THERMODYNAMIC ECOLOGIES David J Pearson Advisor: Kiel Moe Spring 2014 Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Mulholland Overlook, Los Angeles
Independent Study titled: “A Thermodynamic Study of Los Angeles� Spring 2014 - GSD 9201 Student: David J Pearson Advisor: Kiel Moe Special Thanks to Andrew Leonard of Urban Mobile Sensors for his assistance. All photos, drawings, and diagrams by David J Pearson unless otherwise noted.
CONTENTS
Reference Maps
Los Angeles Region & Vicinity
Introduction
Thoughts General Climate General Geography General Geology
10 14 18 22
Case Studies
Banham’s Surfurbia: Part of a Global Energy system
28
Cyclical Phenomena: Marine Layer (Daily & Seasonal) Santa Anas (Seasonal) El Nino & La Nino (2-7 years)
38
Utility Easements
48
Data Mapping Variations in Weather & Air Quality Intro Route 1: Around the Smog Elbow Route 2: A Daily Bike Ride Through the Foothills Data Findings
56 58 62 70
Field Work
Conclusions
6
72
ci ran
Ob
isp
o:
km
is
95
Lu
:5
sc o
an
CARRIZO PLAIN NATIONAL MONUMENT
TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS
F an
To S
BAKERSFIELD 180 km
S To
LOS ANGELES REGION 1:1,000,000
27
8k
m
LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST INTERSTATE 5 SANTA BARBARA 153 km
101
LA RIVER
CHANNEL ISLANDS
TO PORT OF SHANGHAI (29M TEUs) 10,611 km (29 Days)
CA SAN NICOLAS ISLAND
To Las Vegas: 446 km LOS ANGELES COUNTY
LANCASTER 112 km
INTERSTATE 15
SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST 210 DOWNTOWN LA
INTERSTATE 10
LAX 30 km
To Phoenix: 599 km PORTS OF LA & LONG BEACH 43 km
MORENO VALLEY 103 km
IRVINE 65 km
ATALINA ISLAND TIJUANA, MEXICO 369 km
LOS ANGELES VICINITY 1:500,000
INTERSTATE 5
+ 1060 m
SIMI VALLEY
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
LA RIVER
101
+ 880 m
+ 207 m + 450 m + 580 m
SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
405
MALIBU LA BASIN VENICE
SANTA MONICA BAY
110 PALOS VERDES HEADLAND
SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS INTERSTATE 15
210 SAN GABRIEL VALLEY 10
INTERSTATE 10
605
LAKE MATHEWS
SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS
ORANGE COUNTY
LAKE ELSINORE
INTRODUCTION
“A panoramic picture of the historical and geographic growth of the regional metropolis of Los Angeles can be described in terms of a virtually continuous boom periodically slowed by national and global economic recession and punctuated by some of the most violent urban social upheavals in American history.”1 - Edward W. Soja and Allen J Scott, p.3 Los Angeles is both a complex and complicated subject. One that as evidenced in the above quote is influenced by both global scale and small scale events yet whose middle ground exhibits a vague field condition. The requirements for continual growth have been controversial and rarely simple. Despite this Reyner Banham’s over 40 year old text Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies, groups Los Angeles’ 503 square miles into four categories; Surfurbia, Autopia, Plains of Id, and Foothills.2 Despite initial criticism from his peers Banham’s ‘ecologies’ hold up surprisingly well as clear interpretations of Los Angeles. A critical look at these ‘ecologies’ reveals Banham’s avoidance of ecology and energy.3 Nothing is said 1 Scott, Allen John., and Edward W. Soja. The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century. Berkeley: University of California, 1996. Print. 2 Banham, Reyner. Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1973. Print. 3 Jencks, Charles. Heteropolis: Los Angeles, the Riots and the Strange Beauty of Hetero-architecture. London: Academy Editions, 1993. Print.
of the difference between the foothills on the north and south side of the Santa Monica Mountains or of his questionable reach into Orange County for book ending Surfurbia. But any surfer will tell you that the waves in southern Los Angeles County are rarely good and thus the surf culture there is much different than in the Surfurbia exemplar of Malibu. The reasons for this difference in wave quality reaches out to a global energy system that Banham may or may have not have considered. Regardless, this study aims to amend some of those oversights and to help establish an alternative reading of Los Angeles. Since its western inception Los Angeles developed vigorously. This amount of expenditure has led to one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world. The transformation from Spanish mission town to today’s regional urbanization owes itself to the systematic adaptations of a region not always as hospitable as it was sold to be. The dream of Los Angeles is always tied to its weather and has mostly been sold as such. As an ever renewable salesman’s resource, California’s weather has propelled its development. From the early days it was sold as a place to recover from illness to the fantastic growing climate. Today not much has changed. Despite complaints of California’s business climate, its climate climate still sells.
At one point in its early days the self-advertisement and dependency on land development and speculation was so intense that in “1886 local observers were claiming that there were more real estate agents per acre than in any other city in the world.”1 p.5 Despite the incredible weather, the story of Los Angeles has always been more realistically a story of a growing metropolis and the demands of that metropolis. Although the dream remains, the dream demands the dilution of Banham’s ecologies as seen in the construction of infrastructure in Surfurbia to the congestion of Autopia.
The following study illustrates a more complete picture of Los Angeles’ climate as it relates to long standing phenomena and that which has been modified by development. The study ends with a data gathering approach through bicycle rides that capture temperature and particulate matter consistently on predetermined routes. The aim in this final act is to help initiate an urban understanding of climactic comfort that takes gradients and cycles into account.
