Urban morpho-material parameters in cities and their correlation with summer air temperatures

Abstract In order to determine and compare the efficiency of different urban cooling strategies in two Latin American cities (Mendoza, Argentina and Campinas, Brazil), 18 scenarios that modified their percentage of vegetation and albedo level in urban envelopment materials were analysed. The scenarios were simulated using a high-resolution microclimatic model -ENVI-met 3.1. The possible associations between variables were evaluated through Principal Components Analysis. The result showed that the percentage of vegetation and the average albedo of the urban opaque surfaces explain 71.5 % of the behaviours within the urban canyons in both cities. The increase in vegetation could decrease the average temperature in Mendoza by up to 2.0 ºC, while in Campinas by up to 5.0 ºC. Increasing the albedo level in the urban envelopment raises the air temperatures in high-density scenarios of Mendoza and Campinas by up to 1.0 ºC. However, in the case of high albedo scenarios in horizontal surfaces and low albedo in verticals, there were reductions of 2.0 ºC in the city of Mendoza and 3.0 ºC in Campinas.