Wong 1

IB Geography Internal Assessment HL

November 2010

Climatic Hazards and Change

- Microclimate -

St. Peters Lutheran College

Ms. T. Dowell

Candidate Name: Pei-Han Sabrina Wong

Candidate Number: 003063-040
Word Count: 2464

-1-
 Wong 2

Contents:

1. Introduction -2
-

2. Methodology
- 5
-

3. Results and Analysis - 7

-

4. Conclusion -
12 -

5. References -
13 -

6. Appendix -
14 -

-2-
 Wong 3

Introduction:

The aim in this microclimate investigation is to measure differences in

temperature and relative humidity in the lower atmosphere caused by
man-made and natural ground surfaces at a micro-level in Brisbane, St
Peters Lutheran College.

It is hypothesised that:
Natural ground surfaces produce cooler and more humid air within the
immediate vicinity (microclimate) than man-made surfaces.

In which, the hypothesis is split into two categories:

1. It is postulated that man-made surfaces such as concrete and
bitumen have varying effects on microclimate where concrete is
more conducive to producing a cooler and less humid
environment; and
2. It is also expected that natural ground surfaces such as exposed
soil will produce much hotter and less humid environment than
sheltered soil.

This investigation is carried out to understand the variations of

temperature and humidity caused by the surfacing on the ground. The
results of this project are able to provide a better understanding of the
details of the lower environment (a foot above ground). It would also
provide a number of useful purposes for people such as engineers and
landscapers; more cautious in the selection of suitable materials or
structural design to reduce heat effects.

The surface atmosphere is extremely unpredictable and is affected by the

wind and humidity. The active movement in the zone between ground and
air is one of the major reasons that cause such variations. Furthermore, a
microclimate is easily affected by external influences such as the surface
colour, moisture, vegetation and aspect of the current site 1,2. Therefore,
the data collected is expected to vary between the different sites, as
stated in the hypothesis using a thermo-hygrometer.

In this investigation, there are four different ground surfaces to be

experimented on; concrete and bitumen to represent man-made surfaces,
in addition with sheltered soil and exposed soil for natural surfaces. Below,
Figure 1, shows the general area where the experiment will take place in
Brisbane, Australia; the red shaded area represents St Peters Lutheran
College. The following image, Figure 2, shows the specific region of where
each ground surfaces are located within the college.

1
D.J. Briggs and P. Smithson, "Micro and Local Climates." Fundamentals of
Physical Geography. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1986, 133-151, Print.
2
B. Ponn, "Pavement Albedo." Heat Island Group. N.p., 30 June 1999,
Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/Pavements/Albedo/>.

-3-
 Wong 4

Figure 1 A map of the study location3,4

The sites we visited are shown in Figure 2; bitumen is located at Rainforest

Drive, with a north-western aspect. The concrete surface is positioned in
front of the Chapel, with a western aspect. Sheltered soil is situated in
Rainforest Reserve with an abundant amount of tall vegetation as shelter,
whereas the exposed soil is near College Drive, without any source of
shade. Results would not be biased between sites because of the relative
equal air flow rates and elevation, as well as negligible breezes or wind-
channels.

3
J. Platt, "OZ's endangered species." 60-Second Science Blo,.
Scientific American Inc., 28 May 2009, Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-extinction/
index.cfm?&category=biology&offset=11>.
4
St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane: n.p., 2008, N. pag, Print.

-4-
 Wong 5

Figure 2 A map of the study sites5

5
"About Us." St Peters Lutheran College. N.p., 2009, Web, 27 Aug.
2009. <http://www.stpeters.qld.edu.au/asp/index.asp?
pgid=10633&cid=5344&gid=197>.

-5-
 Wong 6

Methodology:

To obtain the results for this investigation, the following equipment is

needed:
- Temperature and Hydro sensor (4)
- Stopwatch (4)
- Paper (4)
- Pencil (4)
- 230 (width) x 320 (length) x 500 (height) mm Paper box (4)

Preparation:
Before the investigation was carried out, all sensors were being placed
together at the same area for over two hours to ensure calibration.
Consequently one can observe if there are any malfunctions with the
sensors, and if so, measures can be taken. Paper boxes that held the
sensors had the same dimensions and were made out of the same
material, ensuring each group’s sensors were of the same distance from
the ground. Moreover, watches were calibrated to ensure a fair test.

