Area Assessment of a Pedestrian Wind Environment Using Point Wind Speed Measurements

<p>This research has successfully produced a means of creating a reliable area measurement of a pedestrian level wind environment from a reasonable number of point wind speed measurements. To complete this aim a contouring script was developed through MATLAB. The script has the ability to read in series of point wind speed measurements coupled with cartesian co-ordinates and generate a reliable contour diagram. The foundation for this research is a resource of over 150 wind tunnel tests conducted for code compliance in Wellington City. The District Plan in Wellington requires any building over 18.6m in height to have a wind tunnel analysis conducted to assess the changes in wind speed with respect to pedestrian safety. Wellington compliance criteria require two forms of measurement to be conducted. Point measurements are taken to quantify wind speeds accurately, but are unable to efficiently assess large areas. Area measurement techniques are used to assess the comparative windiness of zones around the development site. Through examination of 3000 measured data points it has been demonstrated that the correlation between these two measurement techniques is relatively low. Until now, neither test alone has been sufficient to accurately quantify the impact of a new development on the pedestrian level wind environment as a whole. Interpolation methods were used to generate pseudo measurements between points at which wind speeds were measured. A series of three building configurations were assessed using the MATLAB script to visualise the effect of increasing building height on pedestrian level winds. The building configurations assessed were: a uniformly distributed grid of 25 half cubes (60m x 60m x 30m), central full cube (60m x 60m x 60m), and, a central tall tower (60m x 60m x 240m). Each building configuration was simulated through the contouring script and the resultant contours were assessed to ensure a realistic depiction of easily predictable wind flow patterns such as downwash and the corner effect. The resolution of the output contours in any case is directly related to the number of point wind speed measurements used. It has been found that measurement points should be more densely located (15m in scale) around the site in question, and more sparsely located (30m in scale) around the outer regions of the desired testing area. This is the most efficient method of generating contours for use in commercial pedestrian level wind laboratories. Mathematically generated contours have the potential to provide a more reliable output than those produced through current methods of area testing.</p>

Area Assessment of a Pedestrian Wind Environment Using Point Wind Speed Measurements

<p>This research has successfully produced a means of creating a reliable area measurement of a pedestrian level wind environment from a reasonable number of point wind speed measurements. To complete this aim a contouring script was developed through MATLAB. The script has the ability to read in series of point wind speed measurements coupled with cartesian co-ordinates and generate a reliable contour diagram. The foundation for this research is a resource of over 150 wind tunnel tests conducted for code compliance in Wellington City. The District Plan in Wellington requires any building over 18.6m in height to have a wind tunnel analysis conducted to assess the changes in wind speed with respect to pedestrian safety. Wellington compliance criteria require two forms of measurement to be conducted. Point measurements are taken to quantify wind speeds accurately, but are unable to efficiently assess large areas. Area measurement techniques are used to assess the comparative windiness of zones around the development site. Through examination of 3000 measured data points it has been demonstrated that the correlation between these two measurement techniques is relatively low. Until now, neither test alone has been sufficient to accurately quantify the impact of a new development on the pedestrian level wind environment as a whole. Interpolation methods were used to generate pseudo measurements between points at which wind speeds were measured. A series of three building configurations were assessed using the MATLAB script to visualise the effect of increasing building height on pedestrian level winds. The building configurations assessed were: a uniformly distributed grid of 25 half cubes (60m x 60m x 30m), central full cube (60m x 60m x 60m), and, a central tall tower (60m x 60m x 240m). Each building configuration was simulated through the contouring script and the resultant contours were assessed to ensure a realistic depiction of easily predictable wind flow patterns such as downwash and the corner effect. The resolution of the output contours in any case is directly related to the number of point wind speed measurements used. It has been found that measurement points should be more densely located (15m in scale) around the site in question, and more sparsely located (30m in scale) around the outer regions of the desired testing area. This is the most efficient method of generating contours for use in commercial pedestrian level wind laboratories. Mathematically generated contours have the potential to provide a more reliable output than those produced through current methods of area testing.</p>

