Study of the urban microclimate using thermal UAV. The case of the mid-sized cities of Arica (arid) and Curicó (Mediterranean), Chile. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Pamela; Sarricolea, Pablo; Peralta, Orlando; Aguila, Juan Pablo; Thomas, Felipe
• Is Part Of: Building and environment. Volume 206(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Urban climate -- Surface temperature -- Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) -- Mid-sized cities; Buildings -- Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Building -- Research -- Periodicals; Constructions -- Technique de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 696
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108372
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-1323

Abstract

Abstract: The study of the urban microclimate requires detailed information that is not available in most cities. The monitoring of climate parameters is reduced to a limited number of stations that are useful for urban climate studies at local or zonal scales. Detailed information is generally obtained through field work and fixed sensors. There are some climate parameters that can be obtained from remote sensors, such as the surface emission temperature, however, this information is only available in medium or low-resolution images from satellite images. Currently, it is possible to generate detailed information with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). There are not many UAVs that can capture information on the surface emission temperature and those that can are, in general, prohibitively expensive. Only a few years ago a low-cost drone became available, the Mavic 2 dual, equipped with a thermal sensor, which qualitatively captures information from the thermal field. This article proposes the study of the urban microclimate of two mid-size Chilean cities using thermal images captured with the Mavic 2 dual drone, for which it was first necessary to process the images and convert their values to degrees Celsius. The values obtained are compared with those derived from Modis and Landsat satellite images, evaluating the correlation of the information. Highlights: Calculation of the surface temperature from UAV contribute to study at microscale. From UAV temperature it observes the relation with urban design parameters. There are similarities in the spatial pattern between LST and UAV temperature.