Expanding urbanization, characterized by increased impervious surfaces and decreased tree canopy, is contributing to rising urban temperatures. This trend has implications for energy consumption, which strategically placed trees can modify by casting shade upon building and ground surfaces. However, urban densification, a paradigm of modern residential land development, often constrains space for planting shade trees. Thus, the overall objective of this dissertation was to investigate shade tree planting strategies and their effects on residential cooling and heating energy conservation for dense urban neighborhoods in U.S. cities on a latitudinal gradient. The first study used a computer program called Shadow Pattern Simulator to examine the effects of tree form, tree placement, and sunlight exposure on shade provision for a residential structure model. Simulation results affirmed the conventional strategy in northern latitudes that recommends planting shade trees on the east or west aspect for maximizing beneficial shade while avoiding tree plantings on the south aspect to minimize any heating penalty of undesirable shade. However, in southern latitudes, planting trees on southerly aspect should not be discounted because the shorter heating season lessens the detrimental heating penalty while providing beneficial season shade. The second study, using an energy simulation program called EnergyPlus, evaluated the effect of a single shade tree upon the energy consumption of the structure model. This study affirmed that energy conservation benefits are influenced by the quantity as well as the quality of tree shade upon building surfaces. In addition, interactions between sun angle, tree form, and tree placement were observed to influence tree shade effects on annual energy consumption. In the third study, based on the first two studies, an alternative tree placement strategy, which reconfigured tree placement around the residential structure, was developed to maximize cooling and heating energy savings while attenuating space conflicts. The alternative strategy was found to be as effective as the conventional strategy while being more responsive to parcel or building orientations in dense urban neighborhoods. Overall, understanding the fundamental interactions between tree form, tree placement, and geographic settings is critical for improving energy conservation benefits of shade trees in dense urban settings. / Ph. D.

Os estudos sobre o clima vêm adquirindo grande importância na área ambiental, principalmente em relação à qualidade do ar (poluição atmosférica), ao conforto térmico (ilhas de calor) e aos impactos pluviais (geradores de inundações urbanas). Nesses últimos, as chuvas causam muitos transtornos para a população e órgãos públicos competentes, devido aos eventos extremos, que estão acontecendo em toda parte do mundo. Esses eventos ocorrem desde uma chuva com muita intensidade, em curto espaço de tempo, até seca prolongada em certos lugares. O fato é preocupante e mesmo com tantas controvérsias sobre o assunto, é necessário um manejo, principalmente no sistema hidrológico, que se adeqüe a cada situação e que os prejuízos causados pelas enchentes não se tornem mais devastadores do que atualmente. Como a arborização pode amenizar tais efeitos impactantes, nesse propósito, foi realizado um estudo no campus da ESALQ/USP, durante o período de janeiro a fevereiro de 2007, para medir a interceptação da água da chuva pelas copas das árvores e verificar como algumas espécies poderiam minimizar enchentes em áreas urbanas. O processo de interceptação da água da chuva foi analisado em duas espécies muito comumente usadas na arborização urbana, visando obter estimativas da quantidade de interceptação (I) ou perda por interceptação, precipitação interna (PI), escoamento pelo tronco (Et) e precipitação total (PT). As espécies escolhidas foram Caesalpinia pluviosa DC. (Fabaceae: Caesalpinoideae), ou sibipiruna, e Tipuana tipu O. Kuntze (Fabaceae: Faboideae), ou tipuana, com mais de 50 anos de idade, sendo três indivíduos isolados e três em grupo de cada espécie. As medições foram feitas por meio de coleta da água não interceptada tanto nas extremidades como no centro da projeção das copas. A PI apresentou alta correlação com a quantidade de PT no centro da copa em tipuana, e na extremidade da copa em sibipiruna. O Et e a I tiveram baixa correlação com a quantidade de PT nas duas espécies. As médias de interceptação foram maiores na extremidade da copa nos indivíduos de sibipiruna, com 60,6%, e no centro da tipuana, com 59,4%. Para