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Impact of canopy structural characteristics on inner air temperature and relative humidity of Koelreuteria paniculata community in summer.

QIN Zhong1,2,3,4, LI Zhan-dong1,2,3,4, CHENG Fang-yun1,2,3,4, SHA Hai-feng5   

  1. (1School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; 2National Engineering Research Centre for Floriculture, Beijing 100083, China; 3Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation and Molecular Breeding, Beijing 100083, China; 4Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Beijing 100083, China; 5Beijing Forestry Seed and Seedling Management Station, Beijing 100029, China)
  • Online:2015-06-18 Published:2015-06-18

Abstract:

To investigate  the diurnal variation of the correlations between the cooling and humidifying effects and canopy structural characteristics of the Koelreuteria paniculata community, the measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, canopy density, leaf area index (LAI) and mean leaf angle (MLA) were performed on calm sunny summer days in the community in Beijing Olympic Forest Park, China. There were significant correlations between the canopy density, LAI and MLA, which affected the cooling and humidifying effects together. The cooling effect reached its maximum by 12:00, whereas the humidifying effect reached its peak at 10:00. Compared with the control open space site, the community appeared to lower the air temperature by 0.43 to 7.53 ℃ and to increase the relative humidity by 1%-22% during the daytime. However, the cooling and humidifying effects seem to be not effective during the night. The canopy density and LAI were better for determining the cooling and humidifying effects from 9:00 to 12:00. However, these effects were largely controlled only by the canopy density from 12:00 to 14:00 and were significantly correlated with the canopy density and LAI afterwards until 18:00.