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Title: Meso-scale cooling effects of high albedo surfaces: Analysis of meteorological data from White Sands National Monument and White Sands Missile Range

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10180636· OSTI ID:10180636

Urban summer daytime temperatures often exceed those of the surrounding rural areas. Summer ``urban heat islands`` are caused by dark roofs and paved surfaces as well as the lack of vegetation. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory are interested in studying the effects of increasing the albedo of roof tops and paved surfaces in order to reduce the impacts of summer urban heat islands. Increasing the albedo of urban surfaces may reduce this heat island effect in two ways, directly and indirectly. The direct effect involves reducing surface temperature and, therefore, heat conduction through the building envelope. This effect of surface albedo on surface temperatures is better understood and has been quantified in several studies. The indirect effect is the impact of high albedo surfaces on the near surface air temperatures. Although the indirect effect has been modeled for the Los Angeles basin by Sailor, direct field observations are required. The objective of this report is to investigate the meso-scale climate of a large high albedo area and identify the effects of albedo on the near surface air temperature. To accomplish this task, data from several surface weather stations at White Sands, New Mexico were analyzed. This report is organized into six sections in addition to this introduction. The first gives the general geological, topographic, and meteorological background of White Sands. The second is a discussion of the basic surface meteorology of the White Sands region. This section is followed by a general discussion of the instrumentation and available data. The fourth section is a description of the method used for data analyis. The fifth section which presents the results of this analysis. Finally, the last section is the summary and conclusion, where a discussion of the results is presented.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
10180636
Report Number(s):
LBL-35056; ON: DE94018535
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 20 May 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English