TY - JOUR

T1 - Climate Impact and Model Approaches of Blue-Green Infrastructure Measures for Neighborhood Planning

AU - Beier, Maike

AU - Gerstendörfer, Jessica

AU - Mendzigall, Katja

AU - Pavlik, Dirk

AU - Trute, Peter

AU - Tils, Robert von

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Publishing Fund of Leibniz Universität Hannover. Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the RES:Z call: Resource-optimized city of the future; research project TransMiT—Resource-optimized transformation of combined and separate drainage systems in existing quarters with high population pressure, Subproject Effect of BGI on local climate / backyards, grant number 033W105A UP5.

PY - 2022/6/4

Y1 - 2022/6/4

N2 - Nowadays, most cities deal with the problem of “Urban Heat Islands”. Especially existing city districts cannot easily be adapted. In this paper, the effects of blue-green infrastructure elements (BGI) on air and surface temperature in courtyards are examined, based on on-site measurements and simulations. Recognizable effects on the temperature were observed: BGI lower the number of hot days in the courtyard, including a faster air temperature drop at night, but water elements increase the number of tropical nights due to their heat capacity. Model simulations with PALM-4U proved to be useful to analyze the effects of BGI on the microclimate. Besides analyzing existing structures, the effects of planned measures can be quantified by simulation. However, for this application, needs of improvement were recognized to evaluate the influence of BGI on the microclimate more realistically. For decision support, standard indicators such as the number of tropical nights and hot days are not differentiated enough to quantify specific climate stress of urban residents. It is suggested to consider summer days additionally, percentiles could be used instead of fixed thresholds and the entire course of the year should play a role in the evaluation of the elements and urban design.

AB - Nowadays, most cities deal with the problem of “Urban Heat Islands”. Especially existing city districts cannot easily be adapted. In this paper, the effects of blue-green infrastructure elements (BGI) on air and surface temperature in courtyards are examined, based on on-site measurements and simulations. Recognizable effects on the temperature were observed: BGI lower the number of hot days in the courtyard, including a faster air temperature drop at night, but water elements increase the number of tropical nights due to their heat capacity. Model simulations with PALM-4U proved to be useful to analyze the effects of BGI on the microclimate. Besides analyzing existing structures, the effects of planned measures can be quantified by simulation. However, for this application, needs of improvement were recognized to evaluate the influence of BGI on the microclimate more realistically. For decision support, standard indicators such as the number of tropical nights and hot days are not differentiated enough to quantify specific climate stress of urban residents. It is suggested to consider summer days additionally, percentiles could be used instead of fixed thresholds and the entire course of the year should play a role in the evaluation of the elements and urban design.

KW - decision support

KW - inner courtyards

KW - PALM

KW - thermal stress

KW - urban microclimate

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131875635&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su14116861

DO - 10.3390/su14116861

M3 - Article

VL - 14

JO - Sustainability

JF - Sustainability

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 11

M1 - 6861

ER -