Does Reading have its own microclimate?Contents Page number: 3-11 Introduction 11-18 Methodology 19-54 Analysis and presentation - 19-23 Wind speed - 23-26 Relative humidity - 28-31 Temperature - 32-36 Traffic density - 39-54 Land use 54-59 Conclusion and evaluation 59- Bibliography This is a map of Reading expressing lots of major green areas around the centre of Reading and to the south, there is-clearly y| less green areas closer to §\) the centre, however, the | larger packets of green space can release lots of ‘water vapour which can spread across the rest of the centre and town producing lots of clouds, which leads to cloud formation, as well as increasing relative humidity ‘and can reduce the temperature as the suns radiation is reflected aff of the clouds, stopping as much radiation hitting the earth‘The overall alm of my investigation is to conclude to whether Reading has its own microclimate, so | ‘am investigating the different aspects of the microclimate of Reading and the surrounding areas. My hypothesis research questions are: 1) The centre of Reading will be the warmest location investigated with the temperature decreasing the further from the centre | go, with human influences/ land use having a significant impact. 2). The relative humidity will increase the further from the centre of Reading and vary due to land use/ vegetation cover 3). The wind speed will increase the further from the centre of Reading showing large variability The location of investigation Clayfield Copse 1 “AY vious industrial zane ae Ly Wes Iutap of Reosing 1 Whitley WoodReading has anarea of 40.4km squared, and is a town located in the southeast of England, Reading Is located 40 miles from London. As of 2022, the population af the whole Reading area is 347,510 people, growing roughly 0.80%. per year, Readings climate is classified as warm and temperate with the temperature averaging 10.4 degrees Celsius. Reading's windiest months occur in January where the average is 13.1 miles per hour, with the warmest month on average being July with 22 degrees Celsius, Also, the most humid month in Reading is December, with the average annual percentage humidity being 73%. Reading is the largest town in England and over the last 20 years has had one of the fastest economic growths in the UK, but also the area of Reading is ‘constantly growing with record high amounts of houses being built with a further 230 houses being built between January and March this year. Reading composes of a CBD in the centre of Reading with there being mostly residential housing areas to the north (Caversham) and to the far east and west of reading. There is also lots of semidetached housing stemr from the centre to the southeast of Reading, with there being more industrial brownfield zones with terraced housing to the south. Reading is home to 164 parks, with the largest found in the suburbs, with the highest density of woodiand and forestry area ‘occurring in the north of Reading. University of Reading secumutated sunahine see es gs 8 § f oP gt oP ae tog oP a ‘This graph shows the pattern af sunshine in Reading this year, what can be seen is as the months increase so does the ‘accumulation of sunshine, which can as a result lead to the surface warming over time and hence impact the UH affect, because the surface will gradually heat up and sa heating the surroundings and causing hotter air temperatures, However, monthly in the summer periods this is where the peak sunshine accumulation is the greatest and sa the greatest warming an« hottest temperatures occur in areas of low albedo as more of the Sunshine is absorbed rather whereas in areas of higher albedo this won't be as much of an issue as more sunlight is reflected, so less warming, From the red line you can see for 202 there fs more accumulated sunshine than the normal accumulation for 1991-2020, with by September there’s 10% mare ‘overall sunshine collected, this in turn can lead to an amplified UHI affect in more urban areas. ‘My data collection will start in Emmer Green, which is on the edge of north Reading, containing the Clay field Copse, and bordering large rural and countryside land which links to Meniey. With lots of forestland such as the Copse this will help with creating cooler temperatures since the albedo is higher, also trees undergo transpiration and provide an abundance of shade which further helps with reducing the UHI in rural areas, furthermore forest areas will also increase the relative humiditysince lots of water vapour is added to the atmosphere through transpiration, The Emmer Green area hhas a population af 7849 and is mostly composed of detached houses and semi-detached houses, this is @ suburban area and is relatively quiet location, From here this will lead me into Caversham, ‘which is also.a suburb, which has a population of 9533 and is home to 4425 houses, however mostly being semi-detached but despite this Caversham is still home to 165 parks and playgrounds. Caversham has two bridges that connect it to Reading which massively contributes to the 8500 ‘commuters that travel by car each day. Suburban areas like Caversham having parks and lots of open ‘space means again through transpiration and with the surface not being low albedo, this helps to keep the temperatures down. However, with houses spaced out in these areas this can cause wind speed and direction to be affected as wind is made to jaass up and around in between the spaced