Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2020IL217B

Modeling the Effects of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Implementation on Urban Hydrology and Urban Heat Islands in Illinois

Institute: Illinois
Year Established: 2020 Start Date: 2020-03-01 End Date: 2021-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $20,000

Principal Investigators: Dr. Lei Zhao

Project Summary: As urban infrastructure continues to age, the worldwide urban population continues to rise andclimate change effects are being increasingly felt in urban environments. Coupled together,these factors have placed significant stress on the urban landscape. Green stormwaterinfrastructure (GSI) implementation has been identified as a possible tactic to combat theseeffects of urbanization and climate change and to help make cities more resilient and “livable.â€Using the Community Earth System Model (CESM), we aim to quantify the hydrologic impactand urban heat mitigation co-benefits of GSI implementation in Illinois cities over a 30-year timeperiod. We will simulate ground-based GSI technology, bridging microscale vegetation modelsand macroscale climate models to represent resilience effects of widespread green space inurban areas.