60
(iv) surrounding terrain roughness and major vegetation, influencing the wind,
(v) all toposcale terrain features, such as small slopes, pavements, or water
surfaces,
(vi) Major mesoscale terrain features, such as coasts, mountains, or
urbanization.
The survey of each site should be reviewed periodically, as environmental circumstances can change over a period of time. A systematic yearly visual check is
recommended: If some aspects of the environment have changed, a new site description document should be included in the metadata file. A complete update of the site
should be undertaken at least every five years.
The natural relief of the landscape can be disregarded if it is sufficiently distant
(>1 km). A method of judging if the relief is representative of the surrounding area
is to consider whether a move of the station by 500 m changes the LCZ obtained. If
the answer is no, the relief is a natural characteristic of the area and is not taken into
account.
One general requirement that cannot be kept at many urban sites is the distance
from obstacles, namely that the site should be located well away from trees, buildings, walls, or other obstructions. Instead, it is recommended that the urban station
be centered in an open space where the surrounding aspect ratio (z H/W ) is
approximately representative of the locality (see the aspect ratio of an LCZ from the
datasheets of the given area).
The full and accurate documentation of station metadata is essential for the evaluation of measurements. Using Google Earth or ESRI ArcView to map the locations
of meteorological stations is one of the most frequently used options. Metadata
could include maps, sketches, aerial photos, compass surveys, or screens with a
fisheye lens for describing the geographical features of a station, if they are available.
An example of a documentary file for one of the UHI monitoring stations in Warsaw
(at the city centre – Twarda) is given in Table 2.3. An example of visualization files
of the surroundings of the Twarda observation site is presented in Fig. 2.11.
2.7 Data Transmission and Data Management
Communication, an essential component of any network, consists of the data flow
from the sensor to initial analysis, data management, data display, and usage, jointly
termed the “cyberinfrastructure” (Hart and Martinez 2006). This infrastructure consists of computer systems, instrumentation, data acquisition, data storage systems
and repositories, visualization systems, management services, and technicians, all
linked by software and communication networks (Estrin et al. 2003; Brunt et al.
2007). The communication urban climatological monitoring network consists of
four main segments: data collection, data management, data display. and data usage.
The majority of weather installations work on a “star” network, relaying information back to the central host server over the Internet via a wired Ethernet
connection.
G. Baranka et al.
(iv) surrounding terrain roughness and major vegetation, influencing the wind,
(v) all toposcale terrain features, such as small slopes, pavements, or water
surfaces,
(vi) Major mesoscale terrain features, such as coasts, mountains, or
urbanization.
The survey of each site should be reviewed periodically, as environmental circumstances can change over a period of time. A systematic yearly visual check is
recommended: If some aspects of the environment have changed, a new site description document should be included in the metadata file. A complete update of the site
should be undertaken at least every five years.
The natural relief of the landscape can be disregarded if it is sufficiently distant
(>1 km). A method of judging if the relief is representative of the surrounding area
is to consider whether a move of the station by 500 m changes the LCZ obtained. If
the answer is no, the relief is a natural characteristic of the area and is not taken into
account.
One general requirement that cannot be kept at many urban sites is the distance
from obstacles, namely that the site should be located well away from trees, buildings, walls, or other obstructions. Instead, it is recommended that the urban station
be centered in an open space where the surrounding aspect ratio (z H/W ) is
approximately representative of the locality (see the aspect ratio of an LCZ from the
datasheets of the given area).
The full and accurate documentation of station metadata is essential for the evaluation of measurements. Using Google Earth or ESRI ArcView to map the locations
of meteorological stations is one of the most frequently used options. Metadata
could include maps, sketches, aerial photos, compass surveys, or screens with a
fisheye lens for describing the geographical features of a station, if they are available.
An example of a documentary file for one of the UHI monitoring stations in Warsaw
(at the city centre – Twarda) is given in Table 2.3. An example of visualization files
of the surroundings of the Twarda observation site is presented in Fig. 2.11.
2.7 Data Transmission and Data Management
Communication, an essential component of any network, consists of the data flow
from the sensor to initial analysis, data management, data display, and usage, jointly
termed the “cyberinfrastructure” (Hart and Martinez 2006). This infrastructure consists of computer systems, instrumentation, data acquisition, data storage systems
and repositories, visualization systems, management services, and technicians, all
linked by software and communication networks (Estrin et al. 2003; Brunt et al.
2007). The communication urban climatological monitoring network consists of
four main segments: data collection, data management, data display. and data usage.
The majority of weather installations work on a “star” network, relaying information back to the central host server over the Internet via a wired Ethernet
connection.
G. Baranka et al.