buildings which can lead to vortices forming, Each of the transects will take me to through the centre of Reading. The centre of Reading, which is @ central business district, home to the majority of the 43752 businesses that area located in the area, and having this many businesses mean that lots of people will be commuting to the centre with would add to the heat given off by the cars and people leading to higher temperatures. All the time in the central Reading area there's major develapments of tall high-rise buildings for example ‘Thames Quarter luxury apartments being 240 ft tall, with the tallest building in Reading being the blade at 282 ft tall and with there being these tall buildings, they can lead to the channelling of the wind which is the venturi affect which can also increase wind speeds but also they ean cause friction with the wind slowing the wind down. Also, tall Buildings made of glass can deflect the incoming sun ‘ays onto the streets which further enhance temperatures in these areas. There are many office blocks in Reading centre as well as being the most densely built-up part of Reading, but also directly through the central Reading area, between Reading and Caversham is where the river Thames runs ‘as well as the river Kennet which have a high albedo and through evapotranspiration can release large amounts of vapour and increase relative humidity as a result. How did Reading get so prosperous and how can smart town planning keep it that way? - Connecting Research Then next on my investigation | shall continue my transect from the centre of Reading directly through to the south af Reading, My destination will be around the Three mile cross. Ta get to this location Iwill be passing through the industrial area of Reading, this area along with a few others, makes up the 16 areas in Reading which breach NO2 limits, being an air polluted area. But also, my Journey will take me alongside the A33, which is.a major road travelling through Reading where lots of cars daily pass through it and it usually gets congested during rush hour. These major roads havelarge amounts of cars which not only releases lots of heat but the pollution from exhaust fumes pollute the area and trap the heat asthe gases build up in the atmosphere, leading to small scaled enhanced greenhouse effects. Then nearer the end of my transect I'll be within Whitley Woad which is regarded as one of the largest suburbs in Reading, with 4355 houses, however, despite being the ‘most deprived part of Reading, Whitley Wood is home to 4.42 acres of woodland that are protected by the woodland trust. Weather forecast for Monday 18» to Sunday 24» Monday and Tuesday are the days when the hot air from the continent arrives for most of us. This has the potential to drive record-breaking temperatures ith 37-38°C forecast for parts of the south-east. The hottest of the weather will be in the south, but northern England is expected to exceed 30°C and Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland will reach the mid to high twenties Don't forget that these temperatures are forecasts in the shade. If you are out in the sun, it will feel a lot hotter than this, and these kinds of conditions have the potential to begin melting tarmac. The Met Office have issued an Amber Warning, meaning danger to ‘Temperatures on Monday are expected o be widely in the thirties, with potential to break the UK record of 38.7°C.Later in the week it will cool somewhat, with temperatures coming down to something more like what we would expect for July. But there is a chance of another hotter burst as we look towards the weekend — but if it does happen, it will probably not be the extreme heat of Monday and Tuesday. This online news article highlights that when | undertook data collection, it was nearing the end of a heat wave which impacted the whole of the UK and Europe, but as you can see in the southeast, where Reading is located, this is where the highest temperatures occurred- at around 38 degrees Celsius. This in turn wauld potentially impact my investigation as the large amounts of heat, would cause lower pressures and so amplify the urban heat island affect and cause a larger microclimate for Reading that's more distinct from the rural areas due to human impacts that willbe highlighted, such as land use, density of ‘people and cars, pollution and retative humidity, Looking at the heat graph, you can see other than in ‘reas of France, south east England has the hottest temperatures at around 39 degrees, which is because ‘the South east England has London and other large urban areas { such as Reading) compared to the rest ‘of England, as London has the highest population density at 5.7 thousand per square km compared to England's average of 276, this alongside haw built up the London area and the areas around Londan are as London Is over 80% covered in buildings, could suggest a larger microclimate around London, and this ‘could be back up reasons on a smaller seale why Reading could have a microclimate. w/context The focus on the microclimate of Reading links into the topic of contemporary urban environments. ‘This focus of micro-climate is sternming from the sub-topic of urban climates 3.2.3.4 the impact of urban forms and processes on lacal climate and weather. Since Reading Is a large urban area and 'm looking into its climate patterns cormparing it with areas that are not urban. Furthermore, Ill be investigating