Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation

Abstract Utilization of urban green vegetation (UGV) has been recognized as a promising option to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effect. While we still lack understanding of the contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of UGV. Here we proposed and employed a cooling effect f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhaowu Yu, Shaobin Xu, Yuhan Zhang, Gertrud Jørgensen, Henrik Vejre
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2018-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25296-w
id doaj-eca376c5ee974b5f8077dd0008160bc5
record_format Article
spelling doaj-eca376c5ee974b5f8077dd0008160bc52020-12-08T03:52:33ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222018-05-01811910.1038/s41598-018-25296-wStrong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetationZhaowu Yu0Shaobin Xu1Yuhan Zhang2Gertrud Jørgensen3Henrik Vejre4Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of CopenhagenDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of CopenhagenDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of CopenhagenDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of CopenhagenDepartment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of CopenhagenAbstract Utilization of urban green vegetation (UGV) has been recognized as a promising option to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effect. While we still lack understanding of the contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of UGV. Here we proposed and employed a cooling effect framework and selected eight typical cities located in Temperate Monsoon Climate (TMC) and Mediterranean Climate (MC) demonstrate that local climate condition largely affects the cooling effect of UGV. Specifically, we found increasing (artificial) rainfall and irrigation contribute to improving the cooling intensity of grassland in both climates, particularly in the hot-dry environment. The cities with high relative humidity would restrict the cooling effect of UGV. Increasing wind speed would significantly enhance the tree-covered while weakening the grass-covered UGVs’ cooling effect in MC cities. We also identified that, in order to achieve the most effective cooling with the smallest sized tree-covered UGV, the area of trees in both climate zones’ cities should generally be planned around 0.5 ha. The method and results enhance understanding of the cooling effect of UGVs on larger (climate) scales and provide important insights for UGV planning and management.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25296-w
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Zhaowu Yu
Shaobin Xu
Yuhan Zhang
Gertrud Jørgensen
Henrik Vejre
spellingShingle Zhaowu Yu
Shaobin Xu
Yuhan Zhang
Gertrud Jørgensen
Henrik Vejre
Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
Scientific Reports
author_facet Zhaowu Yu
Shaobin Xu
Yuhan Zhang
Gertrud Jørgensen
Henrik Vejre
author_sort Zhaowu Yu
title Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
title_short Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
title_full Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
title_fullStr Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
title_full_unstemmed Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
title_sort strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation
publisher Nature Publishing Group
series Scientific Reports
issn 2045-2322
publishDate 2018-05-01
description Abstract Utilization of urban green vegetation (UGV) has been recognized as a promising option to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effect. While we still lack understanding of the contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of UGV. Here we proposed and employed a cooling effect framework and selected eight typical cities located in Temperate Monsoon Climate (TMC) and Mediterranean Climate (MC) demonstrate that local climate condition largely affects the cooling effect of UGV. Specifically, we found increasing (artificial) rainfall and irrigation contribute to improving the cooling intensity of grassland in both climates, particularly in the hot-dry environment. The cities with high relative humidity would restrict the cooling effect of UGV. Increasing wind speed would significantly enhance the tree-covered while weakening the grass-covered UGVs’ cooling effect in MC cities. We also identified that, in order to achieve the most effective cooling with the smallest sized tree-covered UGV, the area of trees in both climate zones’ cities should generally be planned around 0.5 ha. The method and results enhance understanding of the cooling effect of UGVs on larger (climate) scales and provide important insights for UGV planning and management.
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25296-w
work_keys_str_mv AT zhaowuyu strongcontributionsoflocalbackgroundclimatetothecoolingeffectofurbangreenvegetation
AT shaobinxu strongcontributionsoflocalbackgroundclimatetothecoolingeffectofurbangreenvegetation
AT yuhanzhang strongcontributionsoflocalbackgroundclimatetothecoolingeffectofurbangreenvegetation
AT gertrudjørgensen strongcontributionsoflocalbackgroundclimatetothecoolingeffectofurbangreenvegetation
AT henrikvejre strongcontributionsoflocalbackgroundclimatetothecoolingeffectofurbangreenvegetation
_version_ 1724392437548318720