Urban climate studies in a subtropical location: literature review and current perspectives for Curitiba, Brazil

Figures & data

Figure 1 Spatial distribution of the points covered by fixed monitoring stations over the background of satellite imagery (Google Earth) and street-layout maps from IPPUC.⁵²

Notes: Except for the points covered by Pertschi¹⁹ and Dumke²² and a monitoring point studied by Leal,³³ the bulk of monitoring sites were within the city of Curitiba (PR, Brazil). Minella,^25,42 Rossi,²⁸ and Schmitz⁴¹ focused on the downtown area, while Rossi,¹³ Dumke,²² and Leal³³ used more widely distributed monitoring sites, allowing for the analysis of heterogeneous situations. Apart from a few points monitored by Dumke²² in the Metropolitan Region and by Leal,³³ the majority of sites were in consolidated urban areas. As for mobile stations, five studies employed such an approach for data collection: Blanchet;¹⁷ Pertschi¹⁹ – in addition to fixed point monitoring, as cited above; Barbosa;²³ Pertschi;²⁷ and Martini.³⁵

Figure 2 Spatial distribution of the mobile transect measurements over the background of satellite imagery (Google Earth) and street-layout maps from IPPUC.⁵²

Note: Excluding the regions evaluated by Pertschi, other transect measurements took place in consolidated areas in Curitiba (PR, Brazil).^19,27

Table 1 Summary of the Master’s and doctoral studies carried out in Curitiba (PR, Brazil) in the field of urban climate (focusing on the thermodynamic subsystem, according to Monteiro’s SCU approach) over the last decade (2004–2014)

Postgraduate level	Focus	Season	Method	Source
Master’s thesis	Intra-urban air temperature differences and land-use patterns	Approximately 1 month (29 days) in two consecutive winter periods 2002-2003	Stationary monitoring stations and land-use classification	Rossi^Citation13
Master’s thesis	Analysis of the relationship between energy demand for air- conditioning and urban form	Approximately 1 month (29 days) in two consecutive winter periods 2002-2003	Computer simulations and predictive formulas, use of stationary monitoring data	Lima^Citation15
Master’s thesis	Analysis of correlations between thermal field and land-use attributes in a particular neighborhood (Bairro Bigorrilho)	Not described (apud Dumke 2007; Leal 2012) – softcopy not available online	Mobile transects	Blanchet^Citation17
Master’s thesis	Analysis of the relationship between local urban design attributes and air temperature/urban heat island effects in São José dos Pinhais (municipality part of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba)	Summer period in 2005	Stationary monitoring stations and land-use classification	Pertschi^Citation19
Doctoral thesis	Analysis of the relationship between vegetation and thermal changes over time	Year round (historic series)	Remote sensing from Landsat satellite imagery	Young^Citation20
Doctoral thesis	Analysis of the social–spatial inequalities across Curitiba’s Urban Agglomerate and their relation to local climatic features	Winter period in 2005	Thermal imagery and in situ air-temperature and humidity monitoring	Dumke^Citation22
Master’s thesis	Analysis of the direct impact of vegetation on microclimate and indirect impacts on indoor conditions in low-cost dwellings situated adjacent to a green corridor	Autumn period in 2004	Mobile transects, stationary station (reference) vis-à-vis indoor temperature monitoring in low-cost houses	Barbosa^Citation23
Master’s thesis	Analysis of microclimate effects of the SVF	Summer, spring, winter 2009	In situ daytime monitoring campaigns in pedestrian areas with a pair of weather stations simultaneously positioned in locations with varying SVF features	Minella^Citation25
Doctoral thesis	Analysis of implications of urban attributes on air temperature changes in São José dos Pinhais (municipality part of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba)	Summer period in 201 1	Field data monitoring, thermal satellite imagery, stationary monitoring stations, and land-use classification	Pertschi^Citation27
Doctoral thesis	Proposition of an outdoor thermal comfort model for climate- responsive urban planning	Summer, spring, winter 2009	In situ daytime monitoring campaigns in pedestrian areas with weather stations along with questionnaire-based surveys with passers by	Rossi^Citation28
Doctoral thesis	Analysis of the influence of vegetation on microclimate	22-day periods in each season in 2011	Stationary monitoring stations in four stationary transects	Leal^Citation33
Master’s thesis	Analysis of the effect of vegetation in streets with and without trees on local outdoor comfort and on human thermal comfort	Four seasons in 2011 -2012	In situ daytime monitoring campaigns in pedestrian areas with weather stations along with questionnaire-based surveys with passers by	Martini^Citation35
Master’s thesis	Analysis of the relationship between land use and surface temperatures	Year round (historic series)	Remote sensing from Landsat satellite imagery	Silva^Citation39
Doctoral thesis	Analysis of current and future scenarios of urban planning strategies in Curitiba, proposition of global warming mitigation strategies	Various seasons	Simulation study (ENVI-met) with field measurements for validation of the simulation model, quantification of land-use patterns	Schmitz^Citation41
Doctoral thesis	Proposition of a preliminary index relating to vegetated fraction and local air temperature variations	Summer conditions	Simulation study (ENVI-met) with field measurements for validation of the simulation model, quantification of land-use patterns	Minella^Citation42

Notes: In total, eight studies employed fixed monitoring stations: Minella²⁵ with 18 points but shared 15 points with Rossi;¹³ Pertschi¹⁹ with eight points; Dumke²² with 16 points; Leal³³ with 44 points; Schmitz⁴¹ with six points; and Minella⁴² with two monitoring points. There were a total of 124 fixed monitoring points over an array of seasons and time periods in Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region.

