Asphalt saves heat, green areas cool - project "From gray becomes green" provides initial knowledge
As part of the project “From Grau becomes green”, the city of Riedstadt had several drone fans carried out on streets in Wolfskehlen in the summer of 2024. The aim of the campaign was to examine the thermal load of different surfaces - asphalt, gravel and vegetation - on hot days.
Heinrich-Heine-Straße and Oppenheimer Straße, in which greening measures are planned, and the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Straße were examined as a comparison area without a planned redesign. The first evaluations show that asphalt surfaces heat up particularly strongly in heat - and also cool down very slowly at night. Measurements showed nightly asphalt temperatures of over 10 degrees Celsius above the ambient air.
Planted areas were significantly more temperature -stable. They were between 5 and 15 degrees Celsius below the temperature of adjacent asphalt areas during the day and at night. Little green gravel surfaces were in between.
These results demonstrate in the run -up to the structural measures of the potential in a consistent greening of streets. In the future, the microclimate will be improved by more vegetation and the heating of quarters is significantly reduced - an important component in municipal heat protection.
Another use of drone is planned one to two years after completion of the greening measures. Then it should be checked what concrete influence the new planting on the local urban climate has - with the aim of gaining sound data for further urban development measures.
(Riedstadt - Red/PSR)
Marcel Dogotari from the Justus Liebig University Gießen starts the drone. Archive photo: City of Riedstadt
