QUEST-GI: Quantifying Evapotranspiration from Urban Green Infrastructure

About the Project

Evapotranspiration (ET) from vegetation and terrestrial surfaces represents a key flux in urban energy & water budgets. ET from urban vegetation represents a significant component of the ‘urban metabolism’ and is a key factor in our efforts to deliver climate change resilient cities. The ability to accurately quantify ET rates – over space and time, and in different vegetation types – is fundamental to the design and modelling of vegetated Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) devices by drainage engineers. 

In this interdisciplinary project, we will develop and test novel Remote Sensing (RS) based methods to quantify the actual ET rates for a range of SuDS vegetation. We will work across experimental scales ranging from pilot-scale test beds, to specific SuDS devices, through to a corridor of extensive SuDS or Green Infrastructure in the City of Sheffield. 

The overall aims of the project are therefore to: (i) develop a non-intrusive approach to estimating ET from urban vegetated SuDS based on thermal remote sensing in combination with a limited number of non-invasive on-the-ground measurements; and (ii) provide urban drainage engineers with appropriate design tools and ET parameter values.