Average Hourly Temperature Research Articles

Biotic and abiotic factors shaping bat activity in Maryland soybean fields

AbstractBats are important pest control agents in agriculture. Yet, the underlying fine‐scale biotic and abiotic mechanisms that drive their foraging behaviors and responses to insect outbreaks are unclear. Herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) can attract both invertebrate and vertebrate natural enemies that use the chemical plant cues to locate insect prey. The ability of HIPVs to attract multiple species raises the question of whether they may also be a biotic factor influencing insectivorous bat activity. Additionally, abiotic factors, such as weather conditions, can affect bat activity in agricultural settings, but little is known about how bats respond to shifting environmental conditions on short timescales in this landscape context. Using a model crop system, soybean (Glycine max), our study asked three questions: (1) Which bat species are active in eastern Maryland soybean fields? (2) Is insectivorous bat activity affected by naturally occurring soybean HIPVs and/or synthetic soybean HIPVs (indole or farnesene)? (3) How is insectivorous bat activity affected by hourly weather conditions in this landscape? In soybean fields in eastern Maryland, we created paired treatment plots: HIPV plots (damaged plants or synthetic HIPV dispensers) and control plots (undamaged plants or empty dispensers). We measured bat activity using ultrasonic recorders, summarizing hourly and nightly activity, and detected 10 total species. The most abundant species were big brown/silver‐haired bats (Eptesicus fuscus/Lasionycteris noctivagans). Bat activity did not significantly differ between control and HIPV plots in any of the three experiments. Thus, our results do not support our expectation that bats in eastern Maryland use soybean HIPVs to locate insect prey. However, bat activity did increase with increasing average hourly temperature and wind speed. This initial study of bats and HIPVs, as well as the fine‐scale examination of weather conditions on bat activity, may serve as a guide for future research on bat–plant interactions that can support the development of new strategies for sustainable pest management.

Comparison of reflective coating with other passive strategies: A climate based design and optimization study of building envelope

The building envelope modification in terms of insulation material, glass material, orientation, window to wall ratio (WWR), reflective coating, etc., is vital to control the heat penetration in buildings. This article evaluates the effect of Passive methods (PMs) (such as windows layers, window colors, infiltration, insulation material, insulation location in wall and roof, and orientation) in the first scenario in controlling the heat gain by building envelope for 18 cities from different Indian zones of climate. Further, the study investigated two more scenarios of passive implementation, the second scenario is a reflective roof (RR) coupled with PMs, and the third scenario is a reflective roof and wall (RRW) associated with PMs in controlling the thermal environment. The second and third scenarios also evaluated the impact of reflective surfaces on the requirement of insulation thickness for the roof and wall. This work advances the sustainability potential by optimizing critical building design parameters utilizingthe Non-dominated Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-2), which reveals a considerable reduction in required energy demand. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) for average hourly temperature data collected between March 14 and March 18, 2022, is 4.18 with computational results. The obtained outcomes exhibit that PMs save 6–29 % of HVAC energy annually. Where infiltration rate for all climates except cold climate is 0.2 ACH; however, cold climatic cities are perceived in the range of 0.6–0.8 ACH and 0.2–0.4 ACH for Shillong and Srinagar, respectively. It can also be stated that double-layer green 6 mm/13 mm air windows would give the best optimum solution for all climates. A coupled system of PMs and RR has demonstrated an energy savings potential of 11–32%, depending upon the climatic regions. The obtained outcomes from PMs and RR coupled systems also significantly reduced insulation thickness.

Mistletoes Facilitate a Desert Herbivore by Improving the Quality of Shade

In arid environments, shade provided by vegetation forms the crux of many facilitation pathways by providing other organisms with relief from high levels of solar radiation and extreme temperatures. Shade is an important determinant that structures arid ecosystem processes and functioning. While shade is considered an essential refuge for many organisms in arid environments, few studies have assessed how parasitic plants such as aerial mistletoes can influence the quality of shade provided by its host, and how this can subsequently influence species interactions. Here, we investigate how mistletoe influences the microclimate and daytime use of sub-canopy habitat by a large herbivore that seeks out shady micro-habitats to avoid daytime heat in Australia’s Strzelecki Desert. We experimentally removed the pale-leaved mistletoe (Amyema maidenii) from mulga trees (Acacia aneura) and monitored sub-canopy ambient temperatures and the daytime use of sub-canopy habitat by red kangaroos (Osphranter rufus). Results showed that average hourly temperature during the daytime and daily maximum temperature were cooler and that kangaroos were approximately three times more likely to shelter beneath trees where mistletoe was present (control) compared to where mistletoes had been removed (treatment). By showing that mistletoe can improve the quality of shade provided by their host trees, our study offers a novel insight into how mistletoes can facilitate the surrounding biota through modifying the abiotic environment beyond its physical structure. More broadly, the results of our study emphasise the prevalence of positive interactions within ecological communities and how they can occur in unexpected ways and indirectly between organisms that never come into direct contact.