precipitações variando de 0 a 2,5 mm, a interceptação média foi de 78,7%, em um indivíduo de sibipiruna, na extremidade da copa e, de 80,9% nos indivíduos de tipuana, em grupo, no centro da copa. Enquanto que, para precipitação de 2,5 a 5,0 mm, a interceptação foi de 53,6% para tipuana em grupo, na extremidade e, de 51,9% na tipuana isolada, no centro da copa. A tipuana apresentou maior porcentagem média de interceptação no centro da copa, principalmente em eventos com mais de 2 horas de duração e com precipitação maior que 20,0 mm, tanto em indivíduos isolados como em grupo. Portanto, as duas espécies demonstraram grande potencial para serem plantadas no ambiente urbano, com capacidade de contribuírem para possíveis reduções das enchentes nas cidades, principalmente a tipuana que mostrou mais predisposta a essa ação. / Climate studies are receiving more attention in the environmental field, especially concerning air quality (atmosphere pollution), thermal comfort (heat islands) and pluvial impacts (urban flood generators). In the latter, the rain causes disturbance of the population and the competent public organ, due the extreme events that are increasing in the whole world. Theses events can come as a precipitation of very intensity in a short period of time, as well as a prolonged drought in a given location. The issue is worrisome and controversial, however a managerial solution is necessary and urgent, particularly about the hydrologic system for each situation so that the losses caused by floods do not become more devastating than now. With these purpose in mind, a study was carried out at the campus of \"Luiz de Queiroz\" College of Agriculture (University of Sao Paulo), Piracicaba, Brazil, from January to February 2007, in order to measure the rainfall interception by the crows of urban trees and estimate the rainfall interception that they provide to potentially minimize urban flood events. The rainfall interception was evaluated in the two commonly used species in forest urban spaces by the measurement of interception (I) or interception losses, throughfall (Th), stemflow (St) and gross precipitation (Pg). The chosen trees were more than 50 year-old specimens of Caesalpinia pluviosa DC. (Fabaceae: Caesalpinoideae) or sibipiruna, and Tipuana tipu O. Kuntze (Fabaceae: Faboideae) or tipuana, both displayed as three isolated individuals and three grouped individuals. Measurements were carried out by collecting the water falling by the edges and in the centre of the canopies. A high correlation of Th with Pg was observed on the centre of the crow of tipuana and by the edges of sibipiruna. St and I had low correlation with Pg for both species. . The rain interception mean was higher by the edges of the crow of sibipiruna individuals, 60.6%, and in the centre of the tipuana crow, 59.40%.The mean of the rainfall interception was 78.73% for one isolated sibipiruna by the edge of the crow and 80.94% for grouped tipuanas in centre of the crow, when the total precipitation ranged between 0 and 2.5 mm. For total precipitation values between 2.5 and 5.0 mm, the interception mean was 53.60% for grouped tipuanas by the edge and 51.89% in isolated tipuanas in the crow center. Thus, both species show a great potential to be planted in urban environmental, especially for the tipuana species, which presented the capacity of contributing better to reduce or minimize floods in cities.

Avec l'expansion des zones urbaines, la pollution de l'air et l'effet d'îlot de chaleur augmentent, entraînant des problèmes de santé pour les habitants et des changements climatiques mondiaux. Dans ce contexte, les arbres urbains sont une ressource précieuse pour améliorer la qualité de l'air et promouvoir les îlot de fraîcheur. D'autre part, les canopées sont soumises à des conditions spécifiques dans l'environnement urbain, causant la propagation de maladies et la diminution de l'espérance de vie parmi les arbres. Cette thèse explore le potentiel de la télédétection pour la cartographie automatique des arbres urbains, de la détection des couronnes d'arbres à l'estimation des espèces, une tâche préliminaire essentielle pour la conception des futures villes vertes, et pour une surveillance efficace de la végétation. Fondé sur des données hyperspectrales aéroportées, panchromatiques et un modèle numérique de surface, le premier objectif de cette thèse consiste à tirer parti de plusieurs sources de données pour améliorer les cartes d'arbres urbains existants, en testant différentes stratégies de fusion (fusion de caractéristiques et fusion de