Influence of the meteorological record length on the generation of representative weather files

Heat and moisture (HM) transfer simulations of building envelopes and whole building energy simulations require adequate weather files. The common approach is to use weather data of reference years constructed from meteorological records. The weather record affects the capability of representing the real weather of the resulting reference years. In this paper the problem of the influence of the length of the records on the representativeness of the reference years is addressed and its effects are evaluated also for the applicative case of the moisture accumulation risk analysis with the Glaser Method and with DELPHIN 6, confirming that records shorter than 10 years could lead to less representative reference years. On the other hand, it is shown that reference years obtained from longer periods are not representative of the most recent years, which present higher dry-bulb air temperatures due to a short-term climate change effect observed in all the considered weather records. An alternative representative year (Moisture Representative Year) to be used in building energy simulations with a strong dependence on moisture is presented

A bottom-up methodology for buildings energy demand calculation to support grid based energy systems in urban areas

The aim of the project IDEE is the development of a standard and shared procedure to support the evaluation of the better network energy system – based on centralized renewable energy plants or on heat recovered from energy loss – to be adopted at urban scale. The choice of the best solutions is affected by three main aspects: energy demand (amount of energy to be delivered to the buildings); energy supply (amount of energy that is possible to be recovered from industrial areas or centralized renewable energy power plants); district heating network configuration (distance from supply point to buildings, shape of network, …). In this paper, the focus is on the definition of a methodology and relative protocols for the calculation of energy demand of all buildings of a given urban environment

Comparison of the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey with the Munich semi-analytical model - I. Magnitude counts, redshift distribution, colour bimodality, and galaxy clustering

This paper presents a detailed comparison between high-redshift observations from the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) and predictions from the Munich semi-analytical model of galaxy formation. In particular, we focus this analysis on the magnitude, redshift, and colour distributions of galaxies, as well as their clustering properties. We constructed 100 quasi-independent mock catalogues, using the output of the semi-analytical model presented in De Lucia & Blaizot (2007).We then applied the same observational selection function of the VVDS-Deep survey, so as to carry out a fair comparison between models and observations. We find that the semi-analytical model reproduces well the magnitude counts in the optical bands. It tends, however, to overpredict the abundance of faint red galaxies, in particular in the i' and z' bands. Model galaxies exhibit a colour bimodality that is only in qualitative agreement with the data. In particular, we find that the model tends to overpredict the number of red galaxies at low redshift and of blue galaxies at all redshifts probed by VVDS-Deep observations, although a large fraction of the bluest observed galaxies is absent from the model. In addition, the model overpredicts by about 14 per cent the number of galaxies observed at 0.2<z<1 with I_AB<24. When comparing the galaxy clustering properties, we find that model galaxies are more strongly clustered than observed ones at all redshift from z=0.2 to z=2, with the difference being less significant above z~1. When splitting the samples into red and blue galaxies, we find that the observed clustering of blue galaxies is well reproduced by the model, while red model galaxies are much more clustered than observed ones, being principally responsible for the strong global clustering found in the model. [abridged]Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&

SPT-CL J0205-5829: A z = 1.32 Evolved Massive Galaxy Cluster in the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Survey

The galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0205-5829 currently has the highest spectroscopically-confirmed redshift, z=1.322, in the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. XMM-Newton observations measure a core-excluded temperature of Tx=8.7keV producing a mass estimate that is consistent with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich derived mass. The combined SZ and X-ray mass estimate of M500=(4.9+/-0.8)e14 h_{70}^{-1} Msun makes it the most massive known SZ-selected galaxy cluster at z>1.2 and the second most massive at z>1. Using optical and infrared observations, we find that the brightest galaxies in SPT-CL J0205-5829 are already well evolved by the time the universe was <5 Gyr old, with stellar population ages >3 Gyr, and low rates of star formation (<0.5Msun/yr). We find that, despite the high redshift and mass, the existence of SPT-CL J0205-5829 is not surprising given a flat LambdaCDM cosmology with Gaussian initial perturbations. The a priori chance of finding a cluster of similar rarity (or rarer) in a survey the size of the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ survey is 69%.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Ap

Mass Calibration and Cosmological Analysis of the SPT-SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample Using Velocity Dispersion σv\sigma_v and X-ray YXY_\textrm{X} Measurements