Thermodynamic and economic analysis of the performance of a direct evaporative cooler working under extreme summer weather conditions

Riyadh is a desert region characterized by large daily and seasonal ambient temperature variations. Air cooling using mechanical vapor compression requires high energy rates resulting in negative environmental impacts. The use of non-conventional cooling methods such as evaporative cooling is attractive and needs further investigations particularly in such critical weather conditions. This paper deals with the analysis of the performance of a direct evaporative cooling in hot and arid weather conditions. Theoretical models using heat and mass transfer, exergy and cost analysis are first developed and presented. Such models have been systematically validated using available experimental and theoretical results from previous studies. The second part of the work concerns the analysis of the performance of a direct evaporative cooler under a metropolitan central Arabian Peninsula (Riyadh, KSA) weather conditions using average hourly temperature and relative humidity of the month of July. The optimum operating parameters of the cooler have been then selected. The analysis shows that the effect of the cooler effectiveness on the exergy efficiency is not significant. The suitable value of the effectiveness of the evaporative cooler working under summer weather of the studied location is found to be between 0.7-0.8. Such a value achieves comfortable conditions at low cost.

Static and dynamic analyses for the exergetic, exergoeconomic and environmental assessment of a high-performance building

This paper presents an exergetic, exergoeconomic and environmental assessment of an existing high-performance building using both static and dynamic analyses. The IEA ECBCS framework is adopted for exergy analysis, whereas the SPECO method is used to implement the exergoeconomic analysis. The environmental impact is considered in a quantitative fashion. It is noted that a dynamic analysis using average hourly temperatures is preferred over a static analysis. However, if a simpler static analysis is to be used, an annual average temperature needs to be identified for specific climate zone and building type. For Istanbul, an average temperature of 14°C is recommended.

Static and dynamic analyses for the exergetic, exergoeconomic and environmental assessment of a high-performance building

This paper presents an exergetic, exergoeconomic and environmental assessment of an existing high-performance building using both static and dynamic analyses. The IEA ECBCS framework is adopted for exergy analysis, whereas the SPECO method is used to implement the exergoeconomic analysis. The environmental impact is considered in a quantitative fashion. It is noted that a dynamic analysis using average hourly temperatures is preferred over a static analysis. However, if a simpler static analysis is to be used, an annual average temperature needs to be identified for specific climate zone and building type. For Istanbul, an average temperature of 14°C is recommended.

Impact of Ambient Conditions of Arab Gulf Countries on the Performance of Gas Turbines Using Energy and Exergy Analysis

In this paper, energy and exergy analysis of typical gas turbines is performed using average hourly temperature and relative humidity for selected Gulf cities located in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. A typical gas turbine unit of 42 MW is considered in this study. The electricity production, thermal efficiency, fuel consumption differences between the ISO conditions and actual conditions are determined for each city. The exergy efficiency and exergy destruction rates for the gas turbine unit and its components are also evaluated taking ISO conditions as reference conditions. The results indicate that the electricity production losses occur in all cities during the year, except in Dammam and Kuwait for the period between November and March. During a typical day, the variation of the power production can reach 4 MW. The rate of exergy destruction under the combined effect of temperature and humidity is significant in hot months reaching a maximum of 12 MW in July. The presented results show also that adding inlet cooling systems to the existing gas turbine units could be justified in hot periods. Other aspects, such as the economic and environmental ones, should also be investigated.

Analyzing the Cooling Effect of Urban Green Areas by Using the Multiple Observation Network in the Seonjeongneung Region of Seoul, Korea

To analyze the cooling effect of urban green areas, we conducted micrometeorological measurements in these areas and their surroundings in Seoul, Korea. From the average hourly temperature measurements through each month for the last two years (March 2013 to February 2015), we found that the maximum...