Below: Surfurbia as it appears today in Playa del Rey
Griffith Park Observatory, Los Angeles Downtown beyond & amidst the marine layer
GENERAL CLIMATE OF LOS ANGELES
“The ‘average’ is merely an abstraction. Indeed, nothing is likely to occur more than ‘average rainfall.”1 -Mike Davis Los Angeles is classified as a subtropical-mediterranean climate, but in popular culture is simply Mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate classification Los Angeles qualifies as Csb on the coast and Csa inland, receiving just enough rain to not be considered semi-arid.2 However, as with any classification system diversity is sacrificed for consistency. In the case of Los Angeles, its classification relies on an unreliable annual precipitation value and thus ignores the cyclical climactic condition of Southern California. The most talked about climate data in Los Angeles after its idyllic 75 degree Fahrenheit baseline is precipitation or the lack thereof. Average rainfall for Los Angeles is 14.93 inches.3 Although this is the average it is not to be relied upon. Last year for example Los Angeles’ received 3.60 inches of rain. In 1912 Los Angeles received only 2.76 inches of rain.4 1 Davis, Mike. The Ecology of Fear. New York: Metropolitan Books, Inc., 1998 p.16 2 The Köppen climate classification vegetation-based empirical climate classification system developed by German botanist-climatologist Wladimir Köppen. As a vegetation-based system it is antithetical to Los Angeles where decidedly everything can be grown and is. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/322068/Koppen-climateclassification 3 Average compiled for the years 1981-2010 from NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=lox 4 Los Angeles Civic Center, California, Monthly Total Precipitation (inches),
Closer studies of Los Angeles’ climate persistently reveal fluctuations and extremes in weather over time and location. As John McPhee in an often cited New Yorker article said in 1988, “When certain storm systems approach Los Angeles they will pick up huge quantities of water from the ocean and just pump it into the mountains.” McPhee continues, “In January 1969, more rain than New York City sees in a year fell in the San Gabriels in nine days. In January 1943, twentysix inches fell in twenty-four hours.” And in the most dramatic example, one minute in April of 1926 saw one inch of rain.5 General climate information is presented here as groundwork. Yet it is important to note that climate data is not without dispute. In Los Angeles specifically the downtown weather station was moved 6 km close to the beach in 1999 resulting in heavy discussion regarding the discontinuous nature of Los Angeles’ historical weather record. In Will the Real Los Angeles Stand Up: Impacts of a Weather Station’s Relocation on Climactic Record (And Record Weather) a study presented at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory revealed a significant decrease in recorded temperature and precipitation after the move of the downtown weather station. http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMONtpre.pl?ca5115 5 McPhee, John. “Los Angeles Against the Mountains.” The New Yorker 26 Sept. 1988: 179-200. Web.
Year Values*
Downtown
LAX (Coast)
Canoga Park (San Fernando Valley)
Record High °F (°C)
113 (45)
110 (43)
116 (47)
Average High °F (°C)
75.2 (24)
70.6 (21.4)
80.7 (27.1)
Daily Mean °F (°C)
65.4 (18.6)
63.3 (17.4)
64.1 (17.8)
Ave. Low °F (°C)
55.7 (13.2)
56.1 (13.4)
47.4 (8.6)
Record Low °F (°C)
33 (1)
27 (-3)
18 (-8)
Rainfall Inches (mm)
14.93 (379.2)
13.15 (334.1)
17.79 (452)
35.7
35.5
34.6
3,254.2
-
-
Ave. Rainy Days (≥ 0.01 in)
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours
* Data compiled from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/0
Elysian Park, Los Angeles
GENERAL GEOGRAPHY OF LOS ANGELES
Both flatness and rugged mountains characterize Los Angeles. Through a history of annexation as the infrastructure of the city developed the shape of Los Angeles is irregular. It’s 502.7 square miles (1,302 km2)1 is comprised of contiguous and non contiguous terrain qualities due to this irregularity. To the south the city reaches as a line to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Heading north along the coast from the port, the headlands of Palos Verdes rise above the Pacific Ocean lowering to coastal bluffs at LAX and eventually becoming coastal plains in Venice and Santa Monica. At the north end of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Mountains rise quickly heading northwest to Malibu before dropping quickly in Oxnard. This coastal portion is only one example of the wildly differing geography of Los Angeles.
the landmasses themselves. Per meteorologist David R. Cook of the National Weather Service a general rule for “standard atmosphere” temperature drop with height is 6.5 degrees Celsius (3.57 degrees Fahrenheit) per 1000 meters (1000 feet).3 The most present geographical features of Los Angeles aside from the Pacific Ocean are the Santa Monica Mountains north of the basin stretching from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean. Present in the valley are the Santa Monica Mountains to the south and the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast that extend east north of the San Gabriel Valley. The San Gabriel Mountains are unusual for North America as they run east-west giving a sunny southern slope.
