Future Research 01 A New Method to Quantify Tree Shade Coverage

The extant methods primarily center on the computation of tree canopy coverage. Nonetheless, it is imperative to acknowledge that the extent of tree canopy coverage does not equate to the provision of tree shade coverage. This is due to the fact that the latter is contingent not only upon the size and extent of the tree canopy, but also on the tree’s height, geographic location, and the passage of time. It should be noted that the amount of shade provided by a tree with an identical canopy coverage may vary significantly across different seasons. Hence, a novel metric or method must be formulated to capture the subtleties of the disparity between tree canopy coverage and tree shade coverage. Furthermore, this new metric or method ought to take into consideration the changes in shade levels over varying time frames within a day or a year.

Top: Three existing methods of measuring tree canopy/shade coverage; Source: Left: the City of Decatur; Middle: Li, X., Ratti, C., & Seiferling, I. (2018). Quantifying the shade provision of street trees in urban landscape: A case study in Boston, USA, using Google Street View. Landscape and Urban Planning, 169, 81-91. ; Right: 2010 SMA Conference

Bottom: A simulation shows the differences between Tree Canopy and Tree Shade and how Tree Shade changes in different times