Abbreviations: SCU, Sistema Clima Urbano; SVF, sky view factor.

Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba – IPPUC. Mapa de arruamento de Curitiba – Edition Aug 2013. Available from: http://ippuc.org.br/geodownloads/geo.htm. Accessed: June 2015.

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Pertschi SC. Padrão urbano de ocupação e temperatura do ar na camada intra-urbana em São José dos Pinhais / PR: situação de verão [Thermal field aspects of the urban area of São José dos Pinhais / PR: summer conditions] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2005.

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Dumke EMS. Clima urbano/conforto térmico e condições de vida na cidade: uma perspectiva a partir do aglomerado urbano da Região Metropolitana de Curitiba (AU-RMC) [Urban climate/thermal comfort and living conditions in the city: a perspective from the urban agglomeration of Curitiba] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2007.

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Leal L. A influência da vegetação no clima urbano da cidade de Curitiba – PR [The influence of vegetation on urban climate in the city of Curitiba – PR] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2012.

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Minella FO. Avaliação da Influência de Aspectos da Geometria Urbana Sobre Níveis de Conforto Térmico em Ruas de Pedestres de Curitiba [Evaluation of the influence of urban geometry aspects on thermal comfort levels in pedestrian streets in Curitiba] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2009.

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Minella FCO. Desenho urbano climaticamente orientado: a influência da vegetação no ambiente térmico externo [Climate-responsive urban design: the influence of vegetation on outdoor thermal environment] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2015.

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Rossi FA. Proposição de metodologia e de modelo preditivo para avaliação da sensação térmica em espaços abertos em Curitiba [Proposition of a methodology and a predictive model for the evaluation of the thermal sensation in open spaces in Curitiba] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2012.

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Schmitz LK. Reestruturação urbana e conforto térmico em Curitiba/PR: diagnóstico, modelagem e cenários [Urban restructuring and thermal comfort in Curitiba/PR: diagnosis, modeling and scenarios] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2014.

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Rossi F. Análise da influência da ocupação do solo na variação da temperatura em diferentes localidades da cidade de Curitiba [Analysis of the influence of land use on temperature variations in different locations in the city of Curitiba] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2004. Portuguese.

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Blanchet IVRP. Análise bioclimática dos parâmetros de conforto térmico humano e sua relação com os índices termo-higrométricos e a forma urbana do bairro do Bigorrilho em Curitiba [Bioclimatic analysis of human thermal comfort parameters in relation to hygrothermal indices and urban form in the Bigorrilho neighborhood in Curitiba] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2004.

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Barbosa M de A. Influência do paisagismo e tecnologia construtiva no clima e qualidade de espaços residenciais com exemplo na Vila Tecnológica de Curitiba [Influence of landscaping and building technology on the climate and quality of residential spaces from the example of the technological Village of Curitiba] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2008.

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Pertschi SC. índices de tendências de atributos urbanísticos e a temperatura do ar em São José dos Pinhais/PR, situação de verão (2011) [Trend index of urban attributes and air temperature in São José dos Pinhais/PR, for the summer conditions of 2011] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2012.

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Martini A. Microclima e conforto térmico proporcionado pelas árvores de rua na cidade de Curitiba-PR [Microclimate and thermal comfort created by street trees in the city of Curitiba, PR] [doctoral thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2013.

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Lima LP. Clima e forma urbana: métodos de avaliação do efeito das condições climáticas locais nos graus de conforto térmico e no consumo de energia elétrica em edificações [Climate and urban form: evaluation methods of the effect of local climatic conditions on thermal comfort levels and energy consumption in buildings] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná UTFPR; 2005. Portuguese.

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Young AF. Aplicação de índices relativos de vegetação e temperatura para estudo das mudanças do uso e ocupação do solo: estudo de caso de Curitiba (PR), 1986 a 2002 [Application of vegetation and temperature indices for the study of occupation and land use changes: case study of Curitiba (PR), 1986-2002] [doctoral thesis]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas UNICAMP; 2005.

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Silva JP. Análise do comportamento térmico da superfície de aglomerado urbano da região metropolitana de Curitiba durante os anos de 1985 a 2010 a partir do satélite LANDSAT-5 [Analysis of the surface thermal behavior of the urban agglomeration of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba during 1985-2010 from LNADSAT-5 satellite imagery] [master’s thesis]. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná UFPR; 2014.

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