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Cool Pavement
Cool pavement is a road surface that uses additives to reflect solar radiation unlike conventional dark pavement. Conventional dark pavements contribute to urban heat islands as they absorb 80–95% of sunlight and warm the local air. Cool pavements are made with different materials to increase albedo, thereby reflecting shortwave radiation out of the atmosphere. Increasing albedo reduces heat transfer to the surface and can hypothetically cause local cooling if the spatial scale of the albedo reduction is sufficiently large. The EPA reports "that if pavement reflectance throughout a city were increased from 10 to 35 percent, the air temperature could potentially be reduced by 1°F (0.6°C)."U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2012.Cool Pavements In: Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies. Draft. . Existing dark pavement can be altered to increase albedo through whitetopping or by adding reflective coats and seals. New pavement can be constructed to increase albed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Heat Island
An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds are weak. UHI is most noticeable during the summer and winter. The main cause of the UHI effect is from the modification of land surfaces. A study has shown that heat islands can be affected by proximity to different types of land cover, so that proximity to barren land causes urban land to become hotter and proximity to vegetation makes it cooler. Waste heat generated by energy usage is a secondary contributor. As a population center grows, it tends to expand its area and increase its average temperature. The term heat island is also used; the term can be used to refer to any area that is relatively hotter than the surrounding, but generally refers to human-disturbed areas. Monthly rainfall is greater downwind of cities, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation. Surface albedo is defined as the ratio of radiosity ''J''e to the irradiance ''E''e (flux per unit area) received by a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself, but also by the spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. These factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location, and time (see position of the Sun). While bi-hemispherical reflectance is calculated for a single angle of incidence (i.e., for a given position of the Sun), albedo is the directional integration of reflectance over all solar angles in a given period. The temporal resolution may range from seconds (as obtained from flux measurements) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shortwave Radiation
Shortwave radiation (SW) is radiant energy with wavelengths in the visible (VIS), near-ultraviolet (UV), and near-infrared (NIR) spectra. There is no standard cut-off for the near-infrared range; therefore, the shortwave radiation range is also variously defined. It may be broadly defined to include all radiation with a wavelength of 0.1μm and 5.0μm or narrowly defined so as to include only radiation between 0.2μm and 3.0μm. There is little radiation flux (in terms of W/m2) to the Earth's surface below 0.2μm or above 3.0μm, although photon flux remains significant as far as 6.0μm, compared to shorter wavelength fluxes. UV-C radiation spans from 0.1μm to .28μm, UV-B from 0.28μm to 0.315μm, UV-A from 0.315μm to 0.4μm, the visible spectrum from 0.4μm to 0.7μm, and NIR arguably from 0.7μm to 5.0μm, beyond which the infrared is thermal. Shortwave radiation is distinguished from longwave radiation. Downward shortwave radiation is sensitive to solar zenith angle, cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitetopping
Whitetopping is the covering of an existing asphalt pavement with a layer of Portland cement concrete. Whitetopping is divided into types depending on the thickness of the concrete layer and whether the layer is bonded to the asphalt substrate. Unbonded whitetopping, also called conventional whitetopping, uses concrete thicknesses of 20cm (8") or more that is not bonded to the asphalt. Bonded whitetopping uses thicknesses of 5 to 15cm (2-6") bonded to the asphalt pavement and is divided into two types, thin and ultrathin. The bond is made by texturing the asphalt. Thin whitetopping uses a bonded layer of concrete that is 10 - 15cm (4-6") thick while an ultrathin layer is 5 to 10 cm (2-4") thick. Ultrathin whitetopping is suitable for light duty uses, such as roads with low traffic volume, parking lots and small airports. Fiber reinforced concrete is used in some thin whitetopping overlays and almost all ultrathin whitetopping overlays. Whitetopping is suitable for asphalt pavement w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permeable Pavement
Permeable paving surfaces are made of either a porous material that enables stormwater to flow through it or nonporous blocks spaced so that water can flow between the gaps. Permeable paving can also include a variety of surfacing techniques for roads, parking lots, and pedestrian walkways. Permeable pavement surfaces may be composed of; pervious concrete, porous asphalt, paving stones, or interlocking pavers. Unlike traditional impervious paving materials such as concrete and asphalt, permeable paving systems allow stormwater to percolate and infiltrate through the pavement and into the aggregate layers and/or soil below. In addition to reducing surface runoff, permeable paving systems can trap suspended solids, thereby filtering pollutants from stormwater. Permeable pavement is commonly used on roads, paths and parking lots subject to light vehicular traffic, such as cycle-paths, service or emergency access lanes, road and airport shoulders, and residential sidewalks an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and large oil and gas companies, many state-owned by OPEC and Russia. Human-caused emissions have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but it was consistent among all greenhouse gases (GHG). Emissions in the 2010s averaged 56 billion tons a year, higher than ever before. Electricity generation and transport are major emitters; the largest single source, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, is transportation, accounting for 27% of all USA greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation and other changes in land use also emit carbon dioxide and methane. The largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions is agriculture, closely follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words '' smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then intended to refer to what was sometimes known as pea soup fog, a familiar and serious problem in London from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. This kind of visible air pollution is composed of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxide, ozone, smoke and other particulates. Man-made smog is derived from coal combustion emissions, vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, forest and agricultural fires and photochemical reactions of these emissions. Smog is often categorized as being either summer smog or winter smog. Summer smog is primarily associated with the photochemical formation of ozone. During the summer season when the temperatures are warmer and there is more sunlight present, photochemical smog is the dominant type of smog formation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitetopping
Whitetopping is the covering of an existing asphalt pavement with a layer of Portland cement concrete. Whitetopping is divided into types depending on the thickness of the concrete layer and whether the layer is bonded to the asphalt substrate. Unbonded whitetopping, also called conventional whitetopping, uses concrete thicknesses of 20cm (8") or more that is not bonded to the asphalt. Bonded whitetopping uses thicknesses of 5 to 15cm (2-6") bonded to the asphalt pavement and is divided into two types, thin and ultrathin. The bond is made by texturing the asphalt. Thin whitetopping uses a bonded layer of concrete that is 10 - 15cm (4-6") thick while an ultrathin layer is 5 to 10 cm (2-4") thick. Ultrathin whitetopping is suitable for light duty uses, such as roads with low traffic volume, parking lots and small airports. Fiber reinforced concrete is used in some thin whitetopping overlays and almost all ultrathin whitetopping overlays. Whitetopping is suitable for asphalt pavement w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permeable Pavement
Permeable paving surfaces are made of either a porous material that enables stormwater to flow through it or nonporous blocks spaced so that water can flow between the gaps. Permeable paving can also include a variety of surfacing techniques for roads, parking lots, and pedestrian walkways. Permeable pavement surfaces may be composed of; pervious concrete, porous asphalt, paving stones, or interlocking pavers. Unlike traditional impervious paving materials such as concrete and asphalt, permeable paving systems allow stormwater to percolate and infiltrate through the pavement and into the aggregate layers and/or soil below. In addition to reducing surface runoff, permeable paving systems can trap suspended solids, thereby filtering pollutants from stormwater. Permeable pavement is commonly used on roads, paths and parking lots subject to light vehicular traffic, such as cycle-paths, service or emergency access lanes, road and airport shoulders, and residential sidewalks an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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