scholarly journals The Influence of Urban Climate on Bioclimatic Conditions in the City of Iași, Romania

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9652
Author(s):  
Pavel Ichim ◽  
Lucian Sfîcă
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Bioclimatic Conditions ◽  
The City

This study was carried out in order to outline the human bioclimatic stress/comfort conditions within the area of Iași city, Romania. The meteorological data were obtained over a 7-year period (December 2012–November 2019) from an observation network relying on 8 fixed observation points located in selected spots, relevant for the urban climate conditions in the region. The results demonstrate firstly that throughout the entire analyzed period, using the thermo-hygrometric index (THI), “very cold” conditions characterize 4% of the entire year in the inner parts of the city and 6% in the rural area, while the “hot” THI conditions vary from 18% in the middle of the urban heat island to 15% in the rural area. Overall, the rural areas are generally more comfortable than the inner city, especially during summer, when the urban heat island (UHI) core is starting to develop from the evening and persists during the night. On the contrary, the UHI renders the inner city more comfortable than the rural surroundings from October to April. Similar bioