GE3227: Urban Climates
(Instructor: A/P Matthias Roth)
This website is work-in-progress and will not be updated for Sem 2 of AY 2004/05. I maintain this site primarily for external users who have no access to NUS-IVLE.
For NUS students: Lecture notes and practical handouts are available through IVLE (hence you may want to ignore this website).
The older versions of notes and handouts curently available here provide an overview of the course content.
No handouts will be distributed during lectures and practicals and it is your responsibility to download and print any material you want to bring along.
* 2005 update available (does not include handouts shown on OHP)
Course IVLE* (Intranet only)
Course/Practical Outline (pdf-file)
New: Access to Geography Weather Station
New: UHI data file
Lecture Schedule
Week |
Topics |
Readings |
1 |
1. Introduction Orientation (outline, background, symbols and units) Atmospheric scales Review of radiation, energy and water balance concepts |
. O ix-xxiv, 395-399 O 3-6 O 6-8, 20-36 |
2 |
2. Radiation I Definitions. Lambert’s and cosine laws Shortwave radiation: Estimation and modelling Shortwave radiation: Transmission within systems (Beer’s law) Shortwave radiation: Reflectivity Shortwave radiation: Albedo |
. O 8-16, M 28-31 O 371-372 O 84-85, 95-96, 98-99, 130-131, 134, 144, M 32-35 O 11-12, 117-118, M 82-86, 93-97 O 12, 85-86, 99-100, 131-133, 146, 280-281, M 79-97 |
3 |
3. Radiation II Longwave radiation: Emissivity (surface and atmosphere) Longwave radiation: Estimation for clear and cloudy skies Radiation budget Radiation measurement and instruments |
. O 12, 281, 372-374 O 14-16, M 50-54 O 20-23, 84-87, 98-102, 117-119, 130-134, 143-148, 250, M 97-100 O 361-362, 366-375 |
4-5 |
4. Conduction Thermal and moisture properties of substrates Heat flow in soils / Flux plates Soil temperatures |
. O 43-46, 259 O 42-46, M 225-230 O 46-51 |
6 |
5. Structure of Planetary Boundary Layer Scalars (temperature, humidity, etc.) Winds |
. O 40-42, 61-63, 66-67, 71-76, A 71-84 O 54-55, A 57-64 |
7-9 |
6. Turbulent Transfer Laminar and turbulent flow / Properties of turbulence Mean and fluctuating properties of fluids / Variances and fluxes Eddy correlation and variance methods Flux-profile relations Bowen's ratio |
. O 4-6, 37-39, 57-59, 382-383, A 99-115, M 101-106 O 59-60, 375-378 O 59-60, 375-378 O 378-379 O 69-71, 382-384 |
10 |
7. Wind Profile Wind profile / Mixing length Log and power law forms Surface roughness and zero-plane effects |
. A 131-133 O 54-58, 75-76, 83-84, 363-365 O 55-57, 139-140 |
11 |
Flux
Instrumentation / Field Studies Drag Plate, lysimeter, eddy flux sensors |
. O 377-378, 389-391 |
12 |
8. Climates of Non-Homogeneous Terrain II Canopy layers |
. O 124-157 |
Readings
Code |
Text |
O |
Oke, T. R., 1987: Boundary Layer Climates, 2nd ed., Methuen&Co, London. [compulsory] |
M |
Monteith, J. L. and Unsworth, M. H., 1990: Principles of Environmental Physics, 2nd ed., Edward Arnold, London. |
A |
Arya, S. P., 1988: Introduction to Micrometeorology, Academic Press, New York. |