Global sensitivity analysis of an urban microclimate system under uncertainty: Design and case study

Mao, Jiachen; Yang, Joseph H.; Afshari, Afshin; Norford, Leslie K.

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.08.011

Cited by 70 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…When modifying the vegetation parameters, the UWG model showed sensitivity (ΔTs_calle = 5 °C) in road surface temperatures only in scenarios with low albedo and low H/W for both cities. This fact is explained because the calculation of the energy balance of the UWG model considers the vegetation and trees in a simplified way, assuming that a certain fraction of the absorbed solar radiation is transformed into latent heat and does not contribute to the increase of temperatures in the canyon (Mao et al, 2017). In addition, it assumes that trees are lower than buildings, so they do not participate in the calculation of surface temperature of roofs and facades.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The UWG simulation requires two input data: rural weather data provided in the EPW format and input data of urban characteristics inserted from the MAT-LAB program with XML and Excel interfaces (Bueno et al, 2013a;Mao et al, 2017 Table 3.…”

Section: Micro-climatic Data and Input Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the new version of UWG model the solar radiation and the calculation of the infrared radiation have been upgraded. It is also possible to add a user-defined routine for traffic-generated heat flow using the EPW file on soil temperature to obtain the boundary condition values to get the layer temperature profile (Mao et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal performance of the Urban Weather Generator model as a tool for planning sustainable urban development

Alchapar¹,

Pezzuto²,

Erica³

et al. 2019

Geographica Pannonica

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The research aims at assessing the sensitivity of the Urban Weather Generator v4.1 to the application of different mitigation strategies for the urban heat island under two climatic contexts: desert climate (Mendoza city) and tropical climate (Campinas city). Twenty-four scenarios that modify their morphologic and material parameters were simulated. The results showed that the temperature of the air predicted by the UWG model is not significantly sensitive to the changes produced by the application of different strategies in urban contexts of equal H/W aspect; however, it does show sensitivity to the variation of the H/W aspect (ΔTa ≤ 1.3°C) and the climate context. The highest performance of the UWG model was recorded on the surface temperatures of the urban envelope, with a maximum difference in surface temperature was recorded on high aspect ratio with high albedo in arid climate, (Ts of roof = 28°C).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-climatic Data and Input Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal performance of the Urban Weather Generator model as a tool for planning sustainable urban development

Alchapar¹,

Pezzuto²,

Erica³

et al. 2019

Geographica Pannonica

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“…The site survey was crucial in understanding the district changes, building typology, street materials, etc. [29]. Defining the distance between the buildings, their heights and their occupancy schedule is related to the heat released to the canyon from the AC units, which in some cases (older buildings) are on every floor.…”

Section: The Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each includes a range of building types: residential, commercial, offices, restaurant, hotel, hospital and common areas. Group 01 buildings are mainly medium rise (offices) and use single-glazed windows ( Table 2), while Group 02 has double-glazed windows and includes mainly the high-rise buildings built after 2000 [29]. Table 5 shows the six different scenarios that highlight the impact on urban temperatures of AH, vegetation and shading devices.…”

Section: Residential Commercial Offices Restaurant Hotel Hospital Commentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of UWG and ENVI-Met Models in an Abu Dhabi District, Based on Site Measurements

et al. 2019

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The city of Abu Dhabi is growing every year in population, urban extent and energy demand. This research focuses on the application of two simulation programs to estimate changes in urban climate associated with continued development in Abu Dhabi: The Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and ENVI-met. Simulation with these two software packages are validated with the site data measured in downtown Abu Dhabi. A comparison analysis (in the different seasons) between the rural data, the simulation output, and the site measurements shows the variations of the UHI in this Middle Eastern city and the potential of the validated tools. The main aims of this study are: (a) to make a seasonal validation of the UWG for the city of Abu Dhabi (referring to urban-rural available data). The tool was previously validated for a year (no seasonal division) for Abu Dhabi, Toulouse, Basel, Singapore, Rome and Barcelona. The simulations are based on the 2016 version of the Urban Weather Generator. The analysis is separated into three main seasons (instead of the full year): winter, spring, summer. (b) To make a seasonal validation and improve the second tool evaluated in this study, ENVI-met 4.0. The software can simulate urban temperature, humidity and wind speed. Guides are proposed for the enhancement of the accuracy of both estimation procedures. Referring to the results, UWG tends to overestimate the canyon temperature during the summer and has a more realistic estimation on the winter season. ENVI-met has better estimations of temperatures during the summer season compared to UWG. Finally, the UWG weather file contributes a more detailed energy model on a mesoscale model. It considers the seasonal effect and shows the impact of the climate on profiling the UHI phenomena. ENVI-met needs improvement in calculating the anthropogenic heat and in calculation of the mean radiant temperature. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4378 2 of 20districts. The latest study shows that the release of the anthropogenic heat creates an unstable layer in the lower level of the atmosphere-even during the night-compared to the countryside [2]. Therefore, including the anthropogenic heat, as a parameter in the simulations, is relevant for models prepared for the climate simulations [3,4].The urban microclimate is strongly connected to the anthropogenic heat released in the canyon. Cities with an efficient public transportation system and a central district cooling plant have a positive impact in improving the urban microclimate [5]. Annual average values show that cities such as Chicago (53 W/m 2 ), Montreal (99 W/m 2 ) and Budapest (43 W/m 2 ) have anthropogenic heat variation from 20 to 40 W/m 2 in summer, and from 70 to 210 W/m 2 in winter. The anthropogenic heat and the traffic schedule follow the same graphic distribution, having one peak in the morning and one peak in the evening [6].Abu Dhabi has developed rapidly over the past 60 years. During this time the urban settlement has grown from the main island towards the desert. The buildings located on the main ...

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Urban Weather Generator: Physics-Based Microclimate Simulation for Performance-Oriented Urban Planning

Mao

Norford

2021

Urban Microclimate Modelling for Comfort and Energy Studies

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Global sensitivity analysis of an urban microclimate system under uncertainty: Design and case study

Cited by 70 publications

References 46 publications

Thermal performance of the Urban Weather Generator model as a tool for planning sustainable urban development

Thermal performance of the Urban Weather Generator model as a tool for planning sustainable urban development

Validation of UWG and ENVI-Met Models in an Abu Dhabi District, Based on Site Measurements

Urban Weather Generator: Physics-Based Microclimate Simulation for Performance-Oriented Urban Planning

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