into the urban temperature: urban heat island effect, humidity levels, wind: the effects of urban structures and layout on the wind speed. | will also be looking inta land use/building design and traffic density which also links to glabalisation (3.2.1.6) Le, increase in building of high apartment blocks and offices from elsewhere, which further is down to urbanisation which links to turban forms: New urban landscapes, gentrification, resurgence. This investigation is also linked with urban environmental issues as part of the urban heat island effect is pollution and traffic density in urban areas is also a cause of this as well and that traffic density is what Ill be looking at. It will also link to precipitation regarding cloud cover/ (lack of) rain which links to the water cycle (3.1.1.4) as the extreme temperatures the investigation was taken in, reduced the flaws of wat Vat iterature re Graph to show the urban heat Island effect, and how the urban areas with less vegetation experience higher temperatures than rural areas with more vegetation. Urban Heat Island Effect: A Rising yncern & A prominent one is ‘the phenomenon of Urban Heat Island Effect - GreenMicroclimate is defined as ‘the statistical state of the atmosphere in the layer being affected directly bby characteristics of the underlying surface.’ The microclimate of a location comes about due to ferent climate variables such as wind speed, radiation, temperature, humidity afd pressure. In urban areas, the journal suggests the microciimnate is formed far example due to increased density of eaple living in cities cantributing to air pollution which also impact on the urban climate negatively for example with smog. Furthermore, other background causes of these microclimates highlighted by the journal from Science Direct (Encyclopaedia of atmospheric sciences 2003), surface properties also help to create a ‘microclimate, firstly through radiative properties such as albedo whereby urban areas with lots of dark surfaces like tarmac have a very low albeda (0.05) meaning they absorb 95% of light energy. causing increased temperatures. Also, thermal properties such as heat capacity and conductivity of a surface affects the temperature of the location since it determines how much heat a specific surface ‘can hold as well as surface moisture status (the type of surface cover) impacts climate as that affects how much water stays as surface water which impacts processes such as evaporation which affects ‘the formation of clouds. This source is a reliable as the writers are scientists who are experts in this field with Pierluigi Calanca having 33 citations, with the source being based off of scientific discovery further makes it less suspect to bias as its based off proven information. (a) mam gna te Diagram to show how buildings can sap interfere with wind patterns and = _| stort wind were tne wind blows : AK >} SA y= Air quality monitoring {n densely. by AiePublic | Medium (2) tint (es mmr 3 ae mex Fa 1 The tow reine smi it 0% on Blding ep af erening ‘On top of this, when covering urban climate in class, this topic inspired me to decide on carrying out this investigation because as already discussed there are so many factars that influence an urban climate, and it provides lots of opportunities to gather a wide variety of data as there are so many elements to a climate. From the AQA Geography A level textbook 5" edition, this covers urban climate and on top of the journal, the textbook alongside other sources, talks about the urban heat (sland effect, and says urban areas experience higher temperatures due to heat coming off industrial ‘buildings and vehicles which burn fuel as well as the use of air conditioning. But also, how tall buildings made of glass focus light onto the surface leading to increased heating. Which Is why I'm investigating the material of the buildings and the general type of buildings in the area and the density of vehicles in an area since 98% of vehicles in the UK are non-electric, and so release harmful ‘gases such has CO2,CO,NOx, SO2, HC, C6H6 and particulates, which are linked to the greenhouse ‘effect, and so can induce warming in an area where large amounts of vehicles are, such asa town or city centre. ‘The textbook then mentions wind and how wind speeds are higher in rural areas rather than in ‘urban areas, down ta friction between wind and the tall buildings in the city, However, this isn’t always the case as it moves on to talking about the venturi effect which is where tall buildings cause channelling of the wind in between them, and the venturi effect intensifies the wind speed as windis funnelled through the small openings. Furthermore, the directian of the wind maybe different in urban areas as individual and groups of buildings can modify the air passing around it ason the windward side wind is deflected both up and over the building and downwards. Wind that descends. fn the windward side can form vortices which speed around the windward corner, showing haw wind direction is impacted by large amounts of buildings in an area ‘What ls the Venturi Effect? Explanation with Crt jimScale Blog A simulation that shows how the venturi effect works in urban: areas, The urban heat island effect in the textbook is defined as the zone around and above an urban area which has higher temperatures than the surrounding rural areas. The urban heat island effect is affected by season, weather