Robert D. Brown

Professor of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, Texas A&M University

Over the years I've worked with a lot of bright and talented students and colleagues, and through our studies we've come to understand the atmospheric environment in new and often surprising ways. For example, common sense would tell us that as we walk through the landscape, the air temperature is cooler under a tree than out in the blazing sunshine. But in fact, the air temperature that you are experiencing in these two places is nearly identical. The reason we feel cooler in the shade is that we are receiving less solar radiation.

My colleagues and I have carefully measured and studied how elements in the landscape modify the different components of the microclimate, components such as solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, and wind. We’ve also carefully measured and studied how the microclimate affects the thermal comfort and heat health of people. Our overall intent is to provide information to landscape architects and urban planners so they can use solid evidence to design environments that modify the microclimate to create thermally comfortable outdoor environments. This is particularly important in the context of global climate change and intensification of urban heat islands.

It's a delicate and unwieldy marriage between micrometeorology and landscape architecture and planning, but through the blogs and links on this site, we hope to make the connections understandable and applicable.

Professional Affiliations

Saskatchewan Association of Landscape Architects (SALA)
Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA)
Fellow of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA)

Education

BSc Geography (magnis cum honoribus), University of Saskatchewan
MLA Landscape Architecture, University of Guelph
PhD Micrometeorology, University of Guelph