The elevation of Los Angeles varies from sea level along the coast to the northeastern end of the San Fernando Valley at Mount Lukens, 5,074 ft (1,547 m).2 The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley appear flat from the perspective of a car, but elevation in the plains is not so flat and is sprinkled with sharp elevation changes such as that in Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles or Baldwin Hill inland of Venice Beach. These variations in elevation create variations in temperature and can be sharply defined based on accelerated elevation increase near the mountains and the shape of
The Los Angeles River is a seasonal and historically alluvial river. In 1938 channelization began making the Los Angeles River the primary drainage channel for the surrounding watershed. The Army Corps of Engineers finished the 51 mile long channelization in 1960.4 The river begins in west San Fernando Valley in Canoga Park flowing southeast and snaking around the Santa Monica Mountains and south to Downtown eventually ending further south in Long Beach. Historically however, the river was alluvial meaning due to flooding it ran freely across flood plains. The mouth of the river moved in unstable ways from its present day outlet at
1 Los Angeles, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_angeles 2 Hundred Peaks Section, Sierra Club, http://angeles.sierraclub.org/hps/guides/09e.htm
3 Temperature and Elevation, http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00131.htm 4 History of the Los Angeles River, Department of Public Works, http://ladpw.org/wmd/watershed/LA/History.cfm
Long Beach to north around the Palos Verdes headland all the way to Ballona Creek and Santa Monica. Banham recognized the importance of topography in Los Angeles. For him the Plains of Id and the Foothills played fundamental parts. Los Angeles is one of few cities in the world that reverse the plainsfoothills logic. Whereas foothills in Latin American countries are occupied by the city’s poor and the valley’s by the wealthy, the foothills of Los Angeles are the desired ground of the city. Amidst geological adversity prompting expensive construction Angelenos live or dream to live in the foothills where the view is always private, but the sirens are public. The shape of the basin below funnels the sounds of the city below upwards. But that doesn’t discourage the pursuit of a home with the iconic view of Los Angeles, the view that allows one to be fooled into seeing Los Angeles comprehensively. This was not always the case. Initially the cost of building in the foothills was prohibitively expensive and didn’t offer the agriculture value that initial pioneers sought. But as the city developed and the view was ‘discovered’ residents looking for cheap land went up. Local history claims that Sunset Magazine founded by the Southern Pacific Railroad company as a promotional tool5 offered land in the foothills with subscriptions. The desire to build in the foothills to take advantage of the view solidified during the Case Study House 5 Sunset Magazine: The Bible of Western Living, KCET, http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/columns/history/collective-memories/ sunset-magazine.html
years. This shift as well as Los Angeles’ geography is best summed up by Julius Shulman’s photo of the Stahl House at Night. Below: Julius Shulman’s photo of the Stahl House, Case Study #22 by Pierre Koenig helped cement the pursuit of hillside living.
Grand View Point, Los Angeles Confluence of the Los Angeles River & the Arroyo Seco; and the I-5 & 110 Freeways
GENERAL GEOLOGY OF LOS ANGELES
Due to its geology, the geography of Los Angeles is not stable overtime. Less often events such as earthquakes cause the movement of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate resulting in the gradual rising of the San Gabriel Mountains. To combat earthquakes seismic retrofitting and increased seismic prevention in building codes has developed building techniques different from most states in the United States. Numerous faults run through Los Angeles and have been the cause of major earthquakes in the region such as the 6.7 Northridge quake of 1994 and the 6.4 Long Beach quake of 1933. These quakes resulted in 120 deaths and $50M in damage; and 60 deaths and $40B in damage. More common than earthquakes are rain events which spur debris flows throughout the foothills and mountains of Los Angeles. A debris flow is not quite a mudslide or a landslide, but a moving black mass that resembles fresh concrete. According to John McPhee “they consist of water mixed with a good deal of solid material, most of which is above sand size.”1 In defense from the landslides a reactionary approach has developed. Debris basins throughout the region anticipate the debris flow caused when intense rain hits the ‘waterproof’ top soil of the San Gabriel Mountains. The waxy surface caused by Chaparral vegetation sheds water quickly until developing enough force to 1 p. 180, 182. McPhee, John. “Los Angeles Against the Mountains.” The New Yorker 26 Sept. 1988: 179-200. Web.
take large swaths of the soil and surrounding debris with it. Along the San Gabriel Mountains especially in around the foothills of Pasadena “at least a hundred and twenty bowl-shaped excavations that resemble football stadiums’ serve as the front line of defense against debris flows.5 As debris flow are less predictable than winter storms and more in tune with the predictability of earthquakes, they present a real danger to Los Angeles. Since they are highly localized events they are less present in the minds of Angelenos. For this reason construction in the foothills continues and properties that have been effected by debris flows in the past are resold by real estate agents who often don’t know the past events. In fact, the newness of Los Angeles and the transplant population has always influenced Los Angeles infrastructure and precautionary measure for these natural disasters in a less than resilient way. Prior to the channelization of the Los Angeles River new arrivals continued to build on the flood plains despite locals telling them to do otherwise. This ignorance continues to be perfect fuel for the real estate boosterism that continues today and can be seen presently in the continued self-advertisement of the peripheries despite their vulnerabilities to wild fire and their obvious long commutes.
Debris dam and basin in La Canada-Flintridge. Debris basins have trapped over twenty million tons since their inception., much of which has been used to fill in Burro Canyon. Photo: http://geology.campus.ad.csulb.edu/people/bperry/AerialPhotosSoCal/LaCanadaAndVicinity.htm
LOS ANGELES DEBRIS BASINS 1:750,000
+ 1060 m
SIMI VALLEY
LA RIVER
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
+ 207 m
+ 580 m SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS
GIS Source File: http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/2011/01/11/debris-basin-point-location/
SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS
+ 880 m
+ 450 m SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
LA BASIN SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS
CASE STUDIES:
Banham’s Surfurbia Cyclical Phenomena Thermodynamic Contrast Area
BANHAM’S SURFURBIA: PART OF A GLOBAL ENERGY SYSTEM
Surfurbia was a dream sold and propagated by L.A. stakeholders and developers. Now it forms part of the collective memory of Los Angeles, but does not hold up to the relevance of the other ecologies. As noted by Reyner Banham in 1971 surfing is part of the DNA of Los Angeles despite the quality of waves in Los Angeles County being inferior to neighboring counties with the exception of two areas, one dead and one thriving, that will be explained in more detail later. Interestingly, Banham reached well into Orange County when describing surfurbia. By citing the Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach as the southern book end of surfurbia in Los Angeles, Banham perhaps without knowing it reached 20 miles south into the epicenter of contemporary surfing. Had Banham visited Los Angeles 30 years earlier no reach would have been necessary for at the time Long Beach was a thriving surfing and beach destination. Three lesser works by Neutra in Long Beach could have supplanted Schindler’s classic Lovell Beach House of Orange County but surfurbia would clearly lie within the Los Angeles County recognized by the majority of southern Californians. But Banham although optimistic for the survival of beach culture in Los Angeles remarked in his four ecologies that “considerable vigilance will be required for years to come” to be sure industry does not encroach on the lively beach culture sold and bought
Banham’s Surfurbia bookends: Craig Elwood’s Hunt House in Malibu just north of the point and Schindler’s Lovell Beach House 20 miles south of LA in Newport Beach.
