Infrared camera shows the heat in Sydney

An expert in urban microclimates, Jonathan Fox from the University of New South Wales in Australia, walked around Sydney with a hand-held weather station called the Kestrel 4000. He was taking infrared photographs of buildings, streets, and popular locations to see whether buildings have their own microclimate (Canberra Times, November 20, 2015). In other words, he wanted to see if their colour, position, geometry, and material density affected the outdoor ‘thermal comfort’ of pedestrians and passers by. For example, are lighter coloured buildings cooler than darker buildings.

It is the onset of warmer temperatures in the southern hemisphere. In Sydney the Fish Market at 11:15 had a thermal reading of 57.7 degrees Celsius (135.9 F), which was a bit cooler than the sand on Bondi Beach that had a reading of 57.9 C (136.2 F) - photograph above.

Heat concentrated on the truck near the Sydney Opera House, which registered 95.3 degrees Celsius (203.5 F).

Some streets in the city were cooler than others. For example, Martin Place at midday was 30.8 C (87.4 F), whereas Elizabeth Street was 36 C (96.8 F). This could be because there are more breezes flowing through Martin Place. By the Hyde Park fountain it was 28.8 C (83.8 F).

Fox hopes his study of microclimates will impact architectural designs and construction of buildings, and town planning in the future.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/weather/blowing-hot-or-cool-depends-on-where-youre-at-says-urban-microclimate-expert-20151120-gl3xa0.html#ixzz3s3SuAgi7

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