Microclimatic factors in urban development: The setup of an environmental observatory at the FAD STU

Abstract

Abstract The presented research focuses on energy (im)balance on both global and local scale. The main emphasis is placed on microclimatic factors directly affecting public urban spaces and related physical processes regarding the city that are closely linked to energy flows and result in the formation of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs). As they are one of the main adverse effects of human activities, the paper introduces the classification of UHIs by types, describes the basic differences between the surface energy balance of rural and urban areas, and introduces climate-sensitive urban design as one of the possible ways of mitigating the undesirable anthropogenic impact on the climate change. The authors of the article present their own research, which predominantly focuses on the development of an environmental observatory situated on the rooftop of the building of the Faculty of Architecture and Design STU in Bratislava (hereafter referred to as the FAD STU). They interpret the experimental operation of sensing probe 1 and the first results and measurement data on Global Horizontal Solar Irradiation (GHSI) and their post-processing. In addition, they describe the construction of sensing probe 2, which will provide more data on the total atmospheric precipitation, wind speed and its direction, presence of dust particles and carbon dioxide in the air, or spectral characteristics of incident and reflected solar radiation. Finally, the experimental operation of a thermal and micro- camera with fisheye lenses is described. These cameras are essential for measuring the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as one of the parameters used for the assessment of vegetation vitality, which also plays a key role in the formation of the UHI effect.