décision). La nature des résultats nous a conduit à optimiser la complémentarité des sources. En particulier, le deuxième objectif est d'étudier en profondeur la richesse des données hyperspectrales, en développant une approche d'ensemble classifier fondée sur des indices de végétation, où les "classifier" sont spécifiques aux espèces. Enfin, la première partie a mis en évidence l'intérêt de distinguer les arbres de rue des autres structures d'arbres urbains. Dans un cadre de Marked Point Process, le troisième objectif est de détecter les arbres en alignement urbain. Par le premier objectif, cette thèse démontre que les données hyperspectrales sont le principal moteur de la précision de la prédiction des espèces. La stratégie de fusion au niveau de décision est la plus appropriée pour améliorer la performance en comparaison des données hyperspectrales seules, mais de légères améliorations sont obtenues (quelques %) en raison de la faible complémentarité des caractéristiques texturales et structurelles en plus des caractéristiques spectrales. L'approche d'ensemble classifier développée dans la deuxième partie permet de classer les espèces d'arbres à partir de références au sol, avec des améliorations significatives par rapport à une approche standard de classification au niveau des caractéristiques. Chaque classifieur d'espèces extrait reflète les attributs spectraux discriminants de l'espèce et peut être relié à l'expertise des botanistes. Enfin, les arbres de rue peuvent être cartographiés grâce au terme d'interaction des MPP proposé qui modélise leurs caractéristiques contextuelles (alignement et hauteurs similaires). De nombreuses améliorations doivent être explorées comme la délimitation plus précise de la couronne de l'arbre, et plusieurs perspectives sont envisageables après cette thèse, parmi lesquelles le suivi de l'état de santé des arbres urbains. / With the expansion of urban areas, air pollution and heat island effect are increasing, leading to state of health issues for the inhabitants and global climate changes. In this context, urban trees are a valuable resource for both improving air quality and promoting freshness islands. On the other hand, canopies are subject to specific conditions in the urban environment, causing the spread of diseases and life expectancy decreases among the trees. This thesis explores the potential of remote sensing for the automatic urban tree mapping, from the detection of the individual tree crowns to their species estimation, an essential preliminary task for designing the future green cities, and for an effective vegetation monitoring. Based on airborne hyperspectral, panchromatic and Digital Surface Model data, the first objective of this thesis consists in taking advantage of several data sources for improving the existing urban tree maps, by testing different fusion strategies (feature and decision level fusion). The nature of the results led us to optimize the complementarity of the sources. In particular, the second objective is to investigate deeply the richness of the hyperspectral data, by developing an ensemble classifiers approach based on vegetation indices, where the classifiers are species specific. Finally, the first part highlighted to interest of discriminating the street trees from the other structures of urban trees. In a Marked Point Process framework, the third objective is to detect trees in urban alignment. Through the first objective, this thesis demonstrates that the hyperspectral data are the main driver of the species prediction accuracy. The decision level fusion strategy is the most appropriate one for improving the performance in comparison the hyperspectral data alone, but slight improvements are obtained (a few percent) due to the low complementarity of textural and structural features in addition to the spectral ones. The ensemble classifiers approach developed in the second part allows the tree species to be classified from ground-based references, with significant improvements in comparison to a standard feature level classification approach. Each extracted species classifier reflects the discriminative spectral attributes of the species and can be related to the expertise of botanists. Finally, the street trees can be mapped thanks to the proposed MPP interaction term which models their contextual features (alignment and similar heights). Many improvements have to be explored such as the more accurate tree crown delineation, and several perspectives are conceivable after this thesis, among which the state of health monitoring of the urban trees.

