Detection of wind corridors based on “Climatopes”: a study in central Ji’nan

Abstract

Wind corridor blueprints are an essential reference for climate planning that takes into account zones of fresh cold air, air channels as well as heat island alleviation zones. This article addresses the matter of how to plan urban wind corridors more efficiently by proposing a “ventilation potential coefficient” (VPC) as well as providing an index for natural cold sources. The study additionally proposes a surface urban heat island (SUHI) index as a means of evaluating the severity of the heat island effect. Based on these three indexes, a new method of categorizing urban climatic zones, called “Climatopes”, is developed. Using the above methods, data from 2016 meteorological observation stations and Landsat8 satellites, as well as urban planning materials and basic geographical information on a scale of 1:2000 are used to create an Urban Climate Analysis Map (UCAnMap) and formulate a plan for the construction of wind corridors in the urban centre of Ji’nan. The results reveal that the intensity of urban heat islands in Ji’nan is closely related to a lack of natural cold sources, the specific layout of different types of land use as well as poor planning of urban “function zones”. Moreover, there is a significant correlation between the VPC and other factors such as surface roughness length, building height, the density of building frontal area and floor area ratios. The potential wind corridors could also be determined based on the VPC. Based on an UCAnMap composed of 11 Climatopes and background wind environments, this article ascertains that it would be possible to construct a network of 3 Level One corridors (each over 500 m wide) and 11 Level Two corridors (each over 80-m wide). Additionally, regulatory measures and protective legislation are proposed for the corridors, as well as for the city’s overall development.