Introducing Mobile Micrometeorological Carts (MMCs) for urban and non-urban micrometeorological measurements

Abstract

<p>Most of the world’s population now lives in urban areas that have different urban climates and environmental characteristics with elevated temperatures, frequent heat stress, and air pollution due to urbanization and climate change. These processes affect the daily lives of citizens worldwide, however, detailed spatial and temporal meteorological and environmental data in cities are often lacking. In order to address this problem, the Novi Sad Urban Climate Research Team (NSUCRT) has developed a Mobile Micrometeorological Carts (MMCs) to enable detailed spatial and temporal measurements in urban and non-urban areas. MMCs consist of sensors that measure air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, globe temperature, global radiation, and six-directional short- and long-wave radiation. The measurement time resolution is two minutes. In addition, a desktop application was created for the transfer of data from MMCs to a computer. This type of detailed and precise equipment will enable researchers and practitioners to obtain micrometeorological data in diverse urban (and non-urban) areas, such as urban squares, streets, parks, river quays, forests, etc. Based on the obtained micrometeorological data, hot and cool spots in the city can be identified, which can be used for the development of climate-friendly planning and design guidelines tackling heat-health issues in cities. In addition, the obtained micrometeorological data can be used for the calculation of mean radiant temperature and outdoor thermal comfort indices, which are important for assessing the comfort and health of citizens in diverse urban environments. Finally, MMCs measurements can be applied for the validation of microclimate models, such as ENVI-met, PALM-4U, SOLWEIG, and RayMan.</p><p><em>Acknowledgment: The research was supported by a project (number 142-451-2557/2021-01) financed by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (regional government).</em></p>