Urban albedo as a function of the urban structure — A model experiment

✍ Scribed by Masaru Aida

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 747 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-8314
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00116269

✦ Synopsis

A model experiment has been carried out in order to examine the effect of surface irregularity of an urban structure on the anomalous absorption of incident solar radiation. Several models of an urban structure resembling buildings and canyons were constructed by using concrete blocks in cubic form. By building and dismantling the urban models, the albedo change as a function of solar zenith angle was observed throughout the year. The result shows that the absorption increment originating from the irregular urban structure amounts to about 20% as compared with the absorption by a flat surface of the same material. The amount of additional absorption depends on the relative area occupied by canyons in the model.