Improving Local Climate Zones Automatic Classification Based on Physic-Morphological Urban Features

The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification scheme, introduced by Stewart and Oke (2012), offers promising opportunities for better studying the urban climate phenomena at the micro- and local scale (e.g. the urban heat island effect). However, although several methods have been introduced to apply the concept of LCZs to cities, only a few utilize publicly available data, like, for instance, the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT). However, to date, results are relatively rough, and frequent quality assessments demonstrate moderate overall accuracy. This paper proposes an approach for improving the quality of LCZ automatic classification, combining freely available multispectral satellite imagery together with morphological features of the urban environment. And, overall accuracy of 67% was achieved for the Metropolitan City of Milan with an improvement of 12% with respect to using only Landsat 8 multispectral and thermal data. This ascertains the physic-morphological nature of the LCZs and opens the possibility for mapping more accurate LCZs without the need for additional thermal information

MAPPING URBAN VENTILATION CORRIDORS AND ASSESSING THEIR IMPACT UPON THE COOLING EFFECT OF GREENING SOLUTIONS

Over the past decades, climate change has become among the top issues challenging cities worldwide, endangering the urban infrastructures and threatening the health of millions of people. Hence, climate action, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, has become a priority for urban planning. This work introduces an example of the promising role that spatial analysis and statistical modelling, employing Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and freely available satellite and land-based data, can provide in supporting urban climate design and policymaking. In particular, this study puts special attention on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. Here, we first introduce a simple, but effective morphological-based approach for mapping potential ventilation corridors across cities of uniform built-up structure, as a common UHI mitigation measure. Then, we propose a methodology for assessing the relative role of these corridors in maximizing the impacts of green solutions upon lowering high temperature. Results show that even under very calm wind conditions, there is still an opportunity for maximizing the benefits of greening measures on the urban climate. Also, it has been demonstrated that green ventilation corridors are more effective during night-time when the UHI effect is peaked. The research findings are very promising, especially for cities where wind is a marginal potentiality

Sophisticated Light Shelf System in South Orientation in Hot Arid Zone

In the framework of achieving advanced (sophisticated) light shelf system for deep office spaces in south in hot, arid zones, this study is based on the use of the parametric design approach in creating and investigating various combinations of the main design parameters of light shelf systems, in order to determine the design indicators and the key design elements that can help in developing and optimizing the performance of such daylight systems. Therefore a “819” study cases were created and tested in the previous phase of this study, as well as a “16” study cases have been tested in this study that produced from one hypothetical optimized parametric study case which was established by integrate the main design features of the best two case studies in the results of the previous study phase, in term of daylighting and energy consumption performance.  This study has identified several basic designs and considerations for developing and optimizing the light shelf systems, in addition to the invention of two sophisticated design cases for deep office spaces with different ceiling heights (3.30 & 3.80 m.) in south in hot, arid zones (New Cairo area)

Deflection Analysis of a Nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli Nanobeam Model Resting on Two Elastic Foundations: A Generalized Differential Quadrature Approach

This paper provides a general formularization of the nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli nanobeam model for a bending examination of the symmetric and asymmetric cross-sectional area of a nanobeam resting over two linear elastic foundations under the effects of different forces, such as axial and shear forces, by considering various boundary conditions’ effects. The governing formulations are determined numerically by the Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM). A deep search is used to analyze parameters—such as the nonlocal (scaling effect) parameter, nonuniformity of area, the presence of two linear elastic foundations (Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundations), axial force, and the distributed load on the nanobeam’s deflection—with three different types of supports. The significant deductions can be abbreviated as follows: It was found that the nondimensional deflection of the nanobeam was fine while decreasing the scaling effect parameter of the nanobeams. Moreover, when the nanobeam is not resting on any elastic foundations, the nondimensional deflection increases when increasing the scaling effect parameter. Conversely, when the nanobeam is resting on an elastic foundation, the nondimensional deflection of the nanobeam decreases as the scaling effect parameter is increased. In addition, when the cross-sectional area of the nanobeam varies parabolically, the nondimensional deflection of the nonuniform nanobeam decreases in comparison to when the cross-sectional area varies linearly