conditions, sun intensity and ground cover, Typically, urban temperatures are highest in mid-afternoon over the CBD, with the temperature range being greatest at night due to high each capacity storage of building materials compared to vegetation. There is also small variation only in surface temperatures in the water as its cal, so a combination of absorption of heat by water and rivers and evaporation, will lawer the temperature. Other sources then goon to say the UH! effect is caused by increased urban densification, where 60-80% of major urban areas like Reading and cities ground cover is concrete or metal and other high heat absorbing surfaces. Building height and gaps are also accountable as higher buildings can focus mare heat onto the ground as well as trap it on top of already channelling the winds. Also Increased human activity Such as air conditioning, fossil fuels along with reduced green cover (since this reduces the natural ‘cooling effect) all lead to heat entrapment. Some effects fram the UHI effect isthat it can lead to reduced water permutation (lack of water which can limit cloud formation and relative humidity), reduce the amount of people walking and cycling and hence having to use cars, deterioration of infrastructure for instances roads wearing away over time (warn roads have a much lower albedo of 0.12). Also, the albedo, which is defined by the textbook as the reflectivity of a surface and is the ratio between the amount of incoming insolation and the amount of energy reflected into the atmosphere, light surfaces reflect more than dark surfaces. As for example grass can have an albedo of 0.4 whereas fresh asphalt surfaced roads can have an albedo of 0.04, which means that the asphalt surface, found largely in urban areas will heat up and store more heat compared to green vegetation which is found more in rural areas, hence adding to the urban heat island affect. Also, the urban heat island affect is influenced by air pollution such as from industries and vehicles which Produce particulate matter, and this increases cloud cover which in turn creates dames of pollution which withholds large amount of outgoing radiation which it then reflects to the surface. Urban areas have good urban drainage systems which get rid of surface water quickly which reduces cooling by evaporation and decreasing vegetation decreases evapotranspiration and so reducingrelative humidity. The textbook alongside ather resources used here and throughout are reliable as they are written by experts and are approved by AGA. Theory tested(including more context from literature) For my first Hypothesis on how the temperature changes the further away you go from the centre, | will be usinga transect from north (Emmer Green) to-south Reading (Three mile crass). To then measure the temperature, | will be using a digital thermometer at each location along the transect, | will be essentially using a systematic sampling method here and then once I have collected the data for temperature along each site on each transect | will then use spearman’s rank to help with ‘analysing the data and look at proportionalities from a scatter graph as this will tell me whether ‘there is a link between temperature and distance from the centre, Temperature should decrease the further from the centre | go because in the more urban areas there's large amounts of darker surfaces with lower albeda meaning more light will be absorbed and heating will occur. Also, the density of people and cars are less from the centre which reduces the temperature since humans and machines emit heat themselves but also since in the centre there’s more cars (and car parks ‘where vehicles may sit for hours) and industrial locations there's more ait pollution which traps the greenhouse gases leading to warmer temperatures since the sun's radiation is trapped and so inducing an UHt effect. As well as a lower building density in rural areas (and glass buildings) more vegetation is found in rural areas which will mean more evapatranspiration which reduces air temperatures and produces clouds which deflect the suns energy. Caversham - information about the suburb in Reading, Berkshire Clayfield Copse found on the borders of Reading by Emmer Green, one of the largest Nature reserves in Reading with vast open My next hypothesis is on how the relative humidity changes with distance from the centre of Reading. | will be collecting the relative humidity at the same time as temperature using the same ‘transect with the same intervals so I will also be using a systematic sampling method, starting from the edge of Reading working my way to the centre.and then continuing outwards to the edge of Reading again. To measure the humidity, | will be using a digital hygrometer then | can represent the data on a scatter graph to see a pattern of relative humidity in relation to the centre and then | will also be using spearman’s rank again to analyse the correlation. Relative humidity should increase the further from the centre | go because, in more rural regions, suburbs, there are generally more trees, green space and forests which mean there's more evapotranspiration further from the centre you Bo, and this involves releasing water vapour from plants to the atmosphere which as a result increases relative humidity. But also, in the centre since the urban heat island effect is greater here this means that the air is warmer and warmer ait compared