Time-evolving Impact of Trees on Street Canyon Microclimate

Abstract

Abstract Nowadays, cities are frequently exposed to heatwaves, worsening outdoor thermal comfort and increasing cooling energy demand in summer. Urban forestry is seen as one of the viable and preferable solutions to combat extreme heat events and urban heat island (UHI) in times of climate change. While many cities have initiated tree-planting programs in recent years, the evolving impact of trees on street microclimate, in a time span of up to several decades, remains unclear. This study focuses on the cooling effects of a common type of street trees, linden trees, in five age groups, i.e., 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-60, and 60-100 years old, while the diversity of trees is present in nature, that is, various species and crown geometries, The leaf area index (LAI) and leaf area density (LAD) of linden trees vary nonlinearly as they grow, peaking at different ages. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed for an idealized street canyon with linden trees of various age groups. Turbulent airflow, heat and moisture transport, shortwave and longwave radiation, shading, and transpiration were fully coupled and solved in OpenFOAM. Meteorological data, including air temperature, wind speed, moisture, and shortwave radiation of the heatwave in Zurich (June 2019), were applied as boundary conditions. The results show that young trees in the age group of 10-20 years old provide little heat mitigation at the pedestrian level in an extreme heat event. Optimal heat mitigation by trees is observed for the group of 30-60 years old linden trees. Finally, the potential impact of growing trees on air ventilation in streets is evaluated.