Perencanaan Lanskap untuk Pengembangan Wisata di Gunung Padang, Kota Padang, Sumatera Barat

Landscape Planning for Tourism Development in Gunung Padang, Padang City, West Sumatra. Gunung Padang is one of the tourist attractions located in the city of Padang, this area is surrounded by vegetation and animals that live well, so this tourist attraction is included in the protected and preserved tourist areas. It has tourism potential such as tourist attractions, tourist activities, and tourism supporting facilities. Various tourism potentials have not been developed as a whole by the management. Based on this, it is necessary to optimize and provide recommendations in order to be developed. The purpose of this research is to develop landscape planning to support tourism development in Gunung Padang, Padang City, through the stages of preparation, inventory, analysis, synthesis, and planning aimed at sustainable tourism development. Analysis and synthesis are carried out to produce basic concepts and concepts of tourism development. The final product of this research is the planned tourism development site in Gunung Padang. The division of space is based on the needs and according to the conditions owned by the tourist area in order to support security and comfort in travel activities. The final result of this research is a map of the plan of attractions and tourist activities, as well as a map of the layout plan of tourist facilities in Gunung Padang.

Salvaging Native Plants from Sites Slated for Development: Stop Wasting Resources

This fact sheet provides examples of native plant species that can be salvaged from sites slated for development for urban landscaping. It also provides strategies to increase the economic and logistic feasibility of salvaging efforts. The authors found 80 salvageable native plant species on a proposed development site, 31 of which had the potential to establish in soils more sterile and compacted than the soils in which these species typically flourish.

An urban planning perspective on planning to address the needs and capabilities of a growing seniors population: an investigation of the senior friendly communities approach

This research examines the aging population and explores how the urban built environment should be transformed to be friendlier to seniors. Rapidly approaching, an unprecedented shift in demographics will significantly increase the proportion of the seniors`population. Their changing needs and capabilities will pose accessibility issues within the built environment. A case study of the waterfront neighbourhood of Port Credit in Mississauga, Ontario will be used, as an example of a local aging population. By studying policy documents, a recent mixed-use development, site visits, and interviewing key informants, it was found that dense, compact and transit-oriented developments (TODs) that are walkable, allow seniors to age in-place better, compared to the traditional neighbourhood design. In Summary, this research reveals that by making the urban built environment more walkable, and accessible, seniors can be more independent, safer and better be integrated into the community for a longer time.

An urban planning perspective on planning to address the needs and capabilities of a growing seniors population: an investigation of the senior friendly communities approach

This research examines the aging population and explores how the urban built environment should be transformed to be friendlier to seniors. Rapidly approaching, an unprecedented shift in demographics will significantly increase the proportion of the seniors`population. Their changing needs and capabilities will pose accessibility issues within the built environment. A case study of the waterfront neighbourhood of Port Credit in Mississauga, Ontario will be used, as an example of a local aging population. By studying policy documents, a recent mixed-use development, site visits, and interviewing key informants, it was found that dense, compact and transit-oriented developments (TODs) that are walkable, allow seniors to age in-place better, compared to the traditional neighbourhood design. In Summary, this research reveals that by making the urban built environment more walkable, and accessible, seniors can be more independent, safer and better be integrated into the community for a longer time.

An urban planning perspective on planning to address the needs and capabilities of a growing seniors population: an investigation of the senior friendly communities approach

This research examines the aging population and explores how the urban built environment should be transformed to be friendlier to seniors. Rapidly approaching, an unprecedented shift in demographics will significantly increase the proportion of the seniors’ population. Their changing needs and capabilities will pose accessibility issues within the built environment. A case study of the waterfront neighbourhood of Port Credit in Mississauga, Ontario will be used, as an example of a local aging population. By studying policy documents, a recent mixed-use development, site visits, and interviewing key informants, it was found that dense, compact and transit-oriented developments (TODs) that are walkable, allow seniors to age- in-place better, compared to the traditional neighbourhood design. In Summary, this research reveals that by making the urban built environment more walkable, and accessible, seniors can be more independent, safer and better be integrated into the community for a longer time.