to colder air which means it can hold ‘more air so relative humidity will go down. But also, in urban areas, there are more impermeable surfaces compared to rural areas which increase run off and the speed water from for example 10will reach the river basin, meaning less chance for evap. reduces relative humidity. ranspiration to occur which therefore View island nature reserve, a four-acre Thames-island Island tured into a nature reserve and located nearby central Reading, § minutes’ walk from Reading statiot The green space in the centre can have a higher albedo which means more sunlight Is reflected rather than absorbed. The river and trees well undergo large amounts of evapotranspiration, causing a higher relative humidity in the centre and s0 contribute to eloud formation, Finally, my last hypothesis is on how the wind speed changes in relation to the distance from the centre of Reading, | will continue using the transect method and systematic sampling and use an anemometer to measure the wind speed at each location starting from the countryside inwards. To then present the data | will again use a scatter graph to help see a pattern of the windspeed Compared to the location in relation to the centre. And like the other components | will use a Spearman's rank to help numerically analyse the correlation, Wind speed should increase the further from the centre | go because, rural areas and suburban areas are more open than the centre ‘meaning wind has more space to travel uninterrupted and hence gain speed, but also since in suburban areas, hauses are spaced aut, this can create vortices when the wind travels over further increasing wind speed. What's more, in the centre the buildings are taller which therefore will cause friction with the wind which willas a result lead to wind speeds being less, however this can cause some differences as the tall buildings may channel the wind through the venturi effect, which as a result can result to faster wind speeds in the central area. Methodology (Data taken between 10am-2pm 24" July 2022) The routes for the transects taken for windspeed, temperature, relative humidity and traffic density can be found in the section labelled land use in the analysis section. Pilot study | completed a pilot study (in class time) in Henley-on-Thames to find out whether Henley has a microclimate or not. We completed the study in groups having one group complete a transect from the north to the centre, one group from the south ta the centre, one from the west to the centre {and ane from the east to the centre, measuring temperature (using a digital thermometer), wind speed (using an anemometer} and relative humidity (using a hygrometer}. This investigation although having its flaws, gave me a good opportunity to get use to the equipment | wauld use for my own investigation of Reading. As looking at the results, the investigation for this pilot study was unsuccessful because we got very weak negative reading for the spearman’s rank for the temperature for example whereas we expected the result to be a lot stronger and closer to -1. Also, there was very little change in relative humidity, temperature and windspeed in general, which ‘made it very difficult to prove that Henley had a microclimate. A reason why there wasn’t a very lange varety of results was because when completing our transect, where we tok readings every pr10m, this evidently wasn’t a big enough interval to see any changes in reading as although each transect was 10 data sites, 10 metres apart, the end position of our transect didn’t even make it to the end of the street and we didn’t reach a rural area so hence we weren’t going to see much change in climate, General results were that windspeeds were mostly 0 m/s as the street we went down were very narrow with buildings sheltering the street elther side, the temperature varied by only 1.5 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity tended to stay the seme or change by +-0.1% with each reading, but there was a trend that temperature did slowly decrease as you went further fram the centre and | will use this study and its structure as well as the results as a starting point to discover whether Reading has a ricraclimate by replicating the method shown. Henley-on-Thames town centre Henley-on-Thames Town Centre The Oxford Magazine Primary Data the CBD, as cars release heat energy and pollutants which trap heat contributing to the urban heat island. What am | Equipment and | Metho: Justification and —_| Sampling type measuring _| why''m using it ‘explanati Traffic Den: Astopwateh on | For traffic I took 3 different Systematic my phone- so | density, I stood | readings sampling: that! cantime stillon aspot | amounting to 3 samples were accuratelyhow | forone minute | minutes because 1 | taken at many cars pass | and use the minute alone is too | around 150m a certain point stopwatch to short and 3 intervals which is simple | time this as 1 separate readings | where and efficient to | counted how | are practical and _| possible, carry out. many cars gives a better splitting each Paper and pen- | passed me representation, transect into to record each minute, |_| and alower chance | 12 data points measurements | recorded 3 of gaining an which are readings at incorrect result. similarly each stop, and | This linksto the | equally took the hypothesis on spaced for average ofthe | whether there's | each 3readingsto | higher