as part of Los Angeles’ mystique to the world. This is a story and investigation of where the realities of a metropolis meet the laid back culture that seduced people everywhere into the dream that is California. In fact, the infrastructural needs of Los Angeles have nearly always took precedent over the quality of the waves and thus the beach culture of Los Angeles. From the early channelization of the Los Angeles River that starved local beaches of sediment to replenish the wide beaches of Santa Monica down to Redondo Beach to the construction of the largest port in the United States, Los Angeles’ urbanization needs have always come first. However, this document takes another stance. Beginning with a tale of two beaches the argument is developed that Los Angeles can no longer make coastal infrastructural decisions without considering the effects to the quality of the waves that are still left and the beach culture surrounding them.
Reaching to Newport Beach?
Banham’s Surfurbia stretched from northern Los Angeles in Malibu to south of Los Angeles and into Orange County, today’s epicenter of surfing.
BANHAM’S SURFURBIA: PART OF A GLOBAL ENERGY SYSTEM
THE HISTORY & FUTURE OF SURFING IN LOS ANGELES: Surf culture has long been associated with California and the origin of surf culture in California could be said to be Long Beach, although this is certainly not a surf hotspot today. Long Beach was once considered the equivalent of Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach. In 1938 the National Surfing Championship was held in Long Beach. Unfortunately for surfers, the Navy moved into the port of Long Beach in 1940 and by 1949 after a halt during WWII a 2.2 mile long breakwater was completed. The Navy base closed in 1997. Multiple calls by surfers and Cal State scientists to deconstruct the breakwater have been made and currently the United States Army Corps of Engineers is considering their call. Today the Port of Los Angeles sees 7.87 million TEUs.1 The loss of Long Beach surf would not mean the loss of surfing in Southern California. Surfing’s popularity grew even faster with the advent of fiberglass and polyurethane foam surfboards which made riding waves easier and cheaper. By the 1950s Malibu point, 40 miles north of Long Beach was a hotbed of surfing culture. From legendary surfing bad boy and champion Miki Dora to Moondoggie and Gidget, Malibu epitomized the surf lifestyle of California. Today Malibu continues to be a strong presence in surf culture. Thousands flock to Malibu every year and everyone from famed professional surfer Kelly Slater to Matthew McConaughey can be caught riding waves at Malibu’s renowned pointbreak. However, since Banham’s time surf culture since 1972 has transitioned towards Hunington Beach, San 1 1 TEUs = Twenty-foot equivalent units, a standardized maritime industry measurement used when counting cargo containers of varying lengths. http://www.portoflosangeles.org/maritime/stats.asp
Malibu Pier Photo: LeRoy Grannis
Clemente, La Jolla, Point Loma- areas south of Los Angeles that much more actively bear evidence of the surf lifestye with large scale surf events, surf wear factories (i.e Rainbow Sandals), and surf schools and surf teams that are integrated into the physical education departments at private and public high schools. What these communities have in common is there relationship to the ever present naturally occurring resource of swell energy. The following spread documents Los Angeles’ relationship to this resource.
Legendary early` Malibu surfer Miki dora. Photo: LeRoy Grannis
BANHAM’S SURFURBIA: PART OF A GLOBAL ENERGY SYSTEM The Relationship between Swell Energy and Wave Quality Waves travel thousands of miles to arrive at our shores for the riding and viewing pleasure of beachgoers. The waves we see at our local beaches are the result of a global energy system driven by the energy of the sun. As storms track across the ocean’s surface winds blow over large portions transferring their energy into swells which may travel thousands of miles from the initial storm site to our shores. As swells travel further from their origin energy is dissipated throughout the larger area of the ocean like the ripple of a pebble dropped in a pond. As a swell approaches the coast the ocean floor and its shape or bathymetry remove energy through friction, the result is a wide variation of wave quality based not only on local factors such as headlands or rivermouths but also on the underwater canyons and moutnains 50 - 100 miles away.
Waves in Los Angeles are one part of a much larger global energy system. Ocean currents of the world during El Nino and La Nina periods, Nelson Thornes http://www.earthsurfaceprocesses.com/3b4-E-El%20Nino.html
Swell Height (ft) - Southern California Bight 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9+
In Los Angeles the offshore Channel Islands influence the overall swell energy that crashes upon shore the most. The islands absorb energy along their own coastline and produce a kind of ‘shadow’ around their edges like the drag around an airplane wing that influences swell energy a hundred miles away when it hits land. The various ‘swell shadows’ created by the Channel Islands and Point Conception encourage surfers to be either highly mobile depending on the direction of the swell or to move to more consistent surfing areas such as Orange and San Diego Counties to the south or San Luis Obispo County to the north.