Os estudos sobre o clima vêm adquirindo grande importância na área ambiental, principalmente em relação à qualidade do ar (poluição atmosférica), ao conforto térmico (ilhas de calor) e aos impactos pluviais (geradores de inundações urbanas). Nesses últimos, as chuvas causam muitos transtornos para a população e órgãos públicos competentes, devido aos eventos extremos, que estão acontecendo em toda parte do mundo. Esses eventos ocorrem desde uma chuva com muita intensidade, em curto espaço de tempo, até seca prolongada em certos lugares. O fato é preocupante e mesmo com tantas controvérsias sobre o assunto, é necessário um manejo, principalmente no sistema hidrológico, que se adeqüe a cada situação e que os prejuízos causados pelas enchentes não se tornem mais devastadores do que atualmente. Como a arborização pode amenizar tais efeitos impactantes, nesse propósito, foi realizado um estudo no campus da ESALQ/USP, durante o período de janeiro a fevereiro de 2007, para medir a interceptação da água da chuva pelas copas das árvores e verificar como algumas espécies poderiam minimizar enchentes em áreas urbanas. O processo de interceptação da água da chuva foi analisado em duas espécies muito comumente usadas na arborização urbana, visando obter estimativas da quantidade de interceptação (I) ou perda por interceptação, precipitação interna (PI), escoamento pelo tronco (Et) e precipitação total (PT). As espécies escolhidas foram Caesalpinia pluviosa DC. (Fabaceae: Caesalpinoideae), ou sibipiruna, e Tipuana tipu O. Kuntze (Fabaceae: Faboideae), ou tipuana, com mais de 50 anos de idade, sendo três indivíduos isolados e três em grupo de cada espécie. As medições foram feitas por meio de coleta da água não interceptada tanto nas extremidades como no centro da projeção das copas. A PI apresentou alta correlação com a quantidade de PT no centro da copa em tipuana, e na extremidade da copa em sibipiruna. O Et e a I tiveram baixa correlação com a quantidade de PT nas duas espécies. As médias de interceptação foram maiores na extremidade da copa nos indivíduos de sibipiruna, com 60,6%, e no centro da tipuana, com 59,4%. Para precipitações variando de 0 a 2,5 mm, a interceptação média foi de 78,7%, em um indivíduo de sibipiruna, na extremidade da copa e, de 80,9% nos indivíduos de tipuana, em grupo, no centro da copa. Enquanto que, para precipitação de 2,5 a 5,0 mm, a interceptação foi de 53,6% para tipuana em grupo, na extremidade e, de 51,9% na tipuana isolada, no centro da copa. A tipuana apresentou maior porcentagem média de interceptação no centro da copa, principalmente em eventos com mais de 2 horas de duração e com precipitação maior que 20,0 mm, tanto em indivíduos isolados como em grupo. Portanto, as duas espécies demonstraram grande potencial para serem plantadas no ambiente urbano, com capacidade de contribuírem para possíveis reduções das enchentes nas cidades, principalmente a tipuana que mostrou mais predisposta a essa ação. / Climate studies are receiving more attention in the environmental field, especially concerning air quality (atmosphere pollution), thermal comfort (heat islands) and pluvial impacts (urban flood generators). In the latter, the rain causes disturbance of the population and the competent public organ, due the extreme events that are increasing in the whole world. Theses events can come as a precipitation of very intensity in a short period of time, as well as a prolonged drought in a given location. The issue is worrisome and controversial, however a managerial solution is necessary and urgent, particularly about the hydrologic system for each situation so that the losses caused by floods do not become more devastating than now. With these purpose in mind, a study was carried out at the campus of \"Luiz de Queiroz\" College of Agriculture (University of Sao Paulo), Piracicaba, Brazil, from January to February 2007, in order to measure the rainfall interception by the crows of urban trees and estimate the rainfall interception that they provide to potentially minimize urban flood events. The rainfall interception was evaluated in the two commonly used species in forest urban spaces by the measurement of interception (I) or interception losses, throughfall (Th), stemflow (St) and gross precipitation (Pg). The chosen trees were more than 50 year-old specimens of Caesalpinia pluviosa DC. (Fabaceae: Caesalpinoideae) or sibipiruna, and Tipuana tipu O. Kuntze (Fabaceae: Faboideae) or tipuana, both displayed as three isolated individuals and three grouped individuals. Measurements were carried out by collecting the water falling by the edges and in the centre of the canopies. A high correlation of Th with Pg was observed on the centre of the crow of tipuana and by the edges of sibipiruna. St and I had low correlation with Pg for both species. . The rain interception mean was higher by the edges of the crow of sibipiruna individuals, 60.6%, and in the centre of the tipuana crow, 59.40%.The mean of the rainfall interception was 78.73% for one isolated sibipiruna by the edge of the crow and 80.94% for grouped tipuanas in centre of the crow, when the total precipitation ranged between 0 and 2.5 mm. For total precipitation values between 2.5 and 5.0 mm, the interception mean was 53.60% for grouped tipuanas by the edge and 51.89% in isolated tipuanas in the crow center. Thus, both species show a great potential to be planted in urban environmental, especially for the tipuana species, which presented the capacity of contributing better to reduce or minimize floods in cities.

