WORLD CITIES SUMMIT 2022

SMaRTy the Biometeorologial Cart: Collecting Information on the Thermal Environment the Smart Way

Micrometeorological robot ‘SMaRTy’

SmaRTy collecting data around campus

The data collected from SMaRTy will help to determine which cooling approaches – and their combination – would work best in reducing urban heat risks over different parts of Singapore.

Overview

SMaRTy is a biometeorological cart designed to collect detailed information on the thermal environment. Mounted on a generic garden cart, SMaRTy will roam the streets of Singapore to analyse how the streets, buildings, and vegetation of Singapore impact the amount of heat and solar radiation experienced by pedestrians.

It is being used in the multi-institute, multi-agency project Cooling Singapore. The overall objective is to determine which cooling approaches – and their combination – would work best in reducing urban heat risks over different parts of Singapore. In SMU, the aim is to ascertain how these models are properly validated for Singapore’s climate and urban context.

Features

Originally designed as MaRTy by Dr Ariane Middel from Arizona State University in the USA, MaRTy is outfitted with an air temperature and relative humidity sensor, a 2-D wind anemometer, a GPS, and three net radiometers that collect thermal radiation information in two directions.

Application

After consolidating the data, SMaRTy then calculates a metric for defining a person’s thermal load as a given point – the Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT). Hence, the name for our Singaporean version of MaRTy – SMaRTy!

Lead Researcher: Assoc Prof Winston Chow (SMU College of Integrative Studies)