Swell Energy from the Northwest on February 4, 2014 Scripps Institute, University of California San Diego, CDIP
TRADEOFFS: But the dissipation of swell energy does not come without benefits. In the area of the swell shadow beaches are less vulnerable to the effects of erosion and property loss due to storm surges. Thus it is important to note when determining sea level rise mitigation techniques which areas naturally are less threatened and which require extra care.
A surfer enjoys the result of the long journey of an ocean swell, Laguna Beach, Orange County. Photo: surfline.com
Coastal Data Information Program - Scripps Institution of Oceanography Southern California Swell Forecast 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 12
14
16
18 20
25
30
35
40 45
50
Bottom Images: examples of swell shadows based on swell angles. At left the shadow typically produced during a northern winter swell and at right the shadow typically produced during a southern summer swell. Swell Energy from the South Forecasted on July 28, 2010 Scripps Institute, University of California San Diego, CDIP
BANHAM’S SURFURBIA: PART OF A GLOBAL ENERGY SYSTEM Malibu Point Swell Windows: Malibu Canyon, Los Angeles County
surfline.com
MALIBU: The gem of Los Angeles County surf and beach lifestyles is Malibu. From the early days of the ‘pit’ and its notorious surf hangout to today Malibu has served as Los Angeles’ surf getaway. As seen above Malibu is situated outside of the swell window of the most common swell directions and even lies within the window of the rare but great big west winter swellls made famous in the movie Big Wednesday.
The Malibu Pit, 1961 Photo: LeRoy Grannis
North Orange County Swell Windows: Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach
surfline.com
NORTH ORANGE COUNTY: Northern Orange County presently is the center of the surfing industry. It might be that that it has something to do with its location within the Southern California swell windows. West-northwest winter swells and the majority of summer swells from the south make it northern Orange County and Palos Verdes. If it were not for the Long Beach Breakwater, Long Beach would still be the surfing hotspot it was in the 1930’s.
Huntington Beach, 1961 Photo: LeRoy Grannis
BANHAM’S SURFURBIA: PART OF A GLOBAL ENERGY SYSTEM
1900 Reyner Banham loves Los Angeles Reyner Banham examined the built environment of Los Angeles
Banham’s Time (1971) Flyby Aerial Shots at Palos Verdes, San Pedro, the Port of LA, & Long Beach, 2008 California Coastal Records Project, http://www.californiacoastline.org
Swell Energy from the Northwest on February 4, 2014 Scripps Institute, University of California San Diego, CDIP
Today Flyby Aerial Shots at Palos Verdes, San Pedro, the Port of LA, & Long Beach, 2008 California Coastal Records Project, http://www.californiacoastline.org
CYCLICAL PHENOMENA
It is easy to characterize Los Angeles as a climactic wonderland. It is easy to say it is Mediterranean or pleasant. These claims ignore time based phenomena that make living in Southern California interesting. Like any other place Los Angeles and greater Southern California are effected by weather phenomenon occurring on differently timed cycles. When these phenomenon begin and when they end can not always be predicted but demonstrate predictable behaviors. These are the phenomena that mark decades and seasons. New England has richly colored leaves marking the fall; California has Santa Ana winds and wild fires to mark its fall. In this portion, four case studies of “high contrast” thermodynamic areas are presented. The first two relate to those areas evoked through human action directly. The second two look at two areas known for the effects caused by land forms. These two are studied in relation to development patterns surrounding them in order to understand the smaller scale climates taking place. Each genre of contrast is presented with a specific example that includes documentation from field work.
This section illustrates three climate phenomena of the Los Angeles region occurring across three time scales: 1. Marine Layer - the daily low altitude clouds that form over the ocean and beach side communities 2. Santa Anas - warm, dry winds from the east that blow in early fall and into late January 3. El Niño & La Niña - the variations in sea surface temperature and air pressure in the Western Pacific.
The confluence of Santa Ana winds, wildfire, and marine layer in Los Angeles County, October 26, 2003 Photo: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=12375
MARINE LAYER
The Marine Layer and its often associated clouds refers to the formation over adjacent waters of a land mass of low altitude stratus clouds. “Once formed, they may be advected by the wind over land areas. Stratus type clouds are sheet like clouds with close to horizontally uniform base and top. They generally extend for large distances horizontally (10-100s of kilometers), but are relatively shallow in depth (usually 500-2000 meters).”1 As the southern California land mass is likely to be cooler than the adjacent Pacific Ocean in the morning low pressure develops over California bringing the marine layer landward. The marine layer forms all year in southern California but is most predominant from May to August. It reaches its peak in June leading to the terms ‘May Gray’ and ‘June Gloom’ and subsides until late August when the Pacific High begins to weaken and land-breeze circulation become dominant.2 Land-breeze circulation involves winds blowing offshore which further push the marine layer out to sea. The marine layer is both seasonal and daily. Daily the 1 What are Marine Layer Clouds and How Do they Form? California-Nevada Applications Program, Scripps Institution of Oceanography http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/ml_formation.html#what 2 Marine Layer Seasonal Cycle at San Diego, California-Nevada Applications Program, Scripps Institution of Oceanography http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/ml_seasonal.html
presence and intensity of the marine layer depends on the intensity of the sun throughout the day and the humidity contained within the marine layer. If the humidity is high enough within the marine layer fog can form. The most important distinction is between the clouds as result of the phenomenon and the actual thermodynamics taking place. The marine layer refers to the air mass that occurs during a temperature inversion, but does not necessarily contain clouds. In southern California two processes contribute to the marine layer: 1. Mixing of Surface Air leading to rising air that cools 2. High pressure system known as the Pacific High leading to sinking air that warms In this scenario the sinking air compresses the cool mixing surface air resulting in a compressed air mass known as the marine layer. The final contributing factor to southern California’s marine layer condition is the Catalina Eddy. As northwest winds blow from Central California into and around Point Conception they rotate and turn southerly further pushing the marine layer condition inland.