We present a velocity dispersion-based mass calibration of the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect survey (SPT-SZ) galaxy cluster sample. Using a homogeneously selected sample of 100 cluster candidates from 720 deg2 of the survey along with 63 velocity dispersion ($\sigma_v$) and 16 X-ray Yx measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. The calibrations using $\sigma_v$ and Yx are consistent at the $0.6\sigma$ level, with the $\sigma_v$ calibration preferring ~16% higher masses. We use the full cluster dataset to measure $\sigma_8(\Omega_ m/0.27)^{0.3}=0.809\pm0.036$. The SPT cluster abundance is lower than preferred by either the WMAP9 or Planck+WMAP9 polarization (WP) data, but assuming the sum of the neutrino masses is $\sum m_\nu=0.06$ eV, we find the datasets to be consistent at the 1.0$\sigma$ level for WMAP9 and 1.5$\sigma$ for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger $\sum m_\nu$ further reconciles the results. When we combine the cluster and Planck+WP datasets with BAO and SNIa, the preferred cluster masses are $1.9\sigma$ higher than the Yx calibration and $0.8\sigma$ higher than the $\sigma_v$ calibration. Given the scale of these shifts (~44% and ~23% in mass, respectively), we execute a goodness of fit test; it reveals no tension, indicating that the best-fit model provides an adequate description of the data. Using the multi-probe dataset, we measure $\Omega_ m=0.299\pm0.009$ and $\sigma_8=0.829\pm0.011$. Within a $\nu$CDM model we find $\sum m_\nu = 0.148\pm0.081$ eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate. Allowing both the growth index $\gamma$ and the dark energy equation of state parameter $w$ to vary, we find $\gamma=0.73\pm0.28$ and $w=-1.007\pm0.065$, demonstrating that the expansion and the growth histories are consistent with a LCDM model ($\gamma=0.55; \,w=-1$).Comment: Accepted by ApJ (v2 is accepted version); 17 pages, 6 figure

Analysis of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Mass-Observable Relations using South Pole Telescope Observations of an X-ray Selected Sample of Low Mass Galaxy Clusters and Groups

(Abridged) We use 95, 150, and 220GHz observations from the SPT to examine the SZE signatures of a sample of 46 X-ray selected groups and clusters drawn from ~6 deg^2 of the XMM-BCS. These systems extend to redshift z=1.02, have characteristic masses ~3x lower than clusters detected directly in the SPT data and probe the SZE signal to the lowest X-ray luminosities (>10^42 erg s^-1) yet. We develop an analysis tool that combines the SZE information for the full ensemble of X-ray-selected clusters. Using X-ray luminosity as a mass proxy, we extract selection-bias corrected constraints on the SZE significance- and Y_500-mass relations. The SZE significance- mass relation is in good agreement with an extrapolation of the relation obtained from high mass clusters. However, the fit to the Y_500-mass relation at low masses, while in good agreement with the extrapolation from high mass SPT clusters, is in tension at 2.8 sigma with the constraints from the Planck sample. We examine the tension with the Planck relation, discussing sample differences and biases that could contribute. We also present an analysis of the radio galaxy point source population in this ensemble of X-ray selected systems. We find 18 of our systems have 843 MHz SUMSS sources within 2 arcmin of the X-ray centre, and three of these are also detected at significance >4 by SPT. Of these three, two are associated with the group brightest cluster galaxies, and the third is likely an unassociated quasar candidate. We examine the impact of these point sources on our SZE scaling relation analyses and find no evidence of biases. We also examine the impact of dusty galaxies using constraints from the 220 GHz data. The stacked sample provides 2.8$\sigma$ significant evidence of dusty galaxy flux, which would correspond to an average underestimate of the SPT Y_500 signal that is (17+-9) per cent in this sample of low mass systems.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

The Redshift Evolution of the Mean Temperature, Pressure, and Entropy Profiles in 80 SPT-Selected Galaxy Clusters

(Abridged) We present the results of an X-ray analysis of 80 galaxy clusters selected in the 2500 deg^2 South Pole Telescope survey and observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We divide the full sample into subsamples of ~20 clusters based on redshift and central density, performing an X-ray fit to all clusters in a subsample simultaneously, assuming self-similarity of the temperature profile. This approach allows us to constrain the shape of the temperature profile over 0<r<1.5R500, which would be impossible on a per-cluster basis, since the observations of individual clusters have, on average, 2000 X-ray counts. The results presented here represent the first constraints on the evolution of the average temperature profile from z=0 to z=1.2. We find that high-z (0.6<z<1.2) clusters are slightly (~40%) cooler both in the inner (rR500) regions than their low-z (0.3<z<0.6) counterparts. Combining the average temperature profile with measured gas density profiles from our earlier work, we infer the average pressure and entropy profiles for each subsample. Overall, our observed pressure profiles agree well with earlier lower-redshift measurements, suggesting minimal redshift evolution in the pressure profile outside of the core. We find no measurable redshift evolution in the entropy profile at rR500 in our high-z subsample. This flattening is consistent with a temperature bias due to the enhanced (~3x) rate at which group-mass (~2 keV) halos, which would go undetected at our survey depth, are accreting onto the cluster at z~1. This work demonstrates a powerful method for inferring spatially-resolved cluster properties in the case where individual cluster signal-to-noise is low, but the number of observed clusters is high.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, submitted to ApJ. Updated following referee repor