ABSTRACT
Related research has focused on long-term thermal enrichment as would result from reduced watershed infiltration, improper implementation of stormwater best management practices and removal of stream canopy. Increased runoff in turn causes wider channels and more surface ponds, both of which lead to more exposure of stormwater to solar radiation, exacerbated by canopy loss. The chapter argues that this methodology will encourage designers, engineers, and planners of small urban areas, such as parking lots for shopping centers, to use alternative stormwater management practices, in particular pavement surfaces with environmentally-sensitive thermal characteristics. However, increased temperature of urban stormwater resulting from rainfall on hot pavement has not received the same attention, and very little research has been conducted on the relevant component processes of heat transfer. Thermal enrichment of urban stormwater runoff should be considered when new developments are proposed, and thermally-sensitive pavement materials should be used more extensively than is the case now.
