Summary
The paper focuses on the absorption of shortwave radiation in an urban street canyon. To test the effective albedo of the canyon an analytic solution of the multiple reflection problem is applied. The infinitesimally long canyon is divided into slices and a matrix of view factors for the slices is defined. Incoming shortwave radiation includes direct and diffuse parts and shadowing effects are included in the analysis. The model is validated against Aida’s (1982) scale model data and measurements in a real canyon. The results demonstrate a rapid decrease of the effective albedo as the canyon aspect ratio (its height to width, H/W) are increased. It is also shown that diurnal changes of the effective albedo can be very complex depending on the particular combination of H/W ratio, surface reflectivity and canyon orientation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
M Aida (1982) ArticleTitleUrban albedo as a function of the urban structure – a model experiment (Part I) Bound-Layer Meteor 23 405–413 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00116269
M Aida K Gotoh (1982) ArticleTitleUrban albedo as a function of the urban structure – a two-dimensional numerical simulation (Part II) Bound-Layer Meteor 23 415–424 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00116270
AJ Arnfield (1976) ArticleTitleUrban reflection coefficients: the role of multiple reflection and spatial variations of surface materials Proc Assoc Am Geogr 8 1–4
AJ Arnfield (1982) ArticleTitleAn approach to the estimation of the surface radiative properties and radiation budgets of cities Phys Geogr 3 97–122
AJ Arnfield (1989) ArticleTitleValidation of an estimation model for urban surface albedo Phys Geogr 9 361–372
E Bozonnet R Belarbi F Allard (2005) ArticleTitleModelling solar effects on the heat and mass transfer in a street canyon, a simplified approach Sol Energy 79 10–24 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.solener.2004.10.007
CL Brest (1987) ArticleTitleSeasonal albedo of an urban/rural landscape from satellite observations J Climate Appl Meteor 26 1169–1187 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1987)026<1169:SAOAUL>2.0.CO;2
P Chimklai A Hagishima J Tanimoto (2004) ArticleTitleA computer system to support albedo calculation in urban areas Build Environ 39 1213–1221 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.buildenv.2004.02.006
Craig CD, Lowry WP (1972) Reflections on the urban albedo. Preprints, Conf. on the Urban Environment and Second Conf. on Biometeorology, Philadelphia, Amer Meteor Soc 159–164
JA Davies W Schertzer M Nunez (1975) ArticleTitleEstimating global solar radiation Bound-Layer Meteor 9 33–52 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00232252
Fortuniak K (2000) Sky view factor and urban heat island intensity in Łódź. Abstracts 4th Conf Contemporary Topoclimatic Research, Warszawa, Poland, 27–30 September 2000: 16–17
Fortuniak K (2002) Effective albedo of the urban canyon – model simulation considering infinite reflections between finite surfaces. Proc. 4th Symp. Urban Env., May 2002, Norfolk, Amer Meteor Soc, Boston: 145–146
CSB Grimmond SK Potter HN Zutter C Souch (2001) ArticleTitleRapid methods to estimate sky-view factors applied to urban areas Int J Climatol 21 903–913 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.659
IN Harman MJ Best SE Belcher (2004) ArticleTitleRadiative exchange in an urban street canyon Bound-Layer Meteor 110 301–316 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1026029822517
GT Johnson ID Watson (1984) ArticleTitleThe determination of view-factors in urban canyons J Climate Appl Meteor 23 329–335 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1984)023<0329:TDOVFI>2.0.CO;2
M Kanda T Kawai K Nakagawa (2005) ArticleTitleA simple theoretical scheme for regular building arrays Bound-Layer Meteor 114 71–90 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s10546-004-8662-4
A Kondo M Ueno A Kaga K Yamaguchi (2001) ArticleTitleThe influence of urban canopy configuration on urban albedo Bound-Layer Meteor 100 225–242 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1019243326464
V Masson (2000) ArticleTitleA physically-based scheme for the urban energy budget in atmospheric models Bound-Layer Meteor 94 357–397 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1002463829265
J Noilhan (1981) ArticleTitleA model for the net total radiation flux at the surfaces of a building Build Environ 16 IssueID4 259–266 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0360-1323(81)90004-4
M Nunez TR Oke (1976) ArticleTitleLongwave radiative flux divergence and nocturnal cooling of the urban atmosphere: II Within an urban canyon Bound-Layer Meteor 10 121–135 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00229280
B Offerle CSB Grimmond T Oke (2003) ArticleTitleParameterization of net all-wave radiation for urban areas J Appl Meteor 42 1157–1173 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(2003)042<1157:PONARF>2.0.CO;2
TR Oke (1982) ArticleTitleThe energetic basis of the urban heat island Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 108 1–24
Pawlak W, Fortuniak K (2002) Estimation of the effective albedo of the urban canyon – comparison of the two different algorithms. Proc. Int. Conf. “Man and Climate in the 20th Century”, Wrocław, Poland, 13–15 June 2002: 72–73
W Pawlak K Fortuniak A Podstawczyńska (2005) ArticleTitleThe influence of Urban canyon parameters on downward total solar radiation values – measurements and modeling DWD, Annalen der Meteorologie 41 IssueID1 200–203
Podstawczyńska A, Pawlak W (2003) Daily course of ultraviolet and total solar radiation in an urban canyon – Łódź case study. Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Urban Climate, Łódź, Poland, 1–5 September 2003, 1: 275–278
DJ Sailor H Fan (2002) ArticleTitleModeling the diurnal variability of effective albedo for cites Atmos Environ 36 713–725 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00452-6
U Sievers W Zdunkowski (1985) ArticleTitleA numerical simulation scheme for the albedo of city street canyons Bound-Layer Meteor 33 245–257 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00052058
EM Sparrow RD Cess (1970) Radiation Heat Transfer Thermal Science Series Brooks/Cole 349
DG Steyn (1980) ArticleTitleThe calculation of view factors from fish-eye lens photographs Atmos Ocean 18 254–258
DG Steyn TJ Lyons (1985) ArticleTitleComments on: the determination of view-factors in urban canyons” J Climate Appl Meteor 24 383–385 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1985)024<0383:CODOVF>2.0.CO;2
WH Terjung SS-F Louie (1973) ArticleTitleSolar radiation and the urban heat island Ann Assoc Amer Geogr 63 181–207 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1467-8306.1973.tb00918.x
A Tsangrassoulis M Santamouris (2003) ArticleTitleNumerical estimation of street canyon albedo consisting of vertical coated glazed facades Build Environ 35 527–531 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0378-7788(02)00157-3
DL Verseghy DS Munro (1989) ArticleTitleSensitivity studies on the calculation of the radiation balance of urban surfaces: I. Shortwave radiation Bound-Layer Meteor 46 309–331 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00172239
JM White FD Eaton AH Auer (1978) ArticleTitleThe net radiation budget of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area J Appl Meteor 17 593–599 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1978)017<0593:TNRBOT>2.0.CO;2
CJ Willmott (1981) ArticleTitleOn the validation of models Phys Geogr 2 184–194
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Author’s address: Krzysztof Fortuniak, Department of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Łódź, Narutowicza 88, 09-139 Łódź, Poland.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fortuniak, K. Numerical estimation of the effective albedo of an urban canyon. Theor Appl Climatol 91, 245–258 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0312-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0312-6