Height
Inversion Layer
Inversion Base
Mixing
Temperature The effect of the inversion layer on temperature over elevation. Although “standard atmosphere” refers to a temperature drop of 6.5 degrees Celsius (3.57 degrees Fahrenheit) per 1000 meters (1000 feet) in height, Southern California often experiences a marine layer where temperatures fluctuate less during the day.
Prevailing northwest winds of Central California interact with point conception causing rotation in winds and increased onshore flow in the form of southerly winds. During periods of the Catalina Eddy, the marine layer is more predominant and long lasting, often never “burning off” along the coast.
The marine layer from the astronomical observatory, Mt. Wilson, in the San Gabriel Mountains (+1741 ft). Photo: http://10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com/
EL NINO & LA NINA
El Niño & La Niña refer simply to the variations in sea surface temperature and air pressure in the Western Pacific. But their understanding in Los Angeles takes on an almost legendary quality. Similar to the wildfires and earthquakes, El Niños are referred to with their year emphasizing their power. El Niños produce wetter than usual winters in California while La Niñas produce drier than the usual winters. Lots of hype surrounds El Niño as they form the cruel and occasional savior to the usual drought conditions of Southern California. At the end of dry winters scientists release the likelihood of the next winter being an El Niño. El Niño comes in all shapes and sizes: “there are all kinds of El Niños: small, medium, large and Godzilla,” according to Bill Patzert, a research scientist and oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. For example, while everything remains thirsty this winter citizens are already counting on an El Niño next winter to bring them out of a multi year drought. Its not as if El Niño cannot save Los Angeles from further drought but the reliability it holds in the minds of its citizens overlooks the reality. California does not have neither the large scale or small scale infrastructure necessary to make El Niño winters count. Instead water sheaths off the impervious surface into adjacent storm drains and barrels down concrete channels to the Pacific Ocean.
During an El Niño winter like that of 1997 surface temperatures were 5 degrees warmer than normal prompting an increase in storm activity leading to more powerful and more often weather events. That year 35 counties in California were declared disaster areas.1 Like other southern California phenomena El Niños hit powerfully and in short periods leading to a legendary status and misunderstanding among the populace.
1 http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25723802/californiadrought-el-ni-241-o-probability-raised
Waves pound the Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego during an El Nino winter storm .
Sea surface temperatures across the globe. http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/contour/
SANTA ANAS
The Santa Anas of Southern California are seasonal northeast winds in excess of 25 knots with gusts as much as twice that speed. They generally occur in late fall and into January when warm winds from the Great Basin bring uncharacteristic warm weather to southern California. Santa Anas are a result of high pressure systems that form between the Sierra Nevadas and the Rocky Mountains in the Great Basin. They travel over the Sierras and through mountain passes increasing in temperature, density and speed along their way. As it travels downslope and through mountain passes the winds increase in speed. Due to Southern California’s diverse terrain winds vary greatly from place to place. In fact, some areas winds will blow strong to pick up dust while others are hardly noticed. At Santa Clara River Valley, Cajon Pass, and Banning Pass the strongest winds can be found
Since they follow California’s summer they pose strong threats to the spread of wildfires throughout the region. The image below was produced from NASA’s Quick Scatterometer spacecraft and shows winds and their temperatures as the blow offshore over the sea surface. The fastest winds are indicated in red, with orange, blue, black, and gray representing progressively slower wind speeds. When over sea Santa Anas cause cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean, a process called upwelling, which brings nutrients to the surface and ultimately benefits local fisheries.
http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/4000/4306/santaana_qui_2002041.pdf
ELEVATION
2
1
3
0
10
20
30
40
MILES A. A. 200-400 miles away: 1. Winds from the Great Basin warm in the California deserts; 2. Winds go up and over coastal mountains and through passes increasing in speed; 3. Strong warm winds are delivered to coastal California B. LA Region Valleys & Passes: the locations where Santa Anas funnel through The locations of the southern Californian mountain passes and valleys where Santa Anas funnel through. http://www.weather.com/outlook/weathernews/news/articles/how-santa-ana-windsdevelop_2011-10-13
B.
50
60
70
80
UTILITY EASEMENTS
la river w-e
Alameda Corridor 2 (West-East Section)
Second to its export of moving images the moving freeway of LA is perhap its most recognizable element. The city is defined by its infrastructure. Not only freeways line its expanse, but nodes of trade dot its landscape and linear infrastructures of rail, river, and utilities run clear across the greater Los Angeles region. In this case study a reappropriated utility easement running through the basin is more closely studied.
Los Angeles River
Following a controversial eviction of South Central farmers from their original 14 acre site, the mayor took a helicopter ride over the city to find new land for the South Central farmers. It was there that the ten plus mile easement used for transmission lines was reimagined as community gardens.
Florence-Firestone Garden Step Down Station
But the easement is more than community farms and gardens. Along its length lie nurseries, private farms, de facto junkyards, a disused linear park, transmission step down stations and at its northeastern most point, a golf course. As the installation of water along the easement grows due to community demand the land use, value, and atmosphere of the area changes. The following is a series of photos and observations from a trip to South Central documenting the variety of farming, watering and adaptations taking place.