Temperature and Humidity:

At each location, the paper box was placed on a preferred area and a
marking was made on the area chosen for repeated measurements. After
placing the box on the preferred area, we recorded the elevation of area,
type of day and wrote basic descriptions of the site. We then placed the
thermometer and hydro-sensor on the edge of the box. We started the
stopwatch, and allowed the sensor to calibrate for 10 minutes. At the 10 th
minute, the temperature and relative humidity were recorded in 5 minute
intervals. Each site was monitored for 3 days, each day with 6 recordings,
therefore a total of 18 temperatures and humidity levels were recorded.
Temperature recordings were in degrees Celsius, and humidity levels were
recorded as percentages.

Liability:
It was decided to take 18 samples to decrease the likelihood of the
correlation of results occurring by chance, and hence increase the validity
of the results. According to Spearman’s Rank Correlation, this would
reduce the chance of random errors and systematic errors to appear. A
formula was used to calculate the coefficients and using this, we are able
to observe the significance level of the investigation’s results. Using
Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients, most of the data will have less
than 1% significance level, which confirmed the likelihood of the
correlation occurring by chance was relatively small. Using Figure 3, we
can see the closer the coefficient is to +1 or -1, the stronger the liable
correlation. A perfect positive correlation is +1 and a perfect negative
correlation is -1.

-6-
 Wong 7

Figure 3 Interpretation of Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients

The sensors used in this experiment were unable to read humidity levels
that were lower than 20% and the result of this is when the screen shows
LO instead. To resolve this predicament, the humidity of LO was replaced
with 18%. This was done to provide actual values to create tables and
graphs.

Finally, all the data collected was collaborated and graphed against each
other. The following results and analysis describes the findings of our
experiment.

-7-
 Wong 8

Results and Analysis:

Figure 4 summarises the mean averages of temperature and humidity

readings of different surface types calculated from processing the raw
data obtained from the many sites:

Figure 4 Mean average temperature and humidity by surface types

Sheltered Soil
Averages Day One Day Two Day Three Mean Average
Temperature
(°C) 23.33 20.87 24.52 22.91
Humidity (%) 49.33 49.83 32.33 43.83

Exposed Soil
Averages Day One Day Two Day Three Mean Average
Temperature
(°C) 29.25 27.37 29.54 28.72
Humidity (%) 38.67 22.17 18.00 26.28

Bitumen
Averages Day One Day Two Day Three Mean Average
Temperature
(°C) 31.12 29.58 34.94 31.88
Humidity (%) 30.83 30.33 18.00 26.39

Concrete
Averages Day One Day Two Day Three Mean Average
Temperature
(°C) 30.50 30.80 32.96 31.42
Humidity (%) 23.67 26.67 18.00 22.78

Briefly looking at the averages calculated we can see that the sheltered
soil site has the highest humidity levels and lowest temperature. We can
also observe that the concrete site has the lowest humidity levels,
whereas the bitumen site has the highest temperature. From this simple
observation, the tables illustrate that natural surfaces are much cooler and
moist compared to man made surfaces.

Using the mean averages of the different sites, the data collected can be
further processed into graphs. By drawing a scatter graph and trend lines,
a correlation can be easily distinguished from the many data attained.
Below, Figure 5 illustrates an inverse relationship between the humidity
and temperature, thus proves the simple concept of relative humidity that
the atmosphere can to ‘hold’ more water vapour with decreasing
temperatures:

-8-
 Wong 9

Relationship between Temperature and Humidity

50
45
40
35
Humidity (%)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
Temperature (°C)

Figure 5 Inverse relationship between temperature and humidity

A significance test, as defined by the formula below, is used to indicate

whether the results are reliable:

where:

di = the difference between the ranks of the corresponding values

in both data; and
n = the number of samples in each data set (same for both sets).
[6]

Applying this to the four sites, the four outcomes can be generated which
then can be plotted against the Spearman’s graph, the following are the
results:

Sheltered soil:

Concrete:

Bitumen:

Exposed Soil:

-9-
 Wong 10

Figure 6 The significance of the Spearman’s rank correlation

6
coefficients and degrees of freedom

By calculating the significance of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients

we are able to confirm with higher confidence that the correlation did not
happen by mere chance. The sheltered soil, concrete and bitumen
coefficients are all above 0.6, suggesting a fairly strong positive
correlation. However exposed soil has a value of 0.11, displaying that the
data between humidity and temperature within the old playground (the
site of exposed soil) has low to no correlation. Using the calculated values,
the significance of the relationship can be discovered. Referring to Figure
6, it is apparent that the results taken from sheltered soil, concrete and
bitumen all go over the 5% red line. This illustrates that those results only
have a rejection level of 5%, and the correlation is 95% reliable-the
outcomes can be considered to be accurate. However, the data of exposed
soil provided a correlation lower than the 95% dependability, implying that
the rejection level is relatively high.