Building-integrated rooftop greenhouses: An energy and environmental assessment in the mediterranean context

A sustainable and secure food supply within a low-carbon and resilient infrastructure is encapsulated in several of The United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. The integration of urban agriculture in buildings can offer improved efficiencies; in recognition of this, the first south European example of a fully integrated rooftop greenhouse (iRTG) was designed and incorporated into the ICTA-ICP building by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. This design seeks to interchange heat, CO2 and rainwater between the building and its rooftop greenhouse. Average air temperatures for 2015 in the iRTG were 16.5°C (winter) and 25.79°C (summer), making the iRTG an ideal growing environment. Using detailed thermophysical fabric properties, 2015 site-specific weather data, exact control strategies and dynamic soil temperatures, the iRTG was modelled in EnergyPlus to assess the performance of an equivalent ‘freestanding’ greenhouse. The validated result shows that the thermal interchange between the iRTG and the ICTA-ICP building has considerable moderating effects on the iRTG’s indoor climate; since average hourly temperatures in an equivalent freestanding greenhouse would have been 4.1°C colder in winter and 4.4°C warmer in summer under the 2015 climatic conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that the iRTG case study recycled 43.78MWh of thermal energy (or 341.93kWh/m2/yr) from the main building in 2015. Assuming 100% energy conversion efficiency, compared to freestanding greenhouses heated with oil, gas or biomass systems, the iRTG delivered an equivalent carbon savings of 113.8, 82.4 or 5.5kg CO2(eq)/m2/yr, respectively, and economic savings of 19.63, 15.88 or 17.33 €/m2/yr, respectively. Under similar climatic conditions, this symbiosis between buildings and urban agriculture makes an iRTG an efficient resource-management model and supports the promotion of a new typology or concept of buildings with a nexus or symbiosis between energy efficiency and food production.

Annual Thermal Performance of a Hollow Roof in Combination with a Cavity Wall and Static Sunshade: Experimental Study of Energy-Efficient Rooms

AbstractEnergy consumption by the building sector constitutes a large portion of global energy use. Energy-efficient building technologies help to reduce heat gain in hot summer months, heat loss in cold winter months, and modify energy requirements in buildings. In the writers’ paper, the effect of a proposed hollow roof (independent of and combined with a designed brick-cavity wall with brick projections and static sunshade) on indoor air temperature has been analyzed experimentally by constructing four rooms of habitable dimensions (3.0×4.0×3.0-m high) and studying average hourly temperatures for 1 year. Each room has a different combination of type of roof, wall, and static sunshade; hence, the difference in indoor air temperature of the rooms will primarily be attributable to differences in heat transferred through these building elements. The proposed hollow roof combined with the designed brick-cavity wall with brick projections and static sunshade lessened indoor air temperature in summer and incr...

Effect of energy efficient building elements on summer cooling of buildings

Growing energy demands with an increasing population have reiterated the importance of energy conservation. Buildings share a large portion of energy use worldwide. Energy efficient building technologies help to maximize solar heat gain in winter, minimize it in summer and optimize energy requirements in buildings. In present paper, effect of ventilated brick cavity wall with brick projections (independently and combined with designed static sunshade and hollow roof) on indoor air temperature has been analyzed experimentally by constructing four rooms of habitable dimensions (3.0m×4.0m×3.0m high) and studying average hourly temperatures in summer. The combined effect of ventilated brick cavity wall with brick projections, designed static sunshade and hollow roof helped to lower indoor air temperature for hotter part of the day in the study period. It also lowered maximum and minimum indoor air temperature and swing in indoor air temperature although there was a large variation in outdoor air temperature. Combined effect of the energy efficient building elements is thus useful for summer cooling and energy conservation in buildings.

Design development and thermal performance evaluation of static sunshade and brick cavity wall: An experimental study

Energy efficient building technologies reduce energy requirements in buildings. It is possible to maximize solar heat gain in winter, avoid overheating in summer by proper design of building elements and bring indoor air temperature near comfort zone (18–27°C) to optimize energy needs. In present paper effect of proposed static sunshade, brick cavity wall with brick projections and their combined effect on indoor air temperature has been analyzed by constructing three rooms each of habitable dimensions (3.0m×4.0m×3.0m high) and studying average hourly temperatures for three months in summer and winter each. Performance of proposed static sunshade has been found to be better than horizontal static sunshade in winter while that of proposed brick cavity wall with brick projections is better than a solid brick wall in summer. Combined effect of proposed static sunshade and brick cavity wall with brick projections has been effective in keeping indoor air temperature less in summer mornings, more in winter nights and hence useful for energy conservation in buildings as per seasonal needs.