Florence Firestone Garden (North-South Section)
Alameda Corridor
(West-East Section)
Alameda Corridor (North-South Section)
Step Down Transmission Station
Alameda Corridor Above Ground
Compton Creek (North-South Section)
Compton Creek Res Single Family Home (North-South Section)
Imperial Highway (North-South Section)
This Page: Sections from the Utility Easement & the infrastructure that interrupts it. Below: the 105 freeway topographically divides the two principal farming areas of the easement. Opposite Page: Looking south (North-South towards the 105 Freeway/Transit 105 freeway
Typical Residential Single Family Home Condition
Section) Imperial Highway
A future community plot awaits water. Water is often the only barrier to a community gardens inception.
A variety of structures line the gardens. Some provide personal shade for each gardener’s plot, others like the one above serve as a communal meeting place.
A block president Joe remarks on the plants poorly suited for the climate. He told of the difficulties of persuading farmers from the south to plant region appropriate crops.
Gustadio farms in a block practicing big ag techniques. Here you find monoculture planting and flood irrigation.
The city nursery occupies over 3/4 of a mile of the easement and contains rows of tall trees that shape the wind traveling through. Watering here is done at all times of day manually.
A portion of the easement is minimally maintained park space. A concrete path runs along it.
The transmission step down station interrupts the continuity of the vegetated easement. On the other side a less formal garden type emerges as seen at the Florence-Firestone garden.
At the Florence-Firestone garden community members take shade under a large avocado tree. The transmission lines can be seen as they run straight through the block. Here, nopales are used as borders on individual plots.
FIELD WORK:
Data Mapping Variations in Weather & Air Quality
INTRODUCTION
“ Even the weather doesn’t exist, it is what we make of it, what we interpret of it.”1 - Manuel de Landa LA is the land of simulacra. When Jean Baudrillard first visited California he declared Disneyland an imaginary presented in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles “is no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation.”2 He considerd the town a perpetual motion picture. Just as every element of the real has been mediated weather in Los Angeles is no different. Like any other identity LA’s weather image is continually constructed. In a climate where nearly everything can grow...with water, the effect of individual desires on the climate has been immense. From valley edens in Elysian Valley to walls of privets in Beverly Hills the dreams and images of each homeowner supplants the climate of Los Angeles, creating a richness of microclimates. For this study, sensors were attached to my bicycle for rides around Los Angeles to uncover the unread gradients of weather and air quality. It is a small step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the weather of Los Angeles. Perhaps in the future the identity of Los Angeles’ climactic wonderland will be replaced by a plethora of sensors deployed throughout 1 In conversation with Konrad Becker, http://www.t0.or.at/delanda/intdelanda.htm 2 Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra, p. 3
the city that register the dynamics of thermodynamic exchange in real time. This study contains 2 parts. 1. Observations via photographs and text 2. Data and Visualization Technical difficulties prevented the original ambitions of the project from being realized. Originally, routes were planned to coincide with Reynar Banham’s 4 Ecologies: Surfurbia, Autopia, Plains of Id, and Foothills. Electrical engineering issues of the sensor prototype prevented longer rides as planned. Thus, I stayed local. The protoype allowed short rides of up to 30 minutes powered by rechargeable batteries. Two bike routes are depicted here. The first involves the disappointment of a 19km bike ride only to return home and discover the data is not reliable. The second depicts accurate readings obtained during short rides between my home near Sunset Blvd. to Michael Maltzan Architecture in the foothills of Silverlake. The sensor captured the following data: 1. Carbon Monoxide: a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly less dense than air. CO is an atmospheric pollutant in urban areas resulting from the exhaust of internal combustion engines. 2. Ozone: a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent
smell. Ozone is emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels. 3. Methane (CNG): the simplest alkane and the main component of natural gas. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and attractive fuel despite its difficulty in storage. 4. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. Burning LPG releases Carbon Dioxide and some Carbon Monoxide. 5. Temperature: this numerical measure is used as the comparison variable to the sensed gases.3 3 www.wikipedia.org
The data is ultimately evaluated against recorded values put forth by the Weather Channel and the South Coast Air Quality Management district. It does not claim to present precise numerical data but rather to demonstrate the deviations and flux of these gases.4
4 http://www.weather.com/; http://www.aqmd.gov/ Below: My equipment. Sensor on real wheel rack.
ROUTE 1: AROUND THE SMOG ELBOW
Banham’s Ecologies Traveled: • Plains of Id • Foothills • Autopia Total Elevation Climb: 97 meters
•
This 19km ride unfortunately resulted in unreliable data. Regardless, a series of observations were made. • Increased cool breeze where the concrete bottom of the LA River channel meets the soft bottom of the Glendale Narrows. A golf course lies directly west and I-5 sits directly adjacent. • Increased quantity of wildlife where the concrete bottom ends and becomes soft. • Wind gusts increase as the valley narrows. The bike path goes through the valley between Griffith Park and Glendale. The lines of infrastructure dominate the bike path and wind blows strong along its straights and in the narrows of the valley. • This ride offers a variety of Banham’s ecologies. Rising out of the foothills of the basin the ride takes you along autopia and into the plains of the valley. Here the views open up and the presence of the weather itself becomes even more fleeting. Right: from left LA River, bike path, I-5, and the hills of Griffith Park Below: unreliable data Opposite Page: the route from Silverlake to Bob Hope Airport. Urbanized area in orange.
