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Papers by Milena Vuckovic

Research paper thumbnail of A Review on Data Terminology in Visual Analytics Tools

Research paper thumbnail of On the Importance of Data Quality Assessment of Crowdsourced Meteorological Data

Sustainability, Apr 20, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Urban transformation and heat island: Potential of urban design alternatives to mitigate the effects of urban overheating in Austrian cities

Journal of urban environment, Mar 30, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Analytical assessment of street-level tree canopy in Austrian cities: Identification of re-naturalisation potentials of the urban fabric

Research paper thumbnail of On Sense Making and the Generation of Knowledge in Visual Analytics

Analytics

Interactive visual tools and related visualization technologies, built to support explorative dat... more Interactive visual tools and related visualization technologies, built to support explorative data analysis, ultimately lead to sense making and knowledge discovery from large volumes of raw data. These processes namely rely on human visual perception and cognition, in which human analysts perceive external representations (system structure, dataset, integral data visualizations) and form respective internal representations (internal cognitive imprints of external systems) that enable deeper comprehension of the employed system and the underlying data features. These internal representations further evolve through continuous interaction with external representations. They also depend on the individual’s own cognitive pathways. Currently, there has been insufficient work on understanding how these internal cognitive mechanisms form and function. Hence, we aim to offer our own interpretations of such processes observed through our daily data exploration workflows. This is accomplished...

Research paper thumbnail of Visual Analytics Approach to Comprehensive Meteorological Time-Series Analysis

Data, 2020

In some of the domain-specific sectors, such as the climate domain, the provision of publicly ava... more In some of the domain-specific sectors, such as the climate domain, the provision of publicly available present-day high-resolution meteorological time series is often quite limited or completely lacking. This repeatedly leads to excessive deployment of synthetically generated (historical) meteorological time series (TMY) to support thermal performance assessments on both building and urban scale. These datasets are generally a misrepresentation of current weather variability, which may lead to erroneous inferences drawn from modelling results. In this regard, we outline the application potential of a visual analytics approach in the context of data quality assessment and validation of TMYs. For this purpose, we deployed a standalone visual analytics tool Visplore, enriched with interlinked dashboards, customizable visualizations, and intuitive workflows, to support continuous interaction and early visual feedback. Driven by such integrated visual representations and visual interact...

Research paper thumbnail of Potential of Urban Densification to Mitigate the Effects of Heat Island in Vienna, Austria

Environments, 2019

Global increase of urban population has brought about a growing demand for more dwelling space, r... more Global increase of urban population has brought about a growing demand for more dwelling space, resulting in various negative impacts, such as accelerated urbanization, urban sprawl and higher carbon footprints. To cope with these growth dynamics, city authorities are urged to consider alternative planning strategies aiming at mitigating the negative implications of urbanization. In this context, the present contribution investigates the potential of urban densification to mitigate the heat island effects and to improve outdoor thermal conditions. Focusing on a quite densely urbanized district in Vienna, Austria, we carried out a set of simulations of urban microclimate for pre- and post-densification scenarios using the parametric modelling environment Rhinoceros 3D and a set of built-in algorithms in the Rhino’s plug-in Grasshopper. The study was conducted for a hot summer period. The results revealed a notable solar shielding effect of newly introduced vertical extensions of exis...

Research paper thumbnail of Strategies for Development and Improvement of the Urban Fabric: A Vienna Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Current trends in urban heat island mitigation research: Observations based on a comprehensive research repository

Research paper thumbnail of The Extent and Implications of the Microclimatic Conditions in the Urban Environment: A Vienna Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Toward Advanced Representations of the Urban Microclimate in Building Performance Simulation

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis of micro climatic variations and the urban heat island phenomenon in the city of Vienna

Metropolitan areas are dealing with very diverse microclimatic situations influenced by different... more Metropolitan areas are dealing with very diverse microclimatic situations influenced by different morphologies, structures, and materials of the built environment. Moreover, it has been proven that urban areas show significantly higher temperatures than rural surroundings. This is referred to as the urban heat island phenomenon (UHI). Furthermore, the UHI effect is directly related to (and worsened by) the climate change phenomena, where it is expected that an increase of the average temperature has a stronger and immediate effect on the health of people living in cities. Additionally higher air temperatures have a direct effect on the energy consumption due to increased use of air conditioning. In this context this paper presents results of an ongoing research project which investigates the urban heat island phenomena in the Central European area. Specifically, this paper analyzes the urban heat island phenomenon and microclimate conditions looking at various locations in the city ...

