The micro-climactic impacts of turf irrigation in a temperate summer season - Pui Kwan Cheung
Channel: The Royal Society of Victoria
Date: 29/11/2022

Backyards are an important space for individual households because they provide a private and safe green space for social interactions, exposure to greenery, relaxation, gardening and children’s activities. People’s willingness to use backyards are dependent upon the thermal stress (measured in Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) of the space. Turf is a common surface type in backyards but unirrigated turf can be as warm as pavement, bringing thermal discomfort and discouraging people from using them. Under certain conditions turf irrigation provides an opportunity to reduce thermal stress by increasing evapotranspiration. Most studies in the literature modelled the impacts of irrigation on microclimate and a strong cooling effect was often predicted. However, such impacts are rarely measured in the real-world environment. Experimental studies are needed to verify the thermal benefits of turf irrigation.

Pui Kwan’s research provided empirical evidence to verify the potential of applying irrigation to cool the urban environment. The future climate is likely to become warmer in many parts of the world due to climate change. Mitigation strategies are needed to reduce heat stress in cities because strong heat stress can lead to higher heat-related morbidity and mortality. Heat stress also reduces people’s willingness to visit urban green space to engage in physical and social activities, which can reduce people’s quality of life and their perceived mental and physical health. Irrigation is a novel idea to reduce urban heat stress in additional to other existing heat mitigation strategies such as tree planting and the use of reflective materials. The findings from this research provided a proof-of-concept for application and laid a solid foundation for further research on the cooling potential of irrigation at a larger scale.

In recognition of the quality and significance of his research, Pui Kwan Cheung is the First Prize Winner in the Earth Sciences category for the Royal Society of Victoria's Young Scientist Research Prizes in 2022.