The Influence of Building Envelope on the Local Microclimate.

Urban areas have higher temperatures than the surrounding suburban/rural areas, a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). There is a great interest in creating a healthy and comfortable environment for the growing number of urban dwellers to live in, therefore different methods of combating and diminishing the urban heat island are being studied. One such method is to reduce the energy contribution of buildings to the formation of the urban heat island. In this paper we analyzed the effect of building envelopment, both by seasonal monitoring of surface temperatures using the thermal camera at different time intervals, and by numerical simulations of air temperature at different levels in the atmosphere, using ENVI-met, a three-dimensional non-hydrostatic microclimatic model. The data sets resulting from the monitoring of the surface temperature with the thermal camera showed that the temperature recorded at the surface is lower for the enveloped buildings than for the non-enveloped buildings, during the night but also during the day, less at noon. The numerical simulations were based on two scenarios: i) buildings with non-enveloped walls and ii) the same buildings but with enveloped walls, after running the scenarios for enveloped and non-enveloped buildings. The results showed that following the enveloping process the air temperature in the areas between the buildings is lower for the enveloped buildings, at different heights, both during the night and during the day

The Influence of Urban Morphology on the Urban Microclimate.

In this paper, GIS techniques and satellite data are used in order to analyze the impact of the two types of urban design existing in the neighborhoods of Bucharest on the local microclimate. The two types of urban morphology considered are separated in time by a natural event, the earthquake from 1977, a phenomenon that has changed the evolution of urban planning of the city. The stages of the study are: i) geospatial analysis of urban morphology with emphasis on the construction features of each period; ii) spatial analysis of the land surface temperature in correlation with urban morphology, using Landsat satellite images; iii) microclimate simulation using ENVI-met software to highlight the local thermal environment. The analysis of satellite data highlighted higher values of the land surface temperature in neighborhoods built after 1977 compared to ones built before that year. The simulation results highlight the differences of thermal environment between the two categories analyzed, lower values of air and surface temperatures for the neighborhoods built before 1977

Designing a cartographic online application in order to assess the Danube Delta evolution

The Danube Delta, one of the most important wetlands in Europe, went through many transformations during the last century, mainly due to human interference. When analyzing the current state of this ecosystem, one must consider the historical changes that have a significant influence on the evolution of the delta. Written documents are, no doubt, valuable, but a fundamental contribution is given by the study of geospatial information (old maps, satellite images etc). These information depict the ecosystems components state at a specific time and analyzing them in a successive manner allows one to extract information, that otherwise would be difficult to perceive, such as patterns of evolution. Another important aspect that could be resolved through the use of historical maps is the evolution of human settlements and the toponymy