Forecasting The Inside Room, Temperature And Relative Humidity For An Adobe Onions Store.

Onion is produce in large quantities at every harvest season in Nigeria and this is so in many part of the world, however storage of the crop has been a problem, thus, the need to study the thermal behavior of clay room for the storage of onion. In this work the transient heat transmission across various walls of an adobe room was determined using an Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software programme. It was found that the determined average hourly temperature has a root mean square of percentage deviation of 10.8238 and that of determined average relative humidity is 8.4158. Thus EES software could be use in forecasting the indoor condition of an adobe room.

Spatial Superposition Method via Model Coupling for Urban Heat Island Albedo Mitigation Strategies

AbstractA spatial superposition design is presented that couples the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) with the National Center of Excellence (NCE) lumped urban thermal model for application to the city of Phoenix, Arizona. This technique utilizes an approach similar to Reynolds decomposition from turbulence theory. The presented decomposition takes the NCE model prediction from a mitigated strategy as the mean temperature and the difference between the NCE and MM5 predictions without mitigation strategy as the perturbed temperature. The goal of this coupled model is to provide spatial variability when simulating mitigation strategies for the urban heat island effect, as compared with the spatially invariant lumped model. A validation analysis was performed incorporating a maximum 35% change from the baseline albedo value for the urban environment. It is shown that the coupled model differs by up to 0.39°C with comparable average surface temperature predictions from MM5. The coupled model was also used to perform analysis of three different albedo-driven spatial mitigation schemes. This resulted in the identification that having a lesser number of mitigated points on a square urban grid in Phoenix with the same average albedo leads to a greater reduction in average hourly temperature.

Evaluation of optimal power options for base transceiver stations of Mobile Telephone Networks Cameroon

Photovoltaic hybrid systems (PVHS) with 2days of energy autonomy are shown to be optimal options for the supply of the daily energy demands of 33 base transceiver stations of MTN Cameroon. PVHS were computed for all sites using the technical data for a 150Wp mono-crystalline module, the site specific hourly load data, the average monthly solar radiation and temperature. Hourly solar radiation data for all sites were downloaded using the solar resource module of HOMER and geographical coordinates of the selected sites. The 3-hourly temperature data available on a website maintained NASA was used to generate average monthly hourly temperatures needed in the calculation of the output of solar modules. The energy costs and breakeven grid distances for possible power options were computed using the Net Present Value Technique and financial data for selected power system components. The results with a PV module cost of 7.5€/Wp, a remote diesel price of 1.12€/l, a general inflation rate of 5% and a fuel escalation of 10% showed that the annual operational times of the diesel generator were in the range 3–356h/year with renewable energy fractions in the range 0.89–1.00. However, only 22 PVHS had two parallel battery strings as stipulated in the request for proposal launched by MTN Cameroon in 2008. The PV array sizes evaluated for the 22 PVHS were found to be the range 2.4–10.8kWp corresponding to daily energy demands in the range 7.31–31.79kWh/d. The energy costs and breakeven grid distances determined were in the ranges 0.81–1.32€/kWh and 10.75–32.00km respectively.

Development of Weather-Based Predictive Models for Fusarium Head Blight and Deoxynivalenol Accumulation for Spring Malting Barley.

The associations between Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Gibberella zeae, and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in spring malting barley (Hordeum vulgare) and hourly weather conditions predictive of DON accumulation were examined using data from six growing seasons in the U.S. Northern Great Plains. Three commonly grown cultivars were planted throughout the region, and FHB disease and DON concentration were recorded. Nine predictor variables were calculated using hourly temperature and relative humidity during the 10 days preceding full head spike emergence. Simple logistic regression models were developed using these predictor variables based on a binary threshold for DON of 0.5 mg/kg. Four of the nine models had sensitivity greater than 80%, and specificity of these models ranged from 67 to 84% (n = 150). The most useful predictor was the joint effect of average hourly temperature and a weighted duration of uninterrupted hours (h) with relative humidity greater than or equal to 90%. The results of this study confirm that FHB incidence is significantly associated with DON accumulation in the grain and that weather conditions prior to full head emergence could be used to accurately predict the risk of economically significant DON accumulation for spring malting barley.

