Collaborative Research: Geoengineering of Urban Green Infrastructure to Improve Outdoor Livability

合作研究：城市绿色基础设施地球工程，提高户外宜居性

• 批准号: 2028868
• 负责人: Zhihua Wang
• 金额: $ 12万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-11-01 至 2023-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2028868&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Geoengineering; Urban; Green

Urban population in the United States is confronted with degraded air quality and elevated thermal stress, especially under heat waves. These two environmental stressors impact human health impose new challenges to urban livability. Urban green infrastructure (UGI), as an integral part of the built environment, has been considered as one of the effective mitigation strategies for potentially improving air quality and reducing thermal stress. Past research extensively evaluated the impact of UGI on either heat or air pollution separately but a few recent studies account for the non-trivial interactions between heat and air pollution. Such interactions raise the question of whether heat and air pollution mitigation is always achievable when implementing UGIs. This project therefore aims to elucidate how UGIs impact the interactions between urban thermal environment and air pollution across multiple spatial scales. Additionally, this project will develop a new method for evaluating the design strategies of UGI by considering the human health implications of heat stress and air pollution combined. The project will address two scientific questions: 1) How does the occurrence of extreme heat events affect the joint impacts of heat and air quality? 2) What mitigation outcomes are expected given different design strategies of UGI under normal and extreme heat conditions? To answer these questions, the research team will apply the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) coupled with chemistry (Chem) and urban canopy model (UCM) with improved representation of UGI. The coupled model will be evaluated with observational data under normal summer and high temperature conditions. The effects of the present UGI in both NYC and Phoenix in mitigating heat stress and air pollution will be quantified by considering a combined statistic that measures the joint health impacts. Different UGI implementations (spatially undifferentiated vs. targeted) at both the neighborhood and city scales will be evaluated. The study will include: (i) integrated representation of urban vegetation at the neighborhood scale in the urban canopy model; (ii) a process-based method based on a combined statistic to evaluate the health impacts of heat stress and air pollution at the neighborhood and city scales; (iii) fusing livability assessment, urban climates, and urban planning on multiple spatial scales through synergistic activities with landscape architects and stakeholders. Advanced numerical atmospheric physics and chemistry modeling, in conjunction with a new approach for analysis and quantification of UGI design scenarios is targeted to shed new light on engineering solutions and environmental sustainability. The main research outcomes anticipated are: (1) a process-based approach to systematically examine the influence of vegetation for both local climate zones and city level; (2) a portfolio of urban landscape planning strategies at the neighborhood scale, that is scalable to the city level; (3) a novel objective indicator of outdoor livability informed by new science based on heat- pollution coupling. Close interaction with landscape architects and stakeholders will facilitate public awareness of the importance of urban green infrastructure, particularly for environmental stressors that have important consequences of sustainable and healthy outdoor livability. An initiative for establishing a shared database for the urban livability indicators with different UGI scenarios will be established at the end of the project, accessible to other academic researchers, citizens, and stakeholders.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

美国城市人口面临着空气质量下降和热应力升高，特别是在热浪下。这两种环境压力对人类健康的影响给城市的宜居性提出了新的挑战。城市绿色基础设施（UGI）作为建成环境的重要组成部分，被认为是改善空气质量和减少热应力的有效缓解策略之一。过去的研究广泛评估了UGI对热量或空气污染的影响，但最近的一些研究解释了热量和空气污染之间的非平凡相互作用。这种相互作用提出了一个问题，即在实施UGI时，是否总是可以实现热量和空气污染的缓解。因此，本项目旨在阐明UGI如何影响城市热环境和空气污染之间的相互作用在多个空间尺度。此外，本项目还将开发一种新的方法，通过考虑热应力和空气污染对人体健康的影响来评估UGI的设计策略。该项目将解决两个科学问题：1）极端高温事件的发生如何影响热量和空气质量的联合影响？2)在正常和极端高温条件下，不同的UGI设计策略预期会产生什么样的缓解结果？为了回答这些问题，研究小组将应用天气研究和预报模型（WRF），结合化学（Chem）和城市冠层模型（UCM），并改进UGI的表示。耦合模式将在正常夏季和高温条件下的观测资料进行评估。纽约市和凤凰城目前的UGI在缓解热应激和空气污染方面的影响将通过考虑衡量联合健康影响的综合统计数据来量化。将评估社区和城市尺度上不同的UGI实施（空间无差别与有针对性）。研究将包括：（i）在城市冠层模型中，在邻里尺度上对城市植被进行综合表示;（ii）基于综合统计的过程方法，以评估邻里和城市尺度上热应力和空气污染对健康的影响;（iii）通过与景观设计师和利益相关者的协同活动，在多个空间尺度上融合宜居性评估、城市气候和城市规划。先进的数值大气物理和化学建模，结合UGI设计方案分析和量化的新方法，旨在为工程解决方案和环境可持续性提供新的思路。预期的主要研究成果是：（1）一种基于过程的方法，系统地研究植被对当地气候带和城市水平的影响;（2）一系列邻里规模的城市景观规划策略，可扩展到城市水平;（3）一种新的客观指标，由基于热污染耦合的新科学提供信息。与景观设计师和利益相关者的密切互动将促进公众认识到城市绿色基础设施的重要性，特别是对可持续和健康的户外宜居性具有重要影响的环境压力因素。项目结束时，将建立一个针对不同UGI情景的城市宜居性指标的共享数据库，供其他学术研究人员、公民和利益相关者访问。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Reconceptualizing urban heat island: Beyond the urban-rural dichotomy

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103581
• 发表时间: 2022-02-01
• 期刊: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
• 影响因子: 11.7
• 作者: Wang, Zhi-Hua

Dynamic synchronization of extreme heat in complex climate networks in the contiguous United States

• DOI: 10.1016/j.uclim.2021.100909
• 发表时间: 2021-07
• 期刊: Urban Climate
• 影响因子: 6.4
• 作者: Zhi-hua Wang;Chenghao Wang;Xueli Yang

Multi-objective optimization of urban environmental system design using machine learning

• DOI: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101796
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: Comput. Environ. Urban Syst.
• 作者: Peiyuan Li;Tianfang Xu;Shiqi Wei;Zhihong Wang

Critical transitions in the hydrological system: early-warning signals and network analysis

水文系统的关键转变：预警信号和网络分析

• DOI: 10.5194/hess-26-1845-2022
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
• 影响因子: 6.3
• 作者: Yang, Xueli;Wang, Zhi-Hua;Wang, Chenghao
• 通讯作者: Wang, Chenghao

Compound environmental impact of urban mitigation strategies: Co-benefits, trade-offs, and unintended consequence

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103284
• 发表时间: 2021-12
• 期刊: Sustainable Cities and Society
• 影响因子: 11.7
• 作者: Zhi-hua Wang