URBAN CLIMATE INSTITUTE · SPATIAL ANALYSIS
Riyadh: shade needs
water and space.
In an arid city, planting decisions connect future shade with water availability and root-zone conditions. This spatial review of Riyadh shows how vegetation patterns and terrain guide the selection of areas for closer investigation.
Green areas indicate vegetation patterns within the urban fabric. We examine their distribution and connections without inferring tree counts or individual tree health.
01 — THE DESIGN QUESTION
Where can a tree
thrive over time?
The future canopy needs to shade places people use, while the roots need adequate soil volume and reliable access to water. These conditions must be reconciled with buildings, utilities and maintenance capacity.
Satellite and spatial layers help identify areas worth investigating. Field findings then guide decisions about retaining, connecting or extending existing green space.
Blue-green areas provide spatial indications of vegetation and moisture, including parts of the wadi corridor. They do not directly measure water available to an individual root system.
Blue lines guide investigation of terrain and surface runoff. They do not establish water volumes or safe infiltration locations without further assessment.
02 — FROM REVIEW TO DECISION
Read water alongside
soil and the city.
Occasional rainfall and runoff corridors suggest opportunities to retain water, but an intervention depends on soil, slope, drainage and water quality. A vegetation signal alone cannot establish whether new planting will be viable.
The next step is to assess selected sites: access, existing trees, soil volume, utilities and water supply. These findings inform a landscape concept and, where appropriate, an AquaVault pilot with monitoring.
Purple-red areas are a working result of combining spatial layers. They are investigation priorities, not approved planting locations or evidence of a completed project’s performance.
Sources, scope and limitations
Source: working maps from the AquaVault Satellite Intelligence study for Riyadh, Bruno Jelinić / Herbafertil. The publicly available images retain their original extent, colours, scales and attribution.
The exports do not include a complete record of acquisition dates, input layers, resolutions or processing thresholds. They are therefore presented qualitatively, without numerical claims about temperature, water reserves, tree counts or planting success.
Original maps and their connection to field application · Herbafertil ↗
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