What is microclimate in geography?

What is microclimate in geography?

Introduction. A microclimate is the distinctive climate of a small-scale area, such as a garden, park, valley or part of a city.

What are examples of microclimates?

Microclimates exist, for example, near bodies of water which may cool the local atmosphere, or in heavy urban areas where brick, concrete, and asphalt absorb the sun’s energy, heat up, and re-radiate that heat to the ambient air: the resulting urban heat island is a kind of microclimate.

What are the 5 factors of microclimate?

Microclimatic conditions depend on such factors as temperature, humidity, wind and turbulence, dew, frost, heat balance, and evaporation.

How does a microclimate work?

Microclimates are caused by local differences in the amount of heat or water received or trapped near the surface. A microclimate may differ from its surroundings by receiving more energy, so it is a little warmer than its surroundings.

What is a microclimate ks2?

The climate of a small area that differs from the climate of the surrounding area is called a microclimate. Local climates can vary greatly based on such factors as topography, elevation, moisture, wind, soil, and vegetation.

Where is the warmest place in UK to live?

See full list of ‘warmest’ winter towns and cities –

Rank City/Town Sunshine (hours)
1 London 61.8
2 Birmingham 60
3 Glasgow 44.5
4 Liverpool 51.8

What is microclimate in agriculture?

The microclimate is the condition surrounding individual plants and/or plantings. If we study the dynamics of the mesoclimate and the microclimate, structural and cultural practices can be employed to modify them, making it possible to extend plant distribution and performance.

Does London have a microclimate?

London also generates its own microclimate, known as the Urban Heath Island (UHI), which can result in the centre of London being up to 10°C warmer than the rural areas around London. High cooling demand due to hot weather may also place pressure on London’s power supply network and cause ‘brown outs.

How does microclimate affect plant growth?

Microclimates help to explain part of the patchiness in vegetation that occurs on smaller scales; they determine which plants can grow where. They are also important in understanding how so many different species of plants manage to coexist, without them all being out-competed by one strong species.

What is microclimate in architecture?

Microclimate is the condition of the solar and terrestrial radiation, wind, air temperature, humidity, and precipitation in a small outdoor space. Microclimatic design can make places more thermally comfortable thus encouraging outdoor activity.

Why is it important to study a microclimate?

An understanding of microclimates is of fundamental importance in ecology because it represents the physical conditions actually experienced by organisms. In turn, these conditions constrain the energy and mass budgets of organisms and ultimately their behavior, distribution, and abundance.

What is a microclimate kid definition?

The climate of a small area that differs from the climate of the surrounding area is called a microclimate. Adjacent areas of forest, crops, and bare soil, for example, have climatic differences that can be described as microclimates.

What is this resource about microclimates?

This resource consists of a power point which covers 2 lessons (all required worksheets are included and teacher notes in the notes area of each slide). The topic is microclimates. It allows you to teach: what a microclimate is and about 5 things that create microclimates – physical features, shelter, buildings, surface and aspect.

What can you teach with the microclimate lesson plan?

It allows you to teach: what a microclimate is and about 5 things that create microclimates – physical features, shelter, buildings, surface and aspect. Each lesson includes both interactive areas and teacher led areas. I have used this with Year 7 classes but it could be used with any KS3 class.

How do humans create microclimates?

Gardeners, architects, and farmers change the ground surface (such as by changing the reflectivity or heat transmission of the surface or by modifying surface roughness) to create microclimates. Human-made microclimates can be deliberate or unintentional, large or small in scale.

How do you collect microclimate data?

Microclimate data can be collected in any location, including the school grounds. This makes it a simple fieldwork investigation to carry out. The lists below give you an idea of some of the ways that data collected within a microclimate investigation can be used. Microclimates: Why not try…?