scholarly journals Assessing the significance of evapotranspiration in green roof modeling by SWMM

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 588-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aviva Gabriel Limos ◽  
Kristine Joy Bernardo Mallari ◽  
Jongrak Baek ◽  
Hwansuk Kim ◽  
Seungwan Hong ◽  
...  

Abstract Green roof is a low impact development (LID) practice used to mitigate imperviousness in urban areas and to reduce flood risks. In order to have sufficient designs and accurate runoff predictions, computer models should be utilized with full understanding of green roofs' hydrologic processes. Evapotranspiration is usually considered important by researchers in the water balance modeling of a green roof. The Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) version 5.1 is widely utilized rainfall-runoff modeling software which has LID controls capable of modeling green roofs. A previous study has evaluated the performance of this model in green roof simulations for single events without considering evapotranspiration in its application, but attained negative outcomes. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine the significance of considering evapotranspiration in producing accurate runoff simulations specifically using SWMM 5.1. The results of this study have shown that when evapotranspiration was not considered, simulations failed to agree with observed values, whereas when evapotranspiration was considered, simulated runoff volumes attained a very good fit with the observed runoff volumes proving the significance of evapotranspiration as an important parameter in green roof modeling.

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis M. Kourtis ◽  
Vassilios A. Tsihrintzis ◽  
Evangelos Baltas

The present work aims at quantifying the benefit of Low Impact Development (LID) practices in reducing peak runoff and runoff volume, and at comparing LID practices to conventional stormwater solutions. The hydrologic-hydraulic model used was the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM5.1). The LID practices modeled were: (i) Green roofs; and (ii) Permeable pavements. Each LID was tested independently and compared to two different conventional practices, i.e., sewer enlargement and detention pond design. Results showed that for small storm events LID practices are comparable to conventional measures, in reducing flooding. Overall, smaller storms should be included in the design process.


2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Burszta-Adamiak ◽  
M. Mrowiec

Green roofs significantly affect the increase in water retention and thus the management of rain water in urban areas. In Poland, as in many other European countries, excess rainwater resulting from snowmelt and heavy rainfall contributes to the development of local flooding in urban areas. Opportunities to reduce surface runoff and reduce flood risks are among the reasons why green roofs are more likely to be used also in this country. However, there are relatively few data on their in situ performance. In this study the storm water performance was simulated for the green roofs experimental plots using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) with Low Impact Development (LID) Controls module (version 5.0.022). The model consists of many parameters for a particular layer of green roofs but simulation results were unsatisfactory considering the hydrologic response of the green roofs. For the majority of the tested rain events, the Nash coefficient had negative values. It indicates a weak fit between observed and measured flow-rates. Therefore complexity of the LID module does not affect the increase of its accuracy. Further research at a technical scale is needed to determine the role of the green roof slope, vegetation cover and drying process during the inter-event periods.


10.29007/4rp8 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Russwurm ◽  
Birgitte Gissvold Johannessen ◽  
Ashenafi Gragne ◽  
Jardar Lohne ◽  
Tone Merete Muthanna

Green roofs (GRs) have become a popular sustainable drainage system (SuDS) technology in urban areas. As many countries and regions experience political encouragement and substitution schemes in implementing GRs, there is a need for reliant models that can support designing purposes. The stormwater management model’s (SWMM) Low Impact Development Green Roof (LID-GR) control is used to simulate the hydrological detention performance of two GRs, GR1 and GR2, with different drainage properties located in Oslo, Norway. This study uses event-based data to replicate GR runoff. Accordingly, four event-models were calibrated using the Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm with the Nash-Sutcliffe criteria (NSE) as the objective function. Eight events were used for model validation. Simulation results revealed that SWMM’s LID module can capture response of the GRs even though the adequacy varies among events. During calibration two GR1 (0.55 and 0.72) and three GR2 (0.73, 0.88 and 0.51) event-models yielded NSE>0.5. However, only parameter sets of two GR2 event-models yielded NSE>0.5 when applied to the validation events. Parameter sensitivity analysis exhibited significant correlation between conductivity slope and maximum precipitation intensity. The study shows potential of SWMM as a design tool if supplemented with a calibration algorithm and some adjustments to the LID module.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xie Haowen ◽  
Wu Yawen ◽  
Wang Luping ◽  
Luo Weilin ◽  
Zhou Wenqi ◽  
...  