Effect of Climate Change on Outside Air Design Temperature for Air Conditioning Cooling Load Calculations For Ikeja and Ilorin, Nigeria

ABSTRACT Hourly dry-bulb temperatures for Ikeja and Ilorin were obtained from the Nigerian Metrological Services Agency, Oshodi, Lagos, for the years 1995-2008. Statistical analyses were carried out on the data to obtain the average hourly temperatures for each month, the average temperature for each month, and the average temperature for the four warmest months (along with the standard deviations for each case). The average hourly temperatures were compared with those obtained by Ariyo for the two locations for the year 1978-1992. The 1%, 2½%, and 5% design temperatures obtained from the average temperature for the four warmest months, assuming the temperature distribution follows a normal distribution pattern, were also compared with those obtained by Ariyo for 1978-1992, as well as with those obtained by Shoboyejo and Shonubi for 1951-1965. It was observed that the average hourly temperatures were higher in the Shoboyejo-Shonubi work than those obtained by Ariyo for all the months for both locations. T...

Urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle in Phoenix, Arizona

Empirical estimations of urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle were carried out for Phoenix, Arizona, through a framework capable of estimating the mean urban effect on air temperature. The analysis of pre-urban and urban differences in hourly temperature data at Sky Harbor International Airport during dry tropical conditions in June and January revealed a significant urban influence. Minimum temperature was most influenced by urbanization with the mean minimum temperature during the urban period exceeding that of the pre-urban period by 4.4°C (2.4°C) in June (January). A significant urban heat sink in January maximum temperatures was evident as the mean maximum temperature during the pre-urban period exceeded that of the urban period by 1.5°C. The greater thermal inertia due to urban growth around the airport and the growth of the airport itself has also had an effect on nocturnal cooling rates. Pre-urban January minimum temperatures typically occurred between 06:00 and 07:00 local standard time (LST) in the pre-urban period and between 07:00 and 08:00 LST in the urban period. Similarly, in June, the minimum temperature occurred on average around 05:00 LST during the pre-urban period and between 05:00 and 06:00 LST during the urban period. This apparent decrease in cooling rates was modeled well by the first harmonic fit to the average hourly temperature data.

Numerical and experimental analysis of a salt gradient solar pond performance with or without reflective covered surface

An experimental salt gradient solar pond having a surface area of 3.5 × 3.5 m 2 and depth of 2 m has been built. Two covers, which are collapsible, have been used for reducing the thermal energy loses from the surface of the solar pond during the night and increasing the thermal efficiency of the pond solar energy harvesting during daytime. These covers having reflective properties can be rotated between 0° and 180° by an electric motor and they can be fixed at any angle automatically. A mathematical formulation which calculates the amount of the solar energy harvested by the covers has been developed and it is adapted into a mathematical model capable of giving the temporal temperature variation at any point inside or outside the pond at any time. From these calculations, hourly air and daily soil temperature values calculated from analytical functions are used. These analytic functions are derived by using the average hourly and daily temperature values for air and soil data obtained from the local meteorological station in Isparta region. The computational modeling has been carried out for the determination of the performance of insulated and uninsulated solar ponds having different sizes with or without covers and reflectors. Reflectors increase the performance of the solar ponds by about 25%. Finally, this model has been employed for the prediction of temperature variations of an experimental salt gradient solar pond. Numerical results are in good agreement with the experiments.

Alterações da temperatura em ambientes externos de favela e desconforto térmico

To study aspects of the microclimate in a shantytown (favela), in order to understand the influence of the land occupation pattern on its climatic parameters. The study was carried out in a shantytown located in the southwestern region of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, between February 19 and July 31, 2003, i.e. covering the whole autumn and parts of the summer and winter. The air temperatures were measured every hour on a microclimate scale, at four points within this densely populated shantytown and, as a control, on a tree-lined street nearby. In the summer, the average hourly temperatures in the shantytown were between 18.5 degrees C and 29.5 degrees C but, away from it, they were 2 degrees C to 3 degrees C lower at the hottest times of the day. In the autumn, the temperatures ranged from 15.5 degrees C to 25.5 degrees C and in the winter, 13.5 degrees C to 25.5 degrees C. The chilliest time in the shantytown was before dawn in the autumn and at 7 a.m. in the winter. The temperature variation was greater inside the shantytown than outside of it. The temperatures were within the comfort range for around 50% of the time. Temperatures below the lower limit (18 degrees C) were more frequent than those above the upper limit (24 degrees C). Temperatures above the upper limit were more frequent in the shantytown than outside of it. The land occupation is a temperature differentiation factor. In the shantytown, the temperatures were higher during the daytime (by up to 3 degrees C) and lower at nighttime (by 1 degrees C on average). The shantytown environment accentuated the temperature extremes, while the temperatures in the control street were milder.