measurement. find the mean. | temperatures in 2Relative | Digital Humidity |For each site, | | held the meter Systematic humidity (hygrometer) | since ‘musing | untilthe reading | sampling- and temp a digital stopped fluctuating | samples were meter: this humidity and | because many taken at provides temp. meter times it took a ound 150m accurate results | these while for it to | intervals. andsimpleto | measures both | settle since it may | where use temperature | have been inmy _| possible, Paper and pen- | andrelative | hands orpocket —_| splitting each torecord humidity so | causing the reading | transect into measurements | aftericheck | to be higher. | 12 data paints the measured the which are temperature | relative humidity | similarly reading, | will |becauseanthe | equally look at the outskirts of spaced for relative Reading where each humidity, and | there's more measurement. hold the meter | vegetation, the out in place | relative humidity still until the | will be higher and reading stops | hence more fluctuating. evapotranspiration which impacts the amount of rain ina location, but also links to my | hypothesis on the relative humidity being lower in the centre compared A to the outskirts Temperature | Digital Iwill use the | I left the Systematic thermometer- | digital thermometer fora | sampling- more accurate | thermometer | certain period so | samples were than anormal | from the digital | that the actual taken at thermometer as | humidity and temperature can around 150m itis also easyto | temp. meter be reached and for | intervals use and and stand still | itto acclimatise | where provides for some time | with the possible, accurate levels | until the surroundings and | splitting each | of results temperature where there was transect into compared to | stops ‘obvious shade,! | 12 data points judging from a | fluctuating to used the shade so | which are normal thenearest.1 | that the similarly thermometer. | degrees and! | temperature equally willdo this for | wasn’t spaced for _|each site. exacerbated, 13Paper and pen- however that each to record wasn’t possible for | measurement. measurements some readings. This links directly with my hypothesis of the temperatures being higher in the ‘CBD of Reading ‘compared to the outskirts, and the ‘temperature is a major part in determining the microclimate of Reading so.is an important factor in the investigation Wind speed | Anemometer | For wind Iwaited for 20 Systematic accurate and | speed, using _| seconds at least for | sampling- reliableand | the each reading samples were simple to use | anemometer,|_ | because the wind | taken at Paper and pen- | stood still at speed changes around 150m torecordmy | each site and | constantly intervals measurements | waited for 20 | especially inthe | where seconds CBD where there’s | possible, {unless there | quick gusts due to | splitting each was obviously | the venturi effect, | transect into nowind), and | soanaverageis | 12 data points took the needed since which are average there’s no exact | similarly readingover | actual reading, This | equally the 20 seconds | links directly to my | spaced for ateach site. | hypothesisthat | each wind speeds measurement, decrease the further tothe centre of Reading you go. eet Land use/ Tuseda mobile | Ateachsite | Itookphatos at | Systematic general phonetotake | after !had each site sothat | sampling- ground cover | pictures ofthe | measured when it comesto | samples were general location | everything analysis, can sue | taken at and else, | would | the photos to around 150m surroundings: | take apicture | describe the intervals using an iPhone | of the exposed.areasto | where 12 with high Surroundings, | sunlight as then! _| possible, 14quality camera | facusing on the | can use secondary | splitting each systems general surface | data for albedos provides aciean | ofthe ground | surfaces such as Photoandis | and what was _| grass and compare | which are easy and exposed tothe | these albedo practical to use. | sunlight, readings to the representing | general surface in | spaced for this through 1 | each spot as well_| each Photo for each | as the land use and | measurement. location. (lack off green space, as albedo links to the heati directly to my hypothesis on temperature. affect which links af | transect into 12 data points similarly equally ing. Secondary data Nami dar | data used Source Google maps/ OS maps ‘Google Maps used these digital maps because they helped to map out the transect, determine the best route which gave the best opportunities to- represent the microclimate of Reading. Google maps is very interactive, allowing you to choose different ‘views of the landscape such as iin 05 map format, as well as being simple and easy to use and understand. Past and current | weather data on Reading, alongside other graphs and is: | (reading. https://uk: air-defra.gov.uk/forecasting/locations?q=reading | ‘Current and past weather data - Meteorology suk) used this datato help back up my data as well as expand on the data _|representations collect by external ‘sources to do with microclimates Does Un island effect exaggerate gl warming trends? {skepticalscience.com! (more sources found in bibliography) collection and helps ‘to provide data where | may have not collected any helping to provide a broader picture of Readings roclimate. The data is also easy to access and reliable, as its data that's collected at a local scale. News