Abstract Green roofs are a sustainable, low-impact development technique. They can reduce peak stormwater runoff and runoff volume and improve the quality of runoff from individual buildings and developments, which can lower the risk of frequent urban flooding and improve the quality of receiving waters. Few studies have compared different types of green roof models under the same rainfall intensities; thus, in this study, the predictions of a non-linear storage reservoirs model, Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), and a physical process model (HYDRUS-1D) were discussed. Both models were compared against measured data obtained from a series of laboratory experiments, designed to represent different storm categories and rainfall events. It was concluded that the total runoff of the SWMM model is always less than that of HYDRUS-1D. The maximum flowrate of the SWMM model is more than that of HYDRUS-1D during all events.


Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Ronja Iffland ◽  
Kristian Förster ◽  
Daniel Westerholt ◽  
María Herminia Pesci ◽  
Gilbert Lösken

In increasingly expanding cities, roofs are still largely unused areas to counteract the negative impacts of urbanization on the water balance and to reduce flooding. To estimate the effect of green roofs as a sustainable low impact development (LID) technique on the building scale, different approaches to predict the runoff are carried out. In hydrological modelling, representing vegetation feedback on evapotranspiration (ET) is still considered challenging. In this research article, the focus is on improving the representation of the coupled soil–vegetation system of green roofs. Relevant data to calibrate and validate model representations were obtained from an existing field campaign comprising several green roof test plots with different characteristics. A coupled model, utilizing both the Penman–Monteith equation to estimate ET and the software EPA stormwater management model (SWMM) to calculate the runoff, was set up. Through the application of an automatic calibration procedure, we demonstrate that this coupled modelling approach (Kling–Gupta efficiency KGE = 0.88) outperforms the standard ET representation in EPA SWMM (KGE = −0.35), whilst providing a consistent and robust parameter set across all green roof configurations. Moreover, through a global sensitivity analysis, the impact of changes in model parameters was quantified in order to aid modelers in simplifying their parameterization of EPA SWMM. Finally, an improved model using the Penman–Monteith equation and various recommendations are presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1972
Author(s):  
Jeremy Wright ◽  
Jeremy Lytle ◽  
Devon Santillo ◽  
Luzalen Marcos ◽  
Kristiina Valter Mai

Urban densification and climate change are creating a multitude of issues for cities around the globe. Contributing factors include increased impervious surfaces that result in poor stormwater management, rising urban temperatures, poor air quality, and a lack of available green space. In the context of volatile weather, there are growing concerns regarding the effects of increased intense rainfalls and how they affect highly populated areas. Green roofs are becoming a stormwater management tool, occupying a growing area of urban roof space in many developed cities. In addition to the water-centric approach to the implementation of green roofs, these systems offer a multitude of benefits across the urban water–energy–food nexus. This paper provides insight to green roof systems available that can be utilized as tools to mitigate the effects of climate change in urbanized areas. A new array of green roof testing modules is presented along with research methods employed to address current issues related to food, energy and water performance optimization. Rainwater runoff after three rain events was observed to be reduced commensurate with the presence of a blue roof retention membrane in the testbed, the growing media depth and type, as well as the productive nature of the plants in the testbed. Preliminary observations indicate that more productive green roof systems may have increasingly positive benefits across the water–energy–food nexus in dense urban areas that are vulnerable to climate disruption.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Cirkel ◽  
Bernard Voortman ◽  
Thijs van Veen ◽  
Ruud Bartholomeus

