Statistical Review of Quality Parameters of Blue-Green Infrastructure Elements Important in Mitigating the Effect of the Urban Heat Island in the Temperate Climate (C) Zone

Abstract

Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect relates to the occurrence of a positive heat balance, compared to suburban and extra-urban areas in a high degree of urbanized cities. It is necessary to develop effective UHI prevention and mitigation strategies, one of which is blue-green infrastructure (BGI). Most research work comparing impact of BGI parameters on UHI mitigation is based on data measured in different climate zones. This makes the implication of nature-based solutions difficult in cities with different climate zones due to the differences in the vegetation time of plants. The aim of our research was to select the most statistically significant quality parameters of BGI elements in terms of preventing UHI. The normative four-step data delimitation procedure in systematic reviews related to UHI literature was used, and temperate climate (C) zone was determined as the UHI crisis area. As a result of delimitation, 173 publications qualified for literature review were obtained (488 rejected). We prepared a detailed literature data analysis and the CVA model—a canonical variation of Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Our research has indicated that the BGI object parameters are essential for UHI mitigation, which are the following: area of water objects and green areas, street greenery leaf size (LAI), green roofs hydration degree, and green walls location. Data obtained from the statistical analysis will be used to create the dynamic BGI modeling algorithm, which is the main goal of the series of articles in the future.

Thermal Summer Diurnal Hot-Spot Analysis: The Role of Local Urban Features Layers

“…This result is in good agreement with the findings of Shi et al [101], who demonstrated that the daytime summer thermal environment in a high-density city in China involved several urban design factors, including sky view factor, surface albedo, vegetation cover ratio, building density, and mean building height. Regarding the cooling effects of open spaces, it was widely demonstrated that blue and green spaces are the main LST-drivers [102], in addition to reflective materials, as capable of increasing the surface albedo [103], as also highlighted in our study.…”

Comparison of Ecohydrological and Climatological Zoning of the Cities: Case Study of the City of Pilsen

“…However, the presented statistical description of both zonings of the area cannot prove a detailed dependence of climatic and ecohydrological properties for two reasons: it is not based on direct measurements and cannot take into account detailed differences within units. For example, the categorization of buildings does not take into account the occurrence of green roofs and facades, which may affect the outflow or evapotranspiration [35]. However, this must be demonstrated by detailed research and measurements on individual surfaces in different microclimatic position [10,62].…”

“…The zoning of the area according to LCZ is, of course, too rough to capture the microclimatic differences affected by the detailed parameterization of street corridors, buildings and individual surfaces of the city in the horizontal and vertical scale. The used ecohydrological classification is also unable to distinguish some details of the area, e.g., greenery leaf size (leaf area index), green roofs hydration degree [35], but it showed the possibilities of supplementing the structure of data on individual areas of LCZ, so that they are more generally applicable for the evaluation of the potential of BGI of the city.…”

“…Standardized LCZ units can also be used as a basis for assessing the impact of urban landscape transformation on ecosystem services [34]. An important factor, which influences UHI intensity, is how the BGI elements are spatially distributed in the city [11,35]. Thus, it is expected that there are certain causalities across LCZ classes and spatial characteristics of BGI in cities.…”

Sustainable Urban Agriculture as Functional Hybrid Unit—Issues of Urban Resilience

“…• shaping the parameters of the urban environment • regulation of the microclimate parameters and water cycle in the urban environment • ensuring biodiversity in the ecosystem, habitat for small animals and insects • improved insulation parameters of buildings • preventing the "heat island" phenomena [76][77][78] • social: forming place identity, integration of local community • utilitarian: recreation areas, windbreaks, aeration corridors, cultivation gardens, urban farms • production: biomass, energy, food…”