Research paper thumbnail of The variance of the urban microclimate in the city of Vienna, Austria

Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic conditions that are believed to... more Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic conditions that are believed to be influenced by a variety of parameters: morphologies, structures, materials (particularly urban surface properties), and processes (mobility, industry, etc.). The density of urban structures and sealing of urban areas may lead to higher heat storage, thus increasing the daily urban air temperatures. In order to understand some of the relationships between the microclimates of urban neighborhoods, human activity and thermal environments that regulate microclimates, this paper investigates the intra-city microclimatic variance in several locations in the city of Vienna, Austria, which effectively portray urban and suburban climatic conditions. Specifically, we explore possible deviations of local (site-specific) microclimatic conditions from those captured by near-by stationary weather stations.

Research paper thumbnail of The extent and implications of the urban heat island phenomenon in Central European region

Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic circumstances that are influenc... more Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic circumstances that are influenced by a variety of morphologies, structures, materials (particularly urban surface properties), and processes (mobility, industry, etc.). This diversity influences the intensity and extent of the urban heat island effect (UHI) in different cities. UHI may be understood in terms of emerging divergence between micro-climatic conditions in the city proper versus the rural environs. Significantly higher temperatures are observed in the urban area as compared to the surrounding suburban and rural neighborhoods. A further rise in the appearance and intensity of UHI phenomena is to be expected in the coming years due to the on-going population increase in urban areas. Furthermore, the UHI effect is believed to be related to (and worsened by) the climate change. Thereby, the rise of global temperatures is likely to affect not only the health of the urban population (urban heat distress, pedestri...

Research paper thumbnail of Representation of weather conditions in building performance simulation: a case study of microclimatic variance in Central Europe

In order to predict the performance of a building regarding energy demand and indoor conditions, ... more In order to predict the performance of a building regarding energy demand and indoor conditions, reliable input information is needed. Weather data represents an important component of such input information for performance simulation. Currently, standard weather files are typically used for this purpose. These are based on long-term observations (weather records) from weather stations. Frequently, this data is generated from weather stations in the proximity of airports. However, such files do not necessarily represent in a detailed manner the microclimatic conditions around the designated location of a building. In this context, the present paper explores the possibility of generating weather information for urban areas that is more in tune with the conditions around specific building locations. This local adjustment of the weather information and its consideration in weather files could improve the reliability of simulation-based predictions of building performance.

Research paper thumbnail of Empirical and Computational Issues of Microclimate Simulation

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Empirical and computational assessment of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon and related mitigation measures

Geographia Polonica, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Combining 2D and 3D Visualization with Visual Analytics in the Environmental Domain

Information

The application potential of Visual Analytics (VA), with its supporting interactive 2D and 3D vis... more The application potential of Visual Analytics (VA), with its supporting interactive 2D and 3D visualization techniques, in the environmental domain is unparalleled. Such advanced systems may enable an in-depth interactive exploration of multifaceted geospatial and temporal changes in very large and complex datasets. This is facilitated by a unique synergy of modules for simulation, analysis, and visualization, offering instantaneous visual feedback of transformative changes in the underlying data. However, even if the resulting knowledge holds great potential for supporting decision-making in the environmental domain, the consideration of such techniques still have to find their way to daily practice. To advance these developments, we demonstrate four case studies that portray different opportunities in data visualization and VA in the context of climate research and natural disaster management. Firstly, we focus on 2D data visualization and explorative analysis for climate change d...

Research paper thumbnail of A framework for the representation of the urban environment and the assessment of its microclimatic variation

Research paper thumbnail of Generation and evaluation of alternative urban densification scenarios

This paper discusses a research aiming toward the development of a computational environment for ... more This paper discusses a research aiming toward the development of a computational environment for the generation and evaluation of alternative urban densification scenarios. The envisioned densification scenarios include measures such as new buildings on yet empty building lots as well as horizontal and vertical extension of existing buildings. The respective potential future developments are framed here in part by a set of spatial constraints defined in building regulations and guidelines (such as, property boundaries, permitted building heights, daylight access). The generated alternative urban densification solutions can thus be subjected to comparative assessment and ranked with regard to multiple evaluative indicators pertaining to energy and environmental performance.