Muitos são os benefícios provenientes da arborização de vias públicas, como aumento da vida útil do asfalto por meio do sombreamento, filtragem de poluentes, absorção de CO2, interceptação da água da chuva e da radiação solar e mitigação de ilhas de calor; porém, por questões culturais, é considerada muitas vezes pela população como algo negativo, cujas folhas entopem calhas, raízes destroem calçadas, troncos e folhas atrapalham fiação elétrica e, principalmente, elas estão susceptíveis às quedas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo estudar o comportamento das quedas de árvores no município de Piracicaba/SP, Brasil, com atenção especial ao regime de ventos na cidade, baseado em dados fornecidos pelo Corpo de Bombeiros de Piracicaba, Secretaria de Defesa do Meio Ambiente de Piracicaba (SEDEMA) e Estação Meteorológica da Escola Superior de Agricultura \"Luiz de Queiroz\" (ESALQ). De caráter inédito, o principal resultado foi a relação direta entre quedas e zonas urbanizadas, que, em constantes alterações no uso do solo, acabam por danificar a sustentação das árvores (raízes), fato justificado pela alta concentração de quedas na parte central (36,7%), com destaque para as estações da primavera e do verão, ou seja, ventos e chuvas, na qual, juntas, somaram 78,0% do total. O período de retorno esperado para ventos superiores a 75 km h-1, classificados como temporais na Escala de Vento de Beaufort, foi de 2,8 eventos por ano. Enquanto verificou-se o predomínio de ventos alísios de sudeste, pertencentes ao quarto quadrante, a direção das rajadas de vento teve maior variação e, assim, com predomínio daqueles ventos, é recomendável instalações de parques industriais nas zonas norte, noroeste e oeste, haja vista a importância de evitar que os poluentes adentrem a cidade. As espécies de maior vulnerabilidade foram: Pachira aquatica Aubl. (monguba), Handroanthus sp. (ipê roxo) e Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Kuntze (tipuana). Por meio de simulação microclimática computacional, utilizando o programa ENVI-met versão 3.1, em dois estudos de caso, sendo um em bairro residencial e outro na Praça José Bonifácio, foi possível identificar locais de maior atenção quanto às quedas de árvores, em função da rugosidade do local, capaz de alterar a velocidade e a direção do vento. / There are many benefits from public roads afforestation, such as longer pavement life through shading, filtering pollutants, CO2 absorption, intercepting rainfall and solar radiation and mitigating heat islands; however, due cultural issues, is often regarded by the population as something negative, whose leaves clog gutters, roots destroy sidewalks, stems and leaves disrupt electrical wiring and, mainly, they are susceptible to falls. The research aimed to study the behavior of falling trees in Piracicaba/SP, Brazil, with special attention to the wind regime in the city, based on data provided by the Piracicaba Fire Department, Secretariat of Defense of the Environment of Piracicaba (SEDEMA) and Meteorological Station Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ). From unedited character, the main result was the direct relationship between falls and urbanized areas, which, in constant changes in land use, end up damaging the support of trees (roots), a fact explained by the high concentration of falls in the central part (36.7%), highlighted to the spring and summer seasons, i.e., winds and rains, which, together, totaling 78.0% of the total cases. The payback period expected to winds who exceeding 75 km h-1, classified as storms in the Beaufort Wind Scale, was 2.8 events per year. While there was a predominance of trade winds from the Southeast, belonging to the fourth quadrant, the direction of the gusts of wind had greater variation and, thus, with those predominant winds, it recommend installation of industrial parks in North, Northwest and West areas, since the importance of avoiding that pollutants enter into the city. The most vulnerable species were: Pachira aquatica Aubl. (Guiana Chestnut), Handroanthus sp. (Purple Ipe) and Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Kuntze (Tipuana). Through computational microclimate simulation, using the software ENVI-met version 3.1, in two case studies, being one in a residential area and another in the José Bonifácio Square, it was possible to identify locals of more attention as the falling trees, based on the local roughness, able to change the speed and direction of the wind.

