Numerical simulation of the nocturnal cooling effect of urban trees considering the leaf area density distribution

TL;DR

This study uses coupled numerical simulations with LiDAR data to analyze how urban trees influence nighttime cooling, highlighting the roles of leaf density and sky view factor in creating cool microclimates.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation approach combining radiative transfer and fluid dynamics with real urban data to evaluate nocturnal cooling effects of trees.

Findings

Leaf area density and sky view factor significantly affect cooling.

Cool air flows beneath tree crowns and accumulates under low wind conditions.

Proper arrangement of trees and buildings can enhance nighttime cooling.

Abstract

The design of urban areas and building that utilizes the microclimatic effects of trees is a promising approach for reducing the severe heat stress caused by urban heat islands and global warming. Although trees can reduce heat stress through solar shading during the daytime, their influence on the air temperature under and around them during the nighttime, which is important for nighttime thermal comfort, has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the nocturnal cooling effect of trees in a physical urban space by the coupled numerical simulation of longwave radiative transfer and computational fluid dynamics. To represent the spatial structure of an actual urban space, airborne LiDAR-derived three-dimensional data of leaf area density distribution and building shape were used. The species-specific convective heat transfer coefficient was also considered. An analysis of the calculated sensible heat flux shows that both leaf area density and sky view factor are important factors in the production of cool air. According to the calculated distributions of air temperature and velocity, even under the condition of a certain degree of incident flow, the cooled air can flow down to the space under the crown, accumulate, and then diverge when the wind speed is sufficiently low in the crown owing to the crown drag. Buildings contribute to both the accumulation and dissipation of cool air. The findings of the present study suggest that cool spots can be produced during nighttime by trees planted near streets by devising a suitable arrangement and morphology of trees and buildings.