Bruna et al. (2025) Mikroklimatická mapa Průhonického parku

Identification

• Journal: Open MIND
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-20
• Authors: J Bruna, Tereza Klinerová, Vojtěch Kalčík, Konopová Zdeňka
• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18507332

Research Groups

• Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Short Summary

This study generated a set of eight high-resolution (5 m) microclimate maps for Průhonický Park, covering both forested and open areas, revealing significant microclimatic heterogeneity influenced by topography and vegetation structure. The maps provide essential data for park management, conservation, and ecological research.

Objective

• To create detailed microclimate maps of Průhonický Park, encompassing both forest stands and open areas, to characterize the spatial variability of microclimatic conditions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Průhonický Park area, with a spatial resolution of 5 meters per pixel.
• Temporal Scale: One year, from 22 April 2024 to 21 April 2025.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Generalized Additive Models (GAM) with automatic variable selection and parameter tuning using gradient boosting machine learning methods. Software used includes R (version 4.4.1) with packages geoGAM, mgcv, mboost, raster, ggplot2, and stars, as well as SAGA GIS 7.9.0 and ArcGIS Pro.
• Data sources:
  • Microclimate observations: A network of 98 autonomous Tomst TMS4 dataloggers deployed across the park, recording air temperature at 0.15 meters above ground, soil temperature at 0.08 meters depth, and soil volumetric water content (0-0.15 meters) at 15-minute intervals.
  • Topography: Digital Terrain Model (DMR 5G from ČÚZK) derived from laser scanning, resampled to 5 meters resolution, used to derive topographic variables.
  • Vegetation: Point cloud data generated from drone imagery using "structure from motion" (average density of 56 points per square meter), used to calculate vegetation height and structural characteristics. Additional vegetation height data from ČÚZK's Digital Surface Model (DMP 1G) and DMR 5G.
  • Hydrology: Detailed internal maps of water bodies from the Průhonický Park administration.

Main Results

• Eight microclimate maps were produced, including mean, minimum (5th percentile), and maximum (95th percentile) air temperature at 0.15 m, average daily air temperature range, growing degree days (GDD5), freezing degree days (FDD0), mean soil temperature at 0.08 m, and mean volumetric soil moisture (0-0.15 m).
• The park exhibits significant microclimatic heterogeneity; for example, the annual mean air temperature at 0.15 m above ground ranges from 9 °C to 12 °C, a gradient comparable to a 4° latitude difference (440–480 km north-south).
• Key variables influencing microclimate include the site thermal enjoyment index, SAGA topographic wetness index, and vegetation height. The spatial tensor also frequently indicated the influence of the Prague urban heat island.
• Forest stands provide a more stable microclimate, buffering extreme temperatures (both minimum and maximum) and reducing the average daily temperature range. They also protect against freezing temperatures, which is critical for understory plants.
• A cooling effect of forest stands was observed for mean soil temperature, indicating that summer cooling outweighs winter insulation.
• The maps are publicly available in GeoTIFF, WMTS, and WFS formats, with interactive online interfaces.

Contributions

• This study presents one of the most detailed and spatially representative microclimate datasets globally, with a 5-meter resolution and a dense network of 100 sensors covering an entire park, including both forested and open areas.
• It is the first interactive online publication of such high-resolution microclimate data for the region, moving beyond static raster outputs.
• The methodology employs advanced statistical techniques (Generalized Additive Models with gradient boosting and cross-validation) combined with high-resolution remote sensing data (laser scanning and drone imagery) to accurately model microclimatic conditions.
• The generated maps overcome the limitations of coarse-resolution climate datasets (e.g., WorldClim, CHELSA, TerraClimate, ERA5-Land) and previous park-specific analyses that lacked spatially interpolated raster data.
• The comprehensive dataset, including both air and soil microclimate variables, provides a unique resource for ecological research, biodiversity conservation, and climate-adaptive landscape management.

Funding

• Ministry of Culture project: "Průhonický park a škola malířsko-krajinářské kompozice, obdivovaný a odmítaný vzor pro krajinářskou tvorbu 20. století" (Průhonický Park and the School of Painter-Landscape Composition, an admired and rejected model for 20th-century landscape creation), reference code DH23P03OVV026.

Citation

@article{Bruna2025Mikroklimatická,
  author = {Bruna, J and Klinerová, Tereza and Kalčík, Vojtěch and Zdeňka, Konopová},
  title = {Mikroklimatická mapa Průhonického parku},
  journal = {Open MIND},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.18507332},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18507332}
}