Research paper thumbnail of A Review on Data Terminology in Visual Analytics Tools

Research paper thumbnail of On the Importance of Data Quality Assessment of Crowdsourced Meteorological Data

Sustainability, Apr 20, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Urban transformation and heat island: Potential of urban design alternatives to mitigate the effects of urban overheating in Austrian cities

Journal of urban environment, Mar 30, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Analytical assessment of street-level tree canopy in Austrian cities: Identification of re-naturalisation potentials of the urban fabric

Research paper thumbnail of On Sense Making and the Generation of Knowledge in Visual Analytics

Analytics

Interactive visual tools and related visualization technologies, built to support explorative dat... more Interactive visual tools and related visualization technologies, built to support explorative data analysis, ultimately lead to sense making and knowledge discovery from large volumes of raw data. These processes namely rely on human visual perception and cognition, in which human analysts perceive external representations (system structure, dataset, integral data visualizations) and form respective internal representations (internal cognitive imprints of external systems) that enable deeper comprehension of the employed system and the underlying data features. These internal representations further evolve through continuous interaction with external representations. They also depend on the individual’s own cognitive pathways. Currently, there has been insufficient work on understanding how these internal cognitive mechanisms form and function. Hence, we aim to offer our own interpretations of such processes observed through our daily data exploration workflows. This is accomplished...

Research paper thumbnail of Visual Analytics Approach to Comprehensive Meteorological Time-Series Analysis

Data, 2020

In some of the domain-specific sectors, such as the climate domain, the provision of publicly ava... more In some of the domain-specific sectors, such as the climate domain, the provision of publicly available present-day high-resolution meteorological time series is often quite limited or completely lacking. This repeatedly leads to excessive deployment of synthetically generated (historical) meteorological time series (TMY) to support thermal performance assessments on both building and urban scale. These datasets are generally a misrepresentation of current weather variability, which may lead to erroneous inferences drawn from modelling results. In this regard, we outline the application potential of a visual analytics approach in the context of data quality assessment and validation of TMYs. For this purpose, we deployed a standalone visual analytics tool Visplore, enriched with interlinked dashboards, customizable visualizations, and intuitive workflows, to support continuous interaction and early visual feedback. Driven by such integrated visual representations and visual interact...

Research paper thumbnail of Potential of Urban Densification to Mitigate the Effects of Heat Island in Vienna, Austria

Environments, 2019

Global increase of urban population has brought about a growing demand for more dwelling space, r... more Global increase of urban population has brought about a growing demand for more dwelling space, resulting in various negative impacts, such as accelerated urbanization, urban sprawl and higher carbon footprints. To cope with these growth dynamics, city authorities are urged to consider alternative planning strategies aiming at mitigating the negative implications of urbanization. In this context, the present contribution investigates the potential of urban densification to mitigate the heat island effects and to improve outdoor thermal conditions. Focusing on a quite densely urbanized district in Vienna, Austria, we carried out a set of simulations of urban microclimate for pre- and post-densification scenarios using the parametric modelling environment Rhinoceros 3D and a set of built-in algorithms in the Rhino’s plug-in Grasshopper. The study was conducted for a hot summer period. The results revealed a notable solar shielding effect of newly introduced vertical extensions of exis...

Research paper thumbnail of Strategies for Development and Improvement of the Urban Fabric: A Vienna Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Current trends in urban heat island mitigation research: Observations based on a comprehensive research repository

Research paper thumbnail of The Extent and Implications of the Microclimatic Conditions in the Urban Environment: A Vienna Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Toward Advanced Representations of the Urban Microclimate in Building Performance Simulation

Research paper thumbnail of Analysis of micro climatic variations and the urban heat island phenomenon in the city of Vienna

Metropolitan areas are dealing with very diverse microclimatic situations influenced by different... more Metropolitan areas are dealing with very diverse microclimatic situations influenced by different morphologies, structures, and materials of the built environment. Moreover, it has been proven that urban areas show significantly higher temperatures than rural surroundings. This is referred to as the urban heat island phenomenon (UHI). Furthermore, the UHI effect is directly related to (and worsened by) the climate change phenomena, where it is expected that an increase of the average temperature has a stronger and immediate effect on the health of people living in cities. Additionally higher air temperatures have a direct effect on the energy consumption due to increased use of air conditioning. In this context this paper presents results of an ongoing research project which investigates the urban heat island phenomena in the Central European area. Specifically, this paper analyzes the urban heat island phenomenon and microclimate conditions looking at various locations in the city ...

