Abstract
In the current scenario of massive urbanization and global climate change, an intelligent monitoring of the environmental variables is becoming fundamental to ensure good living conditions in cities. Indeed, the acquisition of data with high spatiotemporal resolution can enable the assessment of environmental vulnerabilities in urban areas towards the definition of responsive adaptation and mitigation strategies. In this context, the current work presents a two-fold approach based on low-cost cloud-connected sensors for (i) fixed and (ii) mobile monitoring of several environmental parameters. This paper, which focuses on the measurement aspects of the urban micro-climate, describes in detail the hardware and software components of both approaches, and how to exploit them for setting up a field campaign. The methods were tested in the city of Bolzano (Italy), demonstrating their suitability for identifying the spatial variability of the microclimate in relation to the urban morphology, and for highlighting the presence of the urban heat island and estimating its intensity.
Highlights
Cities are among the major contributors to climate change [1] and, at the same time, are vulnerable to its effects, facing major weather and environment-related challenges [2]
Climate change impacts are increasingly evident in urban areas across the world [3], and the continuous increase in the urban population has led to a surge in the demand for climate-sensitive resources in cities [4]
The wireless sensor network (WSN) is based on the LoRaWAN communication protocol, and is managed by a LoRaServer instance hosted by the Environmental Data Platform (EDP) of Eurac Research [40]
Summary
Cities are among the major contributors to climate change [1] and, at the same time, are vulnerable to its effects, facing major weather and environment-related challenges [2]. To best benefit from the advantages of both approaches, previous studies have proposed the combination of fixed and mobile measurements [33] In this context, the current study aimed to contribute to the development of microclimate monitoring techniques suitable to evaluate the environmental conditions in urban areas and to inform the definition of responsive resilience plans. The current study aimed to contribute to the development of microclimate monitoring techniques suitable to evaluate the environmental conditions in urban areas and to inform the definition of responsive resilience plans It presents two monitoring approaches, one fixed and one mobile, based on distributed networks of low-cost sensors, designed for the characterization of the spatial variation of microclimate conditions in the city of Bolzano (Italy). FFiigguurree22.. (a) Picture ooff oonneesseennssoorrnnooddee;;(b(b))bbuuilidldininggbblolcokckscshcehmemataictiscos fotfhtehseesnesnosro-nr-ondoed; e(c; )(cL)oL- oRRaaWWAANNggaatetewwaayyththaattfoforrwwaarrddssththeeddaatatappaacckkeetstsfrforommththeesesennsosorrnnooddeesstotoththeeEEDDPP; ;(d(d) )EEDDPPcocommp-onpeonntesnthtsatthaalltoawllotwhetphreoppreorpmeranmaagneamgeenmteonftthofetnheetwneotrwko. rk
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