Numerical analysis of urban water ponds to reduce air temperatures during heat waves: Case study for Bergpolder Zuid, Rotterdam

The increased occurrence of heat waves leads to an increased level of heat related health problems and excessive energy use for cooling. In order to reduce such negative effects, several local adaptation measures (e.g. evaporative cooling, vegetation) have been proposed. In this study, simulations are performed with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to assess the potential effect of evaporative cooling on local air temperature. The study focuses on the Bergpolder Zuid district in Rotterdam, where three water ponds are numerically implemented and the air temperatures around these regions are analyzed before and after the implementations. According to the results, these water ponds are able to decrease the local air temperatures (at 1.8 m height) by 0.9 to 2.0°C depending on the size of the ponds and the local wind velocity, which is in line with previous experimental studies.