Research paper thumbnail of The variance of the urban microclimate in the city of Vienna, Austria

Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic conditions that are believed to... more Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic conditions that are believed to be influenced by a variety of parameters: morphologies, structures, materials (particularly urban surface properties), and processes (mobility, industry, etc.). The density of urban structures and sealing of urban areas may lead to higher heat storage, thus increasing the daily urban air temperatures. In order to understand some of the relationships between the microclimates of urban neighborhoods, human activity and thermal environments that regulate microclimates, this paper investigates the intra-city microclimatic variance in several locations in the city of Vienna, Austria, which effectively portray urban and suburban climatic conditions. Specifically, we explore possible deviations of local (site-specific) microclimatic conditions from those captured by near-by stationary weather stations.

Research paper thumbnail of The extent and implications of the urban heat island phenomenon in Central European region

Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic circumstances that are influenc... more Metropolitan areas worldwide display highly diverse microclimatic circumstances that are influenced by a variety of morphologies, structures, materials (particularly urban surface properties), and processes (mobility, industry, etc.). This diversity influences the intensity and extent of the urban heat island effect (UHI) in different cities. UHI may be understood in terms of emerging divergence between micro-climatic conditions in the city proper versus the rural environs. Significantly higher temperatures are observed in the urban area as compared to the surrounding suburban and rural neighborhoods. A further rise in the appearance and intensity of UHI phenomena is to be expected in the coming years due to the on-going population increase in urban areas. Furthermore, the UHI effect is believed to be related to (and worsened by) the climate change. Thereby, the rise of global temperatures is likely to affect not only the health of the urban population (urban heat distress, pedestri...

Research paper thumbnail of Representation of weather conditions in building performance simulation: a case study of microclimatic variance in Central Europe

In order to predict the performance of a building regarding energy demand and indoor conditions, ... more In order to predict the performance of a building regarding energy demand and indoor conditions, reliable input information is needed. Weather data represents an important component of such input information for performance simulation. Currently, standard weather files are typically used for this purpose. These are based on long-term observations (weather records) from weather stations. Frequently, this data is generated from weather stations in the proximity of airports. However, such files do not necessarily represent in a detailed manner the microclimatic conditions around the designated location of a building. In this context, the present paper explores the possibility of generating weather information for urban areas that is more in tune with the conditions around specific building locations. This local adjustment of the weather information and its consideration in weather files could improve the reliability of simulation-based predictions of building performance.

Research paper thumbnail of Empirical and Computational Issues of Microclimate Simulation

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Empirical and computational assessment of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon and related mitigation measures

Geographia Polonica, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Combining 2D and 3D Visualization with Visual Analytics in the Environmental Domain

Information

The application potential of Visual Analytics (VA), with its supporting interactive 2D and 3D vis... more The application potential of Visual Analytics (VA), with its supporting interactive 2D and 3D visualization techniques, in the environmental domain is unparalleled. Such advanced systems may enable an in-depth interactive exploration of multifaceted geospatial and temporal changes in very large and complex datasets. This is facilitated by a unique synergy of modules for simulation, analysis, and visualization, offering instantaneous visual feedback of transformative changes in the underlying data. However, even if the resulting knowledge holds great potential for supporting decision-making in the environmental domain, the consideration of such techniques still have to find their way to daily practice. To advance these developments, we demonstrate four case studies that portray different opportunities in data visualization and VA in the context of climate research and natural disaster management. Firstly, we focus on 2D data visualization and explorative analysis for climate change d...

Research paper thumbnail of A framework for the representation of the urban environment and the assessment of its microclimatic variation

Research paper thumbnail of Generation and evaluation of alternative urban densification scenarios

This paper discusses a research aiming toward the development of a computational environment for ... more This paper discusses a research aiming toward the development of a computational environment for the generation and evaluation of alternative urban densification scenarios. The envisioned densification scenarios include measures such as new buildings on yet empty building lots as well as horizontal and vertical extension of existing buildings. The respective potential future developments are framed here in part by a set of spatial constraints defined in building regulations and guidelines (such as, property boundaries, permitted building heights, daylight access). The generated alternative urban densification solutions can thus be subjected to comparative assessment and ranked with regard to multiple evaluative indicators pertaining to energy and environmental performance.