CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgements iii List of Tables xiii List of Charts xv List of Figures xvii Chapter-1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Need for study 3 1.3 Aim 4 1.4 Objectives 4 1.5 Methodology 5 1.6 Scope and Limitations 6 1.7 Expected Outcome 6 Chapter-2. ENVIRONMENT AND VEGETATION 7 2.1 Vegetation 7 2.2 Internal Environmental Conditions 8 2.2.1 Relative humidity 8 2.2.2 Temperature 8 2.2.3 Wind 10 2.3 Role of Vegetation in Modifying the Climate 10 2.4 Impact of Vegetation on the Microclimate 11 2.4.1 Shade 11 2.4.2 Wind modification 12 2.4.3 Evapotranspiration 13 Chapter-3. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE THERMAL EFFECT OF PLANTS IN URBAN AREAS 17 3.1 Studies of Parker (1983, 1987, 1989) 17 3.2 Study of McPherson et al. (1989) 17 3.3 Study of De Walle (1983) 18 3.4 Study of Taha et al. (1989) 18 Chapter-4. METHODOLOGY 21 4.1 Site Selection 21 4.1.1 Climatic Setting 22 4.2 House Selection and Landscape Design 26 4.2.1 Building Construction 31 4.2.2 Environmental Conditions 39 4.2.3 Vegetation 39 4.3 Field Measurement 40 4.3.1 Readings: First set 41 4.3.2 Readings: Second set 43 4.3.3 Readings: Third set 45 Chapter-5. DATA ANALYSIS 47 5.1 Analysis of Ambient Temperature 47 5.1.1 East 47 5.1.2 West 48 5.1.3 North 50 5.1.4 South 51 5.2 Analysis of Relative Humidity 52 5.2.1 Summary 53 5.3 Analysis of Surface Temperature 54 5.3.1 East 56 5.3.2 West 57 5.3.3 North 58 5.3.4 South 59 Chapter-6. CONCLUSION 61 6.1 Recommendations 62 Scope for Further Research 65 REFERENCE 67 APPENDIX A Surface Temperature and Relative Humidity Readings C Surface Temperature and Relative Humidity – Mean M Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity Readings P Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity – Mean FF