6
"Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient." Barcelona Field Studies
Centre. N.p., 2009. Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://geographyfieldwork.com/SpearmansRank.htm>.

- 10 -
 Wong 11

Displayed below is Figure 7 which shows the relationship between

humidity and temperature in a scatter graph. The use of the scatter graph
provides a much easier understanding and effective image upon the
obtained data, as it explores the relationship between the two variables.

Average Temperature and Humidity of Different Surfaces

50
45
40
35
30
Temperature (°C)
25
Humidity (%)
20
15
10
5
0
Sheltered Soil Exposed Soil Bitumen Concrete

Figure 7 Average Temperature and Humidity of Different Sites

The bar graph is able to effectively prove the hypothesis that natural
ground surfaces produce cooler and more humid air within the immediate
vicinity than artificial ground surfaces. Using the bar graph, it shows that
sheltered soil and exposed soil (natural surfaces) indeed have lower
temperatures than bitumen and concrete (man-made surfaces). In The
graph also illustrates that the natural surfaces also have higher humidity
rates compared to artificial surfaces. Moreover, the addition of linear trend
lines emphasizes the inverse correlation for humidity and direct
correlation for temperature.

Generally looking at Figure 7, man-made surfaces do not provide such

significant results, as their differences are not significant. Although there
is only 0.20°C temperature difference and 3.61% humidity difference,
there is still a reason behind the variation. Bitumen produces an average
of 31.88°C temperature and 26.39 % humidity compared to the 31.42°C
and 22.78% measurements taken from concrete. Therefore, bitumen
fabricates slightly warmer temperature and higher humidity.

For man-made surfaces, the temperature of the vicinity can be caused by

the albedo. Albedo, is an important concept in climates, it is the
percentage that the surface reflectivity of the sun’s radiation. The average
albedo of concrete is 55% which is 4.5 times the amount of bitumen. As
the albedo decreases, more sunlight is absorbed and thus the temperature
naturally increases7. Using this secondary data, it supports the collected
data that bitumen’s temperature is slightly warmer due to the low albedo
percentage compared to concrete. In addition, the bitumen and concrete
surfaces had different exterior colours to it, the bitumen was black and
7
B. Ponn, "Pavement Albedo." Heat Island Group. N.p., 30 June 1999, Web,
27 Aug. 2009. <http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/Pavements/Albedo/>.

- 11 -
 Wong 12

concrete was white. This then suggests that bitumen absorbed more
radiating heat compared to concrete because of the surface’s colour, due
to the common knowledge that black absorbs more heat in comparison to
lighter colours.
Observing from Figure 7, sheltered soil shows a major difference, as it is
much cooler and much moist, compared to exposed soil – which then
establishes that exposed soil is warmer and more arid than sheltered soil.

For natural surfaces, as the soil is darker in colour, it is able to absorb

much more radiant energy than lighter coloured soils. In addition to that,
moisture has a larger heat capacity, thus moist soil warms up slower than
dry soil. As trees absorbs more radiation and transpires moisture in air,
the vapour pressure is higher in forests than a non-vegetated region.
Since air is a poor conductor of heat, dry sandy soil is able to get
exceedingly hot as there are lots of air vacuoles present, and thus heat
transfer is slow and heat is trapped in the upper layers8. This can be
illustrated with the Figure 8:

Figure 8 Effects on Temperature against Different Soils [7]

Comparing natural surfaces to man made surfaces, natural surfaces have

vegetation to block out a certain amount of radiation that would normally
reach the ground. They transpire and have low heat capacity, thus results
to cooler temperatures and higher humidity9. However, man made
surfaces such as bricks, concrete and stones, all have high heat capacity
permitting them to store large amounts of heat. In addition, man made
surfaces do not have any vacuoles for water to be absorbed; therefore, it
has a lower humidity10.
The patterns that have occurred in the graphs clearly confirms the direct
relationship between temperature and relative humidity – as the
temperature within the area is low, more moisture is held in the

8
D.J. Briggs and P. Smithson, "Micro and Local Climates." Fundamentals of
Physical Geography. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1986, 133-151, Print.
9
D.J. Briggs and P. Smithson, "Micro and Local Climates." Fundamentals of
Physical Geography. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1986, 133-151, Print.
10
B. Ponn, "Pavement Albedo." Heat Island Group. N.p., 30 June 1999,
Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/Pavements/Albedo/>.

