Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
We report the first set of urban micrometeorological measurements for assessment of pedestrian thermal exposure during extreme heat in a dry climate. Hourly measurements of air temperature, humidity, wind speed and six-directional shortwave and longwave radiation were recorded with a mobile human-biometeorological station ( MaRTy ) from 10:00 to 21:00 local time, June 19, 2016, at 22 sites that include diverse microscale urban land cover . Sky view factor (SVF) and 360° pervious and impervious view factors for each location were calculated from six-directional fisheye photographs. Mean radiant temperature ( T MRT ) was determined using the six-directional method. Three-dimensional radiation budgets were decomposed into directional weighted shortwave and longwave radiation components to create a distinct T MRT profile for each site and determine the main drivers of T MRT and thermal exposure. Air temperature peaked locally at 48.5 °C, with a maximum T MRT of 76.4 °C at 15:00 MST in an east-west building canyon. Longwave radiation measured by laterally-oriented sensors dominated the T MRT budget, suggesting the importance of cooling vertical surfaces adjacent to pedestrians. Lateral shortwave radiation contributions were most spatially and temporally variable across T MRT profiles, reflecting the diverse shade conditions. The largest radiation fluxes contributing to T MRT were particularly sensitive to shade and secondarily to ground cover. Trees reduced afternoon T MRT up to 33.4 °C but exhibited a clear T MRT increase of up to 5 °C after sunset; during daytime, trees generated ground cover-dependent longwave radiant cooling or warming. Replacement of impervious with pervious ground cover cooled T MRT at all measurement times, even under dense tree shade. While recent work has found that adaptation cannot offset projected urban air temperature increases, outdoor thermal exposure depends on additional micrometeorological variables, including shortwave and longwave radiation, indicating the need and the opportunity to create pedestrian spaces that are radiantly cool within the context of future urban heat.
Middel et al. (Fri,) studied this question.