Abstract
A better understanding of the urban heat island (UHI) effect can be facilitated by accurately measuring urban geometry. One commonly utilized approach is to calculate the sky-view factor (SVF), which represents the proportion of the sky visible from a given location. The overall purpose of this study is to assess the spatial distribution of SVF values for various land use classes in Athens, GA. Since fish-eye lens imagery can effectively capture the complex nature of the urban canyon, I used a simplistic photographic methodology. I took fish-eye photographs within four land use classes (downtown, commercial, residential and rural/open space) and used graphics software to calculate the SVF values from the imagery. It was discovered that the lowest SVF values were located close to the urban core in the residential and downtown areas while the highest values were observed in the more peripheral commercial and rural/open space areas. These results suggest that an UHI could potentially exist in downtown Athens.
Recommended Citation
Debbage, Neil
(2013)
"Sky-View Factor Estimation: A Case Study of Athens, Georgia,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 54:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol54/iss1/4