Application of the wudapt method in the city of mendoza-Argentina to define local climate zones

Abstract

The work applies the Local Climate Zones model in the Mendoza Metropolitan Area (AMM in Spanish), using the WUDAPT method and makes a critical analysis of its implementation feasibility based on the characteristics of the city. As a hypothesis, having a zoning of homologated urban structures according to their microclimatic condition is the first step to make the implementation of different urban heat island mitigation strategies effective on a city scale. The limitations of the WUDAPT method (World Urban Database Access Portal Tools) in the study area are linked to two factors: The definition of classes for zoning and the necessary homogeneity condition to determine training areas. The results show that the WUDAPT classification is structured in pure classes, with the impossibility of generating subclasses. The pure classes are defined according to the combination of a set of parameters that do not fully describe the condition of the urban profiles of the AMM in summer. In this season, the trees in rows act as a morphological structuring element. This implies the need to generate subclasses, affecting the relationship between Sky View Factor, road channel height/width ratio, Land Occupancy Factor, impermeable surface and average height. Another limitation is the size of the training areas, which require homogeneous areas of 1 km2, a difficult condition to fulfill in the AMM. In this work, the tool with standard classes has been adapted for the appropriate characterization of climatic zones in cities with abundant urban forestation, whose typology is growing in Latin America. It is concluded that once limitations of the tool are overcome, the climatic zones identified within the analysis area show correlation with the landscape in different sectors of the city and intra-class thermal homogeneity.