Energy exchange in a dense urban environment Part II: impact of spatial heterogeneity of the surface

Kotthaus, S. and Grimmond, C. S. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3166-9415 (2014) Energy exchange in a dense urban environment Part II: impact of spatial heterogeneity of the surface. Urban Climate, 10 (2). pp. 281-307. ISSN 2212-0955 doi: 10.1016/j.uclim.2013.10.001

Abstract/Summary

The centre of cities, characterised by spatial and temporal complexity, are challenging environments for micrometeorological research. This paper considers the impact of sensor location and heterogeneity of the urban surface on flux observations in the dense city centre of London, UK. Data gathered at two sites in close vicinity, but with different measurement heights, were analysed to investigate the influence of source area characteristics on long-term radiation and turbulent heat fluxes. Combining consideration of diffuse radiation and effects of specular reflections, the non-Lambertian urban surface is found to impact the measurements of surface albedo. Comparisons of observations from the two sites reveal that turbulent heat fluxes are similar under some flow conditions. However, they mostly observe processes at different scales due to their differing measurement heights, highlighting the critical impact of siting sensors in urban areas. A detailed source area analysis is presented to investigate the surface controls influencing the energy exchanges at the different scales

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/36104
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Elsevier
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item