Open AccessUrbanization Process and Variation of Energy Budget of Land Surfaces
Author(s) -
Ciro Gardi,
Nicola Dall’Olio,
Maria Chiara Cavallo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
italian journal of agronomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.509
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 2039-6805
pISSN - 1125-4718
DOI - 10.4081/ija.2007.119
Subject(s) - urbanization , energy budget , albedo (alchemy) , environmental science , population growth , population , urban climate , land use , geography , urban heat island , physical geography , ecology , meteorology , biology , demography , performance art , art history , art , sociology
Urban areas are increasing at a rate much higher than human population growth in many part of the world; actually more than 73 towns in the world are larger than 1000 km2. The European Environmental Agency indicates an urban area average growth rate, over the last 20 years, of 20%. The urbanization process, and the consequent soil sealing, determines not only the losses of the ecological functions of the soil, but also a variation of the energy budget of land surfaces, that affect the microclimatic conditions (heat islands). The alteration of the energy budget are determined by the variations of albedo and roughness of surfaces, but especially by the net losses of evapotranspirating areas. In the present research we have assessed the variation of Parma territory energy budget, induced by the change in land use over the last 122 years. The urban area increase between 1881 and 2003 was 535%