Application of airborne LiDAR and thermal Infrared technologies for the assessment of human biometeorological conditions in urban areas

The rising global temperature contributes to a strong impact on urban thermal environment and outdoor thermal comfort. Although the existing satellite telemetry methods are convenient to display geographical information. The detail distributions of 3-dimentional radiation properties of the complex urban environment cannot be estimated accurately due to the low resolution and lack of vertical information. Hence, satellite telemetry methods cannot provide enough information concerning biometeorology conditions in urban areas. This research applies an innovative method to observe urban thermal environment by coupled airborne LiDAR and thermal Infrared (TIR) technique combined with synchronous climate measurement in ground level. Banqiao District of New Taipei City, one of the highest developed areas in Taiwan, is selected for the survey area. By combining the airborne LiDAR with thermal image sensors and surface measurements through GPS positioning system, the mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), estimated by various approaches, can be calculated and compared. The results indicated that Tmrt estimated by the LiDAR and TIR are highly in accordance with the value measured in the ground level. Furthermore, the Tmrt and Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) are calculated and displayed as a distribution map. The hotspot of the survey area, which comprised high density building and high amount of anthropogenic heat, can be identified through the map. The analytical result reveal that the use of coupled LiDAR and TIR technology approach will be contributed to understand the urban human biometeorological conditions quickly and accurately. KET WORD:human biometeorology, LiDAR, thermal Infrared, Physiologically Equivalent Temperature