Worldwide cities are facing increasing temperatures due to climate change and increasing urban density. Green roofs are promoted as a climate adaptation measure to lower air temperatures and improve comfort in urban areas, especially during intensive dry and warm spells. However, there is much debate on the effectiveness of this measure, because of a lack of fundamental knowledge about evaporation from different green roof systems. In this study, we investigate the water and energy balance of different roof types on a rooftop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Based on lysimeter measurements and modeling, we compared the water and energy balance of a conventional green roof with blue-green roofs equipped with a novel storage and capillary irrigation system. The roofs were covered either with Sedum or by grasses and herbs. Our measurements and modeling showed that conventional green roof systems (i.e., a Sedum cover and a few centimeters of substrate) have a low evaporation rate and due to a rapid decline in available moisture, a minor cooling effect. Roofs equipped with a storage and capillary irrigation system showed a remarkably large evaporation rate for Sedum species behaving as C3 plants during hot, dry periods. Covered with grasses and herbs, the evaporation rate was even larger. Precipitation storage and capillary irrigation strongly reduced the number of days with dry-out events. Implementing these systems therefore could lead to better cooling efficiencies in cities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2525-2536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiansheng Wu ◽  
Rui Yang ◽  
Jing Song

Abstract. The increase in impervious surfaces associated with rapid urbanization is one of the main causes of urban inundation. Low-impact development (LID) practices have been studied for mitigation of urban inundation. This study used a hydrodynamic inundation model, coupling SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) and IFMS-Urban (Integrated Flood Modelling System–Urban), to assess the effectiveness of LID under different scenarios and at different hazard levels. The results showed that LID practices can effectively reduce urban inundation. The maximum inundation depth was reduced by 3 %–29 %, average inundation areas were reduced by 7 %–55 %, and average inundation time was reduced by 0 %–43 % under the eight scenarios. The effectiveness of LID practices differed for the three hazard levels, with better mitigation of urban inundation at a low hazard level than at a high hazard level. Permeable pavement (PP) mitigated urban inundation better than green roofs (GRs) under the different scenarios and at different hazard levels. We found that more implementation area with LID was not necessarily more efficient, and the scenario of 10 % PP+10 % GR was more efficient for the study area than other scenarios. The results of this study can be used by local governments to provide suggestions for urban inundation control, disaster reduction, and urban renewal.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Salman ◽  
Leon Blaustein

Worldwide, urban areas are expanding both in size and number, which results in a decline in habitats suitable for urban flora and fauna. The construction of urban green features, such as green roofs, may provide suitable habitat patches for many species in urban areas. On green roofs, two approaches have been used to select plants—i.e., matching similar habitat to green roofs (habitat template approach) or identifying plants with suitable traits (plant trait approach). While both approaches may result in suitable habitats for arthropods, how arthropods respond to different combinations of plants is an open question. The aim of this study was to investigate how the structural complexity of different plant forms can affect the abundance and richness of arthropods on green roofs. The experimental design crossed the presence and absence of annuals with three Sedum sediforme (Jacq.) Pau (common name: stonecrops) treatments—i.e., uniformly disrupted Sedum, clumped disrupted Sedum, and no Sedum. We hypothesized that an increased structural diversity due to the coexistence of different life forms of plants on roofs is positively related to the abundance and richness of arthropods. We found that arthropod abundance and richness were positively associated with the percent of vegetation cover and negatively associated with substrate temperature. Neither arthropod abundance nor richness was influenced by the relative moisture of substrate. We also found that arthropod abundance and richness varied by green roof setups (treatments) and by seasonality. Arthropod abundance on green roofs was the highest in treatments with annuals only, while species richness was slightly similar between treatments containing annuals but varied between sampling periods. This study suggests that adding annuals to traditional Sedum roofs has positive effects on arthropods. This finding can support the development of biodiverse cities because most extensive green roofs are inaccessible to the public and can provide undisturbed habitat for several plant and arthropod species.


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