Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Research Insight 06: Urban albedo: developing a canyon albedo calculator

Nikolopoulou, Marialena and Kotopouleas, Alkis and Renganathan, G. and Watkins, Richard and Yeninarcilar, Muhammed and Kolokotroni, M. and Salvati, Agnese and Vaidhyanathan, Bala and Anshuman, Aashu (2022) Research Insight 06: Urban albedo: developing a canyon albedo calculator. Technical report. CIBSE (KAR id:97819)

Abstract

Urban albedo, the capacity of urban surfaces to reflect solar radiation, is one of the most important contributors to changes in outdoor temperature, intensifying the urban heat island phenomenon. As a result, it has significant implications for the urban microclimate, affecting thermal comfort conditions as well as building performance and energy consumption, all of which become more pronounced under climate change.

Urban albedo is affected by various parameters, such as the geometry of the urban configuration, the materials and the geographic location. However, most modelling studies approximate the urban albedo by using surface albedo, which can lead to significant errors in the modelling process. The research project ‘Urban albedo computation in high latitude locations: An experimental approach’ was primarily motivated by the need to provide accurate albedo estimates for urban configurations, which are lacking in most urban heat island models used to mitigate albedo’s effects. The project proposed a novel experimental study for the computation of urban albedo in high latitude locations, using London as a representative urban environment in the UK and employing laboratory and field measurements and computational methods to construct an albedo calculation tool.

Item Type: Reports and Papers (Technical report)
Projects: Urban albedo computation in high latitude locations: An experimental approach
Subjects: T Technology > TH Building construction
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > Kent School of Architecture and Planning
Funders: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (https://ror.org/0439y7842)
Depositing User: Marialena Nikolopoulou
Date Deposited: 04 Nov 2022 20:34 UTC
Last Modified: 07 Nov 2022 11:26 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/97819 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Nikolopoulou, Marialena.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0528-2145
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Kotopouleas, Alkis.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3818-156X
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Renganathan, G..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8627-5616
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Watkins, Richard.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3071-9510
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Yeninarcilar, Muhammed.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.