An urban planning perspective on planning to address the needs and capabilities of a growing seniors population: an investigation of the senior friendly communities approach

This research examines the aging population and explores how the urban built environment should be transformed to be friendlier to seniors. Rapidly approaching, an unprecedented shift in demographics will significantly increase the proportion of the seniors’ population. Their changing needs and capabilities will pose accessibility issues within the built environment. A case study of the waterfront neighbourhood of Port Credit in Mississauga, Ontario will be used, as an example of a local aging population. By studying policy documents, a recent mixed-use development, site visits, and interviewing key informants, it was found that dense, compact and transit-oriented developments (TODs) that are walkable, allow seniors to age- in-place better, compared to the traditional neighbourhood design. In Summary, this research reveals that by making the urban built environment more walkable, and accessible, seniors can be more independent, safer and better be integrated into the community for a longer time.

The effect of river regulation on the hydrological conditions of the aapa mire in a mining development site in Northern Finland

&lt;p&gt;Central Lapland Greenstone Belt is highly prospective for gold and Ni-Cu-PGE deposits. The study area in Sodankyl&amp;#228;, in northern Finland, has been glaciated during last ice ages forming complex sedimentary succession with low conductivity till and highly variable sorted sediments, which hydraulic conductivity can be orders of magnitudes higher. The complex Quaternary sediments usually cover weathered/fractured bedrock, which is preserved due to weak glacial erosion and can host bedrock aquifers, as well. Rivers, lakes, streams and mires are common features in northern boreal and subarctic regions and their hydraulic interactions are usually poorly understood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Planning of mining operations in such environments needs a detailed understanding of water balance and groundwater discharge and recharge patterns, which are linked to subsurface sediments. In baseline studies, present hydrogeology, hydrology and ecology of the development site has usually been studied intensively. However, main rivers in northern Finland have been regulated since the 1970s and surrounding environments are not in their natural stage. The understanding, how much the environments could have been changed due to the regulation, is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The study area locates in the western part of Natura 2000 protected Viiankiaapa mire, which lies about 300 meters above high-graded Ni-Cu-PGE deposit. The regulated River Kitinen is running close to the western edge of the Viiankiaapa mire. The construction of the hydroelectric power plants and the regulation of the River Kitinen has changed the hydrology of the study area from the 1970s onwards. The Matarakoski power plant built in 1995 affected the study area most directly by ending the regular spring floods and rising the river stage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The changes in the groundwater flow and recharge/discharge patterns were studied with 3D groundwater flow modelling with MODFLOW-NWT and flood modelling with HEC-RAS. Pre-regulation situation was compared to the present stage with two different groundwater flow models in order to understand how regulation of river has affected the groundwater recharge/discharge patterns and flow patterns of the mire. Flood modelling was used to simulate the pre-regulation flood distribution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The regulation of the River Kitinen has affected the western part of Viiankiaapa mire by raising the water table and smoothing the hydraulic gradient towards the river leading to partial wetting of the mire. Annual water table variations decreased due to ending of the flooding and the regulation created a more stable hydrological environment in mire area.&amp;#160; The stabilization of the hydrological environment, as well as the rising of the water table, might have affected the distribution of habitats of endangered moss species &lt;em&gt;Hamatocaulis vernicosus&lt;/em&gt;. The mire might have become more favourable for &lt;em&gt;Hamatocaulis vernicosus&lt;/em&gt;, which is resistant to flooding and high water table. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding the interactions of surface water and groundwater and the present and pre-regulated stage of the river in order to assess the difference between the present and natural stage of the mire.&lt;/p&gt;