פיתוח כלי אינטגרלי לניתוח מיקרו- אקלים עבור מניעת התחממות עירונית

The aim of the proposed research is to address an existing gap in the evaluation and modelling of urban microclimates, their effects on human thermal stress and perception, and the application of scientific data in urban planning processes. This will be achieved through the creation of a single computational data collection and analysis platform that will integrate biophysical comfort indices and urban-scale physical, climatic, and pedestrian mapping.

In the backdrop of the challenges imposed by climate change, the continuing gap between scientific knowledge in urban climatology and its implementation in actual planning decisions calls for the development of practical tools that will streamline the integration of climatic considerations in planning. A need exists for effective models and digital platforms that could not only enable users to understand microclimatic phenomena on a detailed level, but also provide planning professionals with tools for exploring the microclimatic impact of different design solutions at different levels through the simplification of technical and scientific knowledge. Despite substantial progress in calculation and modelling techniques in recent years, such tools are still lacking.

The computational challenge in a multi-scale platform for microclimatic analysis is to simplify calculations without compromising the ability to draw accurate qualitative conclusions from them. This simplification can be achieved only by a systematic comparative evaluation of the margins of error introduced by the models at each scale of analysis. We propose to address these issues by following a multi-scale process, including: (1) the calculation of solar radiation exposure at street level for an entire urban area, based on a 3D physical model of the city fabric; (2) the identification of selected centrally-located street segments with exceptional levels of solar radiation exposure (either high or low) for detailed analysis in subsequent stages; (3) the collection of microclimatic data required for thermal comfort modeling through multi-seasonal monitoring; (4) the evaluation of thermal comfort and associated behavioural response through co-located surveys; (5) the calculation and comparison of thermal comfort levels as predicted by the comfort indices and surveys; (6) the comparison of comfort levels with calculated and monitored solar exposure levels, for the purpose of deriving statistical correlations that could be used as reliable indicators for thermal comfort and thus greatly simplify the calculation process.

The results of this multi-scale analysis will be used for the development of a scalable GIS-based tool that can be used to produce outdoor thermal comfort maps at different scales (citywide, neighbourhood, street segment). By incorporating variable levels of detail, the simplified computational framework will allow for a highly realistic mapping of microclimatic thermal stress conditions within the street network in real time, giving planners unprecedented access to environmental information that is crucial for sustainable urban design.