To S an F r an o cisc
+ 1060 m
I-5
LA RIVER
PLAINS OF ID
BOB HOPE AIRPORT
I-405 + 880 m
+ 211 m
BURBANK
ra
ntu Ve To
FOOTHILLS
+ 450 m
+ 580 m
FOOTHILLS HOLLYWOOD
HOME: SUNSET BLVD
101
+ 114 m
FOOTHILLS MALIBU
LOS ANGELES
I-10 AUTOPIA
DESTINATION: Bob Hope Airport 19 KILOMETERS 19 Minutes by Car 1 HOUR 2 MINUTES BY BIKE 1 Hours 14 Minutes by Mass Transit 3 Hours 26 Minutes by Foot
LAX
PLAINS OF ID
1:800,000
Trip Sequence
The Los Angeles River bike path where the 134 meets the I-5 in Glendale
WEEKLY ROUTE: SILVERLAKE (FOOTHILLS)
Banham’s Ecologies Traveled: • Foothills Total Elevation Climb: • 17 meters This route begins along the famed Sunset Blvd. at an elevation of +114 m heading Northwest towards Sunset Triangle Plaza. At the plaza it runs midway up the foothills on Griffith Park Blvd. (+119 - 120 m). It ends along Hyperion Ave. at +131 m. At right: view on Griffith Park Blvd. looking southeast to Downtown Los Angeles at dusk. My daily ride or walk happened along this route. Here in Silverlake streets follow the contours of the hills. Each street placed above or below the other offers a different view and microclimate. A series of visualizations follow representing the dynamic nature of the recorded gases and temperature along the route.
+ 450 m
LA RIVER
FOOTHILLS
SILVERLAKE RESERVOIR +139 m
SUNSET BLVD. 101
DESTINATION: Michael Maltzan Architecture 2.7 KILOMETERS 4 Minutes by Car 9 MINUTES BY BIKE 27 Minutes by Mass Transit 31 Minutes by Foot
1:800,000
Michael Maltzan Architecture
Sunset Blvd. Home
GPS Located Visualization (09:15-09:30, 04/21/2014) • Temperature variation is read as the color change in the continuous line below. • Circle colors representing the deviation of CO monoxide from the baseline (0), shown in the color green.
0
Standard Deviations from a Baseline (09:15-09:30, 04/21/2014) • Each recorded set of data is compared against the origin. • Deviations are read between each data set. • The pulsing nature of the voltage of the sensor requires an interpretation of the graph. The peaks and valleys don’t precisely represent the conditions, but taken as a whole the dynamic nature of those conditions can be read.
Averages Deviation from Start to Finish (Colored per Gas/Temp.)
CO Ozone
Methane LPG
Temperature
Compressed Reading (09:15-09:30, 04/21/2014) • The data sets are compressed in graph form to the point of reading as a color gradient. • Deviation from start to finish strikes through the gradient.
DATA FINDINGS
Recording data in transit on a bicycle in Los Angeles proved to be as difficult as it sounds. Despite that a number of findings arose out of the thousands of lines of generated code. As an example, pages 62-69 witness the deviations in readings from published data. Broken down: • Temperature had a standard deviation of 9 degrees with a 13.2% difference between the standard deviation and the upper and lower bounds, or range. • Ozone saw the 2nd highest deviation from the upper and lower bounds. A 23.2% difference between standard deviation and the range was observed. • Methane saw the lowest difference from the standard, 6.7%. • Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) saw a difference from the standard of 12.2%. • Carbon Monoxide saw the highest difference from the standard, 23.8%. • Overall, temperature dropped along the length of the bike ride while Carbon Monoxide, Ozone, Methane, and LPG increased at various levels. Analyzing the data more closely revealed variations in temperature and gases in expected places. East facing slopes in the early morning were cooler; as I climbed to the more idyllic neighborhoods of Silverlake covered in vegetation the temperatures also dropped. Asphalt roads differed from concrete roads. During morning
rides they read cooler. Late at night as they held in the warmth of the day longer they read slightly warmer. A somewhat less expected reading was the deviations at intersections. Each intersection proved to be somewhat different than the last. 4 way stops generally saw higher periodic readings than elsewhere (pp.66-67). As pages 65-66 show Carbon Monoxide levels read much stronger along Sunset Blvd., specifically at the intersection of Maltman and Sunset. At a methodological level this study proves that with more sensors in the urban environment a more informed reading of the nature of Los Angeles would be uncovered. Through this methodology local phenomena could be gleamed over time from big data. More visualization can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/95194135
CONCLUSIONS
Weather is “the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.”1 and that is precisely the issue with it. As a static representation weather fails to encompass the thermodynamic exchanges that take place in our daily lives. Climate does no better in this regard. It moves to a further level of abstraction; from one point in space representing a general area to one record of time representing the continuity of a month or a season.
the abnormal, and the cyclical that make the region much more complex thermodynamically than it at first seems. This study is a step towards keeping the average from speaking for the whole. This study brings light to the deviations that make the city unique for each person.
The initial research of Los Angeles acts as a survey. Like the baseline data used in the 2nd half (pp. 54 - 69), it serves as a means to compare my own experience after living in Los Angeles for a semester and the data I obtained. It finds the aspects of climate, geography and geology that add specificty to an otherwise generic city. Los Angeles can easily be mistaken for a vagueness of space. The case studies serve to devague some of that space throughout its 503 square miles. By looking at cyclical phenomena on three time scales the temporal scale increases in specificity. We discover that it isn’t always 75 degrees and sunny. Los Angeles operates between a seemingly steady strained state and the cyclical effects that bring it back towards its ‘average.’ A visitor may only come to know the steady state and perhaps that is what Baudrillard sensed most in his visit to the city. But it is the extremes, 1 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/ weather
“To suppress distance is to kill.” René Char