Novak, L.; Kabelkova, I.; Hora, D.; Stransky, D. Optimization of a Tree Pit as a Blue–Green Infrastructure Object. Sustainability2023, 15, 15731.
Novak, L.; Kabelkova, I.; Hora, D.; Stransky, D. Optimization of a Tree Pit as a Blue–Green Infrastructure Object. Sustainability 2023, 15, 15731.
Novak, L.; Kabelkova, I.; Hora, D.; Stransky, D. Optimization of a Tree Pit as a Blue–Green Infrastructure Object. Sustainability2023, 15, 15731.
Novak, L.; Kabelkova, I.; Hora, D.; Stransky, D. Optimization of a Tree Pit as a Blue–Green Infrastructure Object. Sustainability 2023, 15, 15731.
Abstract
Key elements of Blue-Green Infrastructure are vegetation and stormwater storage. A combination of a bioretention cell with an underlying trench (BC-T) serving as a tree pit is often used in dense urban environments. An adequate ratio of drained area to bioretention cell area is a crucial design parameter. The ratio is derived from the hydrological balance; however, input data are often difficult to obtain or uncertain. The goal is to study the sensitivity of such data (tree water uptake and water holding capacities of soil filter and trench substrate) in the BC-T design. Sensitivity analysis is performed for the setup of a BC-T used in Prague, Czech Republic. A 10-year rainfall series (1 hour resolution) is used as an input. Data that are subject to the sensitivity analysis are changed for different trench exfiltration rates, and the effect on the size of the drained area is studied. At low trench exfiltration rates (1.8 mm.h-1), both the water holding capacity of the trench substrate and potential tree water uptake have a significant influence (more than a 20% change in the size of the drained area) and cannot be neglected. At good exfiltration rates (more than 18 mm.h-1) or when the trench is equipped with an underdrain, all studied parameters can be neglected. However, it is recommended to reduce the size of the drained area by 10-20%.
Keywords
Blue-Green Infrastructure; hydrological balance; stormwater management; tree pit; tree water uptake; water holding capacity
Subject
Engineering, Civil Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