Muitos são os benefícios provenientes da arborização de vias públicas, como aumento da vida útil do asfalto por meio do sombreamento, filtragem de poluentes, absorção de CO2, interceptação da água da chuva e da radiação solar e mitigação de ilhas de calor; porém, por questões culturais, é considerada muitas vezes pela população como algo negativo, cujas folhas entopem calhas, raízes destroem calçadas, troncos e folhas atrapalham fiação elétrica e, principalmente, elas estão susceptíveis às quedas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo estudar o comportamento das quedas de árvores no município de Piracicaba/SP, Brasil, com atenção especial ao regime de ventos na cidade, baseado em dados fornecidos pelo Corpo de Bombeiros de Piracicaba, Secretaria de Defesa do Meio Ambiente de Piracicaba (SEDEMA) e Estação Meteorológica da Escola Superior de Agricultura \"Luiz de Queiroz\" (ESALQ). De caráter inédito, o principal resultado foi a relação direta entre quedas e zonas urbanizadas, que, em constantes alterações no uso do solo, acabam por danificar a sustentação das árvores (raízes), fato justificado pela alta concentração de quedas na parte central (36,7%), com destaque para as estações da primavera e do verão, ou seja, ventos e chuvas, na qual, juntas, somaram 78,0% do total. O período de retorno esperado para ventos superiores a 75 km h-1, classificados como temporais na Escala de Vento de Beaufort, foi de 2,8 eventos por ano. Enquanto verificou-se o predomínio de ventos alísios de sudeste, pertencentes ao quarto quadrante, a direção das rajadas de vento teve maior variação e, assim, com predomínio daqueles ventos, é recomendável instalações de parques industriais nas zonas norte, noroeste e oeste, haja vista a importância de evitar que os poluentes adentrem a cidade. As espécies de maior vulnerabilidade foram: Pachira aquatica Aubl. (monguba), Handroanthus sp. (ipê roxo) e Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Kuntze (tipuana). Por meio de simulação microclimática computacional, utilizando o programa ENVI-met versão 3.1, em dois estudos de caso, sendo um em bairro residencial e outro na Praça José Bonifácio, foi possível identificar locais de maior atenção quanto às quedas de árvores, em função da rugosidade do local, capaz de alterar a velocidade e a direção do vento. / There are many benefits from public roads afforestation, such as longer pavement life through shading, filtering pollutants, CO2 absorption, intercepting rainfall and solar radiation and mitigating heat islands; however, due cultural issues, is often regarded by the population as something negative, whose leaves clog gutters, roots destroy sidewalks, stems and leaves disrupt electrical wiring and, mainly, they are susceptible to falls. The research aimed to study the behavior of falling trees in Piracicaba/SP, Brazil, with special attention to the wind regime in the city, based on data provided by the Piracicaba Fire Department, Secretariat of Defense of the Environment of Piracicaba (SEDEMA) and Meteorological Station Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ). From unedited character, the main result was the direct relationship between falls and urbanized areas, which, in constant changes in land use, end up damaging the support of trees (roots), a fact explained by the high concentration of falls in the central part (36.7%), highlighted to the spring and summer seasons, i.e., winds and rains, which, together, totaling 78.0% of the total cases. The payback period expected to winds who exceeding 75 km h-1, classified as storms in the Beaufort Wind Scale, was 2.8 events per year. While there was a predominance of trade winds from the Southeast, belonging to the fourth quadrant, the direction of the gusts of wind had greater variation and, thus, with those predominant winds, it recommend installation of industrial parks in North, Northwest and West areas, since the importance of avoiding that pollutants enter into the city. The most vulnerable species were: Pachira aquatica Aubl. (Guiana Chestnut), Handroanthus sp. (Purple Ipe) and Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Kuntze (Tipuana). Through computational microclimate simulation, using the software ENVI-met version 3.1, in two case studies, being one in a residential area and another in the José Bonifácio Square, it was possible to identify locals of more attention as the falling trees, based on the local roughness, able to change the speed and direction of the wind.

Urbanisierungsprozesse beeinflussen die Funktionen natürlicher Ökosysteme signifikant. Bereitgestellte ökosystemare Leistungen unterliegen Veränderungen, die direkt die Lebensbedingungen des Menschen beeinflussen. Funktionale Freiflächen mit Baum- und Gehölzbeständen sind wichtige Bestandteile urbaner Ökosysteme und lindern lokal Einflüsse der Urbanisierung. Die Umweltbedingungen in der Stadt weichen von den natürlichen ab und mindern die Funktionsfähigkeit der Bäume. Gegenüber etablierten, terrestrischen Untersuchungen des Baumzustands ermöglicht die Fernerkundung räumlich und zeitlich flexible Vitalitätscharakterisierungen. In dieser Dissertation wird ein fernerkundlicher Ansatz zur Baumzustandserhebung erarbeitet. Bei Nutzung hyperspektraler Bilddaten werden biophysikalische und strukturelle Baumparameter mit dem quantitativen Ansatz der Strahlungstransfermodellierung (RTM) abgeleitet. Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit war die Adaption der RTM auf einzelne Bäume. Hierzu wurden drei Anpassungen vorgenommen: die Korrektur höhenbedingter Bildpunktversätze, die Selektion von Bildelementen und die Nutzung eines geometrisch-optischen Modells, um Einflüsse der Kronentopographie zu korrigieren. Eine Validierung der Modelle und abgeleiteter Parameter basierte auf umfangreichen Geländeerhebungen. Beispielhaft wurde die weißblühende Rosskastanie, eine Hauptbaumart Berlins, untersucht. Ein Modelltest zeigte die Eignung der modifizierten RTM, die optischen Eigenschaften von Kastanien zu modellieren. Mit einer Sensitivitätsanalyse wurde der Einfluss spezifischer Baumeigenschaften auf die Modellergebnisse quantifiziert, was die Optimierung des Verfahrens ermöglichte. Durch Invertierung der Modelle konnten die vitalitätsrelevanten Parameter Chlorophyll- und Wassergehalt realistisch abgeleitet und in ein Baumkataster eingebunden werden. Damit leistet diese Dissertation einen Beitrag, das thematische Spektrum verfügbarer Biogeodaten zur Untersuchung stadtökologische Prozesse zu erweitern. / Urbanisation affects natural ecosystems functions significantly. This leads to changes in ecosystem services which are directly linked to human living conditions. Functional open spaces, especially when covered with wood and trees, are a major component of urban ecosystems and lessen the impact of urbanisation. Environmental conditions of urban areas are fare away from non urban, natural ones. The functionality of trees decreases as a consequence of these unfavourable conditions. In comparison to terrestrial surveys, remote sensing enables spatially and temporally flexible descriptions of tree vitality. In the present work a remote sensing based approach to investigate conditions of urban trees was developed. Radiative transfer models (RTM) were used to derive biophysical and structural parameters from hyperspectral data. In order to adapt the modelling approach to single trees three modifications were made: a) the correction of pixel shifts due to the height of trees and non-nadir view angles of the sensor; b) the selection of spectrally pure pixels; c) the correction of albedo effects induced by crown geometry. A detailed validation of the models and the estimated parameters is performed based on data of an extensive ground survey. Being one of Berlin’s main tree species, the horse chestnut (lat. Aesculus hippocastanum) was exemplary investigated. An Evaluation of the modified RTM showed that they are able to model the optical properties of chestnut canopies. A sensitivity analysis was performed to quantify the impact of tree specific effects on the results of the modelling approach. The findings allowed an optimization of the method. Vitality parameters such as chlorophyll and water content could be realistically estimated by model inversion. Results were finally linked to an existing cadastral system. Results from this work help widen the thematic spectrum of environmental biogeodata applications and investigating multiple processes of urban ecology.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this study was to locate the most suitable blocks to plant trees within Indianapolis, Indiana’s Near Eastside Community (NESCO). LiDAR data were utilized, with 1.0 meter average post spacing, captured by the Indiana Statewide Imagery and LiDAR Program from March 13, 2011 to April 30, 2012, to conduct a covertype classification and identify blocks that have low canopies, high impervious surfaces and high surface temperatures. Tree plantings in these blocks can help mitigate the effects of the urban heat island effect. Using 2010 U.S. Census demographic data and the principal component analysis, block groups with high social vulnerability were determined, and tree plantings in these locations could help reduce mortality from extreme heat events. This study also determined high and low priority plantable space in order to emphasize plantable spaces with the potential to shade buildings; this can reduce cooling costs and the urban heat island, and it can maximize the potential of each planted tree.