- 12 -
 Wong 13

immediate atmosphere. The graphs also demonstrate that natural

surfaces generate lower temperatures and higher humidity rates.

To an extent, sheltered soil can be considered to be an anomaly, as the

estimated value on the graph should be where the line indicates 0.5,
instead the temperature is comparatively lower and the humidity is higher.
However, the results for exposed soil must be acknowledged to be
unreliable due to its lack of correlation.

- 13 -
 Wong 14

Conclusion:

The interpreted data shows that natural surfaces produce cooler and more
humid air within the vicinity than man-made surfaces thus verify my
hypothesis. In addition, the data provides an understanding that exposed
natural surfaces produces much hotter and less humid environment than
covered natural surfaces. Moreover, the data also supported the sub-
hypothesis 2 which states that concrete surfaces produce much cooler and
less humid environment than bitumen surfaces.

There are various possible reasons that the investigation might not be
carried out well in a well-controlled setting given the presence of many
variables; colour of surface, immediate moisture on surface, type of
vegetation around surrounding area and aspect of location.

First, referring to Figure 2 which shows the locality of the four sites, it is
evident that they are all spread out in different areas with different
aspects. The rainforest reserve, where sheltered soil’s data were taken
had a decent control with their site, as it was far away from any
infrastructure. On the other hand, the exposed soil site was in close
proximity to a major thoroughfare where the addition of heat and moisture
is added from the vehicle’s wastes. The site for concrete ground surface,
although does not have any infrastructure affecting it, the buildings
surrounding the area can easily trap heat and moisture within that area.

Second, data taken from the exposed soil site had no correlation according
to Spearman’s rank coefficient; the major reason for this is caused from
the actual surface itself. The exposed soil site, situated right next to the
bus stop was a site that used to be a playground – the surface was really
dry with direct sunlight, however, the quality of the soil was relatively arid
and infertile compared to sheltered soil. Therefore, both soil quality of
exposed and sheltered natural ground surfaces, were different, creating
an unfair test. If this investigation was to be repeated, the location for
both natural sites must have similar soil quality, and this can be tested by
using soil quality indicators that tests salinity.

To improve the data collection process, better sites could be chosen to

represent the four different sites. The sites should have no uncontrollable
external influences upon the results, as well as ensuring the ground
surface has relatively similar properties, apart from the material made.
However, one may speculate that it is these very variations which make
this experiment realistic. Another idea is to record the temperature and
humidity of three different sites of the same surfacing to balance out any
factors that are uncontrollable by the researcher.

From this investigation, we know that bitumen surfaces have higher

temperature readings due to the higher heat absorption; low albedo.
Therefore, logically, we shouldn’t use this surface in areas that are
relatively warmer.

The investigation itself has developed the understanding on processes of

radiation and convection interacting with each other; the landforms and
environment modifies microclimate, as the microclimate controls many
processes involving the landscape. The locations of sites had a large

- 14 -
 Wong 15

impact on the results and overall have proven the hypothesis and sub-
hypothesises correct.

- 15 -
 Wong 16

Bibliography:

[1] D.J. Briggs and P. Smithson, "Micro and Local Climates."

Fundamentals of Physical Geography. London: Rowman & Littlefield,
1986, 133-151, Print.

[2] B. Ponn, "Pavement Albedo." Heat Island Group. N.p., 30 June 1999,
Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/Pavements/Albedo/>.

[3] J. Platt, "OZ's endangered species." 60-Second Science Blo,. Scientific

American Inc., 28 May 2009, Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-extinction/
index.cfm?&category=biology&offset=11>.

[4] St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane: n.p., 2008, N. pag, Print.

[5] "About Us." St Peters Lutheran College. N.p., 2009, Web, 27 Aug.
2009. <http://www.stpeters.qld.edu.au/asp/index.asp?
pgid=10633&cid=5344&gid=197>.

[6] "Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient." Barcelona Field Studies

Centre. N.p., 2009. Web, 27 Aug. 2009.
<http://geographyfieldwork.com/SpearmansRank.htm>.

[7] Fundamentals of Physical Geography, By D. J. Briggs and P. Smithson,

London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1986, 558, Print.

- 16 -
 Wong 17

Appendix:

- 17 -
 Wong 18

- 18 -
 Wong 19

- 19 -