and text on microclimates and urban heat islands ‘Ws like an oven’: Life in Britain’s hottest neighbourhoods - BBC News Arlevel Geography textbook Urban Microclimate - an overview | ‘ScienceDirect Topics (more sources found in bibliography) These sources of real-life events help to back up my investigation and the pe investigating the microclimate. They also supply important facts to back my evidence as well as going first hand perspectives on the issues posed by the microclimate in these urban areas, The textbook presents a complete knowledge and information which can be easily interpreted and used to consolidate and help in explaining my theory and why the microclimate is occurring, Technique Limitations Improvements 16Wind speed When taking the windspeed, often was bursts of gusts which made finding the average temperature more difficult: Also, at times the anemometer wasn’t sensitive enough, and the wind speed tend ta change ver not very lang distances. Next time I could try to use newer/ more sensitive equipment, I could also have tried to repeat the readings for each location and take an average to try to eliminate any anomalies due to gusts of wind. Temperature There wasn’t much shade on the day which could have caused an inerease in temperature found compared to the actual temperature. Also, the digital thermometer wasn't very sensitive and took several minutes to reach the actual temperature perhaps could have gone not rectly during midday when the sun is the most central and brightest with limited shade, ‘and use newer, more sensitive thermometers. | could also. have taken temperature readings not just during daylight but in nightfall to see if in colder conditions with little sun ta see if the UHI affect is langer during the day. Traffic density Took this investigation during the hottest period in Uk history, which meant that not as many people were out during midday which may have caused the results to be lower. Only certain roads were surveyed which isn't very representative of the whole area Could have carried out the investigation a few days either side of the day | took it on so it would have been less hat and so more people out in their cars to give a more accurate reading. | could also have toa the traffic density at different times of the day a6 in midday people may be at work Whereas if took it at Spm, | could say how in these sites the traffic density changed. Relative humidity The equipment wasn’t very sensitive, like the digital ‘thermometer, it took several minutes for the reading to be Use more sensitive equipment and don't store the equipment in my pocket as that caused ‘the equipment to start witha high relative humidity. land use/ general ground cover ‘Since | was only taking 2 picture for each location this ‘wasn’t always representative of the whole area but also Would have been subject to bias as | could choase what went in the picture. could have taken more photos to help create a better Fepresentatian of each site and to remove any bias. vvGoogle maps/ OS maps, Limitation 1s that google maps has limited accuracy, so when trying to allocate the transect on the google map, this was made more difficult. To improve this, when presenting my maps, rather than using google maps, | could use other ‘what three words’ and screenshot the exact map used when presenting my transect. Or use paper OS maps to help follow and produce an accurate route Past and current weather data on Reading including other graphs and representations ‘The past data only went to as recent as the previous month, although this provided with some data values, the results were only one value per day which isn’t detailed enough and so is limiting. Also finding the past data on these websites was especially challenging, which limited what information f could find and use. To help get sufficient readings and data on past and current: Reading, | could use a variety of sources including the met office to help gain more readings to provide stronger evidence to back my data. News and text on microclimates and urban heat islands. News.articles may be suspect to bias and only telling one side of the story and not what's completely gone on. Most scientific text from scholars online were useful but were limited due to quite advanced language making it difficult sometimes to utilise all the information as well as lots of papers not able to have full access to. The texthaok for geography, provided all of the portant theory to help back ‘up my investigation, however the theory wasn't always very explorative and in some cases was quite basie a5 well as not ‘always giving reasons why certain processes occur. To improve, a range of news articles should be used rather than just selective news articles to provide a bigger picture. Furthermore, to build on top of the theory the textbook gives, the academic apers.and books fram scholars should be used to help add to the textbook theary in greater depth where necessary.Data analysis and presentation twill be running the spearman's rank test as my statistical test, this Is the graph to show the significance regions, my degrees of freedom for each transect is 10 as 12-2 is 10. and the degrees of freedom is the number of pairs of ‘This is the spearman’s rank formula, The mgevicamee of te Spearman ram coreanon coeMents and degrees ot hewtom redo erates (name of paiva hemain mpl ne 2) nificance levels for Spasrmse's sok correlation coefficients using Student’ ¢ distribution 19Wind speed Data collection point- transect one Reading (m/s) 34 25 33 32 32 25 11 os 1.8 08 16 08 Data collection point- transect two Reading (m/s) 08 12 19 14 PR 25 33 16 40 aa leloinis eats Ele [ata] sfopoy= 45 5 46 Transect 2- 0.91 20 Wind speed spearman’s rank: Transect 1--0.86Wind speed transect 1 (Towards the centre) eS ° Ea oe i Cae fas ® z “sf = . a ” e . 0s ° 0 2 ‘ 6 . 10 2 u“ Site number Wind speed transect 2- (From the centre outwards) 5 4s eae 4 . was we £3 : ° Bes i? = Fas . 1 os ° 2 + 6 5 » B ” site Hypothesis: The wind speed will Increase the further fram the centre of Reading, showing large variability ‘Null hypothesis: The wind speed won't increase the further from Reading centre you are. Fram the spearman’s rank test, from the second transect the result is close to.one, meaninga strong positive correlation between windspeed and the site, implying the further from the centre you are, the higher the wind speed. The first transect presents a negative number close to -1, this suggests a strong negative correlation implying the closer to the-centre you go the weaker the wind speed. The spearman’s rank for second transect was closer to 1 than the first transect was closer to -1, which implies the correlation between windspeed and distance from the centre to the rural area, the centre to south of Reading is even stronger and more prevalent, perhaps due toa.greater amount of ‘uninterrupted rural land in the south coming into Reading and the graph shows the difference asin 2the further southern point recorded a wind speed that was over 9 times the size of the speed recorded in the centre, whereas the further northern point was about 6 times the size, but from the graphs the points in the first transect are more spread out compared to where the line of best fit could be implying more of variety of wind speeds from the north ta the centre. With the first transect, the graph shows a negative correlation, this suggest as it’s a transect from the rural area to the centre, that the closer to the centre you go, the slower the windspeed. With the second transect, the graph shows a positive correlation, meaning since the transect is from the centre to the edge of Reading, that the further from the centre you go, the faster the wind speed is. This supports the hypothesis; The wind speed will increase the further fram the centre of Reading. However, despite there are these changes in wind speed, due to the nature of the climate that day, the wind speeds averall weren't extremely fast at any point, and this is because due to solar heating, the warm air is forced up inta the atmosphere like a hat air balloon rather than blowing horizontally. To 95% significance, fora spearman’s rank test with degrees of freedom of 10, (12-2), the coefficient ‘must be at least 0.65, Bath transects are abave this and into the 99% significance zone which is for values greater than 0.8 and for the 0.91 result this is into the 99.9% significance zone as this Is for values greater than 0.88. This means for the 0.86 coefficient, there's 1% chance of the hypothesis that the windspeed will increase the further from the centre of Reading, that this occurs by chance, and only @ 0.1% chance for the transect of coefficient 0.91, meaning since both transects are over ‘959% significance, the hypothesis: the wind speed will increase further from the centre of Reading, ‘can be accepted and the null hypothesis rejected. However, as you can see in both transects, there are anomalous results, which means it's not as ‘simple as just saying that the wind speeds always decrease the closer to the centre you are. This is ‘due to the potential venturi effect including the channelling of the winds between buildings and having to move down buildings or between gaps in buildings which all cause a change-in wind direction and a change in velocity which causes the winds to accelerate in bursts, even though generally due to the uninterrupted land in the rural areas, the wind speed is higher in rural areas, ‘This is site 7, om the second transect, ‘where an anomalous result fell, The ‘wind speed should have been higher, and the value was much lower than expected as shown by the trend in the graph. The wind speed here may have been lower because on the day there was lots of variations of gusts, and these gusts, can be caused by the venturi effect This effect is created by tall buildings which channel the wind between the buildings creating fast bursts of wind due to the drop of Wind pressure, whereas in this location, its open and not many buildings, meaning this wan't accur to asignificant extent in this. location, and thus making the gusts less frequent making it unlikely when to take the recording that a gust would occur. 2This is the second data point on the first transect, The wind speed here declines a lot more than compared to the general trend as seen in the graph. This maybe because for Instance in the imagine you can see tall trees and bushes, which have been positioned due to human input, and these will block the: incoming wind and cause friction which causes the wind speed to be less as a result, this isa similar impact as in the city centre where land is used for tall buldings which block the wind and so leads to lower wind speeds in the centre. Relative Humidity | Data collection point- | Reading () transect one mete erent 44.0 (9]]

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