UC San Diego Decision Making using Real-time Observations for Environmental Sustainability (DEMROES)

An urban test bed for energy and water efficiency, meteorology, and air quality

Original website: http://maeresearch.ucsd.edu/kleissl/demroes/

Meteorological conditions have implications on human activities. They affect human comfort and productivity (temperature, humidity), health (temperature, air pollution), and energy and water use (solar radiation, temperature). UCSD's proximity to the Pacific Ocean places it in a temperate microclimate frequently affected by sea breezes. In particular the occurrence of sea-breezes in daytime provides cool air eliminating need for widespread building air conditioning and associated energy use, but also advects moist and salt-laden air to campus which negatively affects the lifespan of indoor and outdoor electronic or metal components.

We lack scientific knowledge about the occurrence of these microclimatological conditions and their effect on campus facilities management. We have established a wireless sensing network for environmental monitoring at UCSD facilities city-wide with the following objectives:

• Use the network as a demo and integrative educational and research system for UCSD students and faculty.
• Quantify the spatial distribution of meteorological conditions (i.e. sea breeze effect on temperature and humidity) on campus through a dense static network of weather stations.
• Provide campus facilities management with information to feed the energy management system (EMS) for building operation and energy conservation, and irrigation management.
• Extend pilot project into a massive city or regional scale sensing network.

sponsored by

• Wells Fargo through the UCSD Environment and Sustainability Initiative
• Steve Relyea, Vice Chancellor, Business Affairs
• Paul Linden, Jan Kleissl, Faculty, Mechanical Engineering
• Johnson Controls

supported by 

• Don McLaughlin, Ryan Sullivan, Telecommunications
• John Dilliott, David Weil, Building Sustainability, Energy Services
• Doug Palmer, Bill Hodgkiss, Don Kimball. CalIT2
• Steve Roberts, MAE Electronics & Sensors

About data

• dat files include datasets for different locations on campus, spanning some time between 2010 and 2011
• EBU2 files include solar irradiance data, for different days and years (2008-2021)