  
pp. 1083-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Bouchachi ◽  
Y. Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Urban Land Cover ◽  
The Impact

Monitoring the Urban Land Cover/Land Use change detection is important as one of the main driving forces of environmental change because Urbanization is the biggest changes in form of Land, resulting in a decrease in cultivated areas. Using remote sensing ability to solve land resources problems. The purpose of this research is to map the urban areas at different times to monitor and predict possible urban changes, were studied the annual growth urban land during the last 29 years in Algiers City. Improving the productiveness of long-term training in land mapping, were have developed an approach by the following steps: 1) pre-processing for improvement of image characteristics; 2) extract training sample candidates based on the developed methods; and 3) Derive maps and analyzed of Algiers City on an annual basis from 1987 to 2016 using a Supervised Classifier Support Vector Machine (SVMs). Our result shows that the strategy of urban land followed in the region of Algiers City, developed areas mostly were extended to East, West, and South of Central Regions. The urban growth rate is linked with National Office of Statistics data. Future studies are required to understand the impact of urban rapid lands on social, economy and environmental sustainability, it will also close the gap in data of urbanism available, especially on the lack of reliable data, environmental and urban planning for each municipality in Algiers, develop experimental models to predict future land changes with statistically significant confidence.

scholarly journals Assessing the Potential of Solar PV Installation based on Urban Land Cover Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 933 (1) ◽  
pp. 012024
Author(s):  
A Zakiah ◽  
R B Aditya
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Urban Land Cover

Abstract This paper presents a technical assessment of solar photovoltaic (PV) installation potential in urban areas based on its urban land cover type, using a case study of Indonesian cities including Yogyakarta, Kupang and Tomohon. The assessment was performed using a free online application to assess the urban land cover types, i-Tree Canopy. This application can be used to identify and distinguish urban land cover types such as building rooftop, vegetation, grass, soil, road and water, which then can be used to assess the suitable area for Solar PV installation. Additionally, solar photovoltaic power output data from Global Solar Atlas is used to calculate potential energy production from PV installations in each city. The result shows that in an urbanised city such as Yogyakarta, the most suitable PV installation is in building rooftops. Meanwhile, Kupang and Tomohon have higher potential for ground-mounted PV installation in bare ground or grass. The approach and result of this study could be used for planners and policymakers to determine city-scale solar PV installation planning to maximise solar energy production. It can also be used to calculate the solar energy estimation using free online applications, which is easy to use and more accessible for stakeholders.

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