Micrometeorological Instrumentation of a Green Roof and Living Walls Project

A multidisciplinary education and research project to place a green roof and living (vegetative) walls on a Texas A&M University building has been implemented using student groups from the colleges of Architecture, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Geosciences. Green roofs/walls are partially or completely covered with vegetation for energy saving, water conservation, and aesthetic purposes which are increasingly being used in metropolitan areas of the world. In order to meet the education and science goals of the project, micrometeorological instrumentation has been installed to assess thermal performance and correlate plant growth / species success. Temperatures below and within the plant layer, air temperature, soil moisture, winds at varying heights, solar radiation, and rainfall are collected at multiple locations within the green roof complex. By using these measurements, the effectiveness of each roof and wall layout can be determined.

As we are nearing the end of the first phase of completing instrumentation, we will address the preliminary performance of our sensor system design, as well as explore comparisons of meteorological conditions to plant success and green roof/wall effectiveness.