Atenuación de la temperatura y radiación UV de la vegetación en entornos urbanos de ciudades ribereñas y su demanda hídrica

Introduction: This research work was carried out in the city of Honda, Colombia. It identified the effect of tree shade on temperature attenuation, relative humidity, soil surface temperature, solar and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and determined water requirements for arboreal vegetation. Methodology: Data on air and soil surface temperature, relative air humidity, solar and UV radiation were taken under the shade of trees and at full exposure. Results: It was found that the air temperature ranged from 50ºC at full sun exposure to 41ºC under shade. The surface temperature was 66.8ºC and 42.6ºC under shade. The variation of the registered solar radiation offered a value of 17.13 mW/cm2 at full solar exposure and 1.69 mW/cm2 under shade. The UV radiation presented values of 8 at full solar exposure and 5 under shade. The water demand per plant/day varied between 5 and more than 500 liters, being the daily demand close to 2500 m3. Conclusions: There is no irrigation of trees in the city which leads to a water deficit evidenced by the loss of foliage causing minimal attenuations to UV radiation. The most relevant species regarding shade are almond (Terminalia cattapa), Pallandé (Pitecellobium dulce), orange (Capparis odoratissima), guayacán carrapo (Bulnesia carrapo), chirlobirlo (Tecoma stands), cumula (Aspidosperma polyneuron) and mango (Manguifera indica). Trees can generate a good ecosystem service by shade which is mediated by the selection of the species and the management of the trees.