Urban microclimate simulations guided by residents' perception maps

Urban microclimate simulations require significant expert efforts and use considerable computational resources. Yet, the results might focus on areas and processes of limited interest for the urban residents. How can one eliminate this usability bottleneck and make the simulation results fully exploited? Urban geographers proposed a method of cultural perception mapping to identify areas and aspects of urban environment of high significance for urban residents. The perception maps for Fairbanks, Alaska have been derived from interviews with residents during the ARCA research project. This information was defuzzificated (decoded) and converted into configuration parameters for the spatially-resolving micrometeorological model PALM. PALM allows for multiple nesting sub-domains to simulate dynamically consistent meteorology both in the larger urban domain and, with finer details, in the areas of interest. This case study looked at microclimate vulnerability of urban open space - environmental green pathways - in the town. A series of fine-resolution PALM runs has been conducted and analyzed. The runs were driven by both idealized weather conditions and observed weather conditions simulations with the WRF downscaling. The realistic surface boundary conditions from a pre-processed static driver have been utilized. The simulations reveal the effects of urban heat island, surface moisture anomalies, and urban wind variations on sustainability of green pathways. The next step of this study, planned for the following year, will be to inform relevant stakeholders of the effects of different local sustainability scenarios through developing of Web-GIS storytelling line.