Role of water in the cooling effect of blue-green climate adaptation facilities in the urban environment

by Anna Solcerova

Anna’s PhD research is a part of the Climate KIC Blue Green Dream (BGD) project, and its objective is to investigate the relation between water retention capacity, water availability, soil moisture, vegetation type, evaporation and the thermal effects of these hydrological processes in green roofs, vegetated swales and a nature-friendly embankment for urban canals, ponds and lakes, to quantify the effect of these blue-green facilities on ambient air temperature, water availability and water demand during droughts.

The effect of evaporation of urban vegetation on air temperature on hot summer days (and nights) is hardly understood and hard to separate from the effect of shade, nor is there any insight in how drought influences this evaporation.By studying the processes in green roofs and vegetated swales, in particular aimed at understanding the water and thermal energy flows in the facility, we can improve our understanding of the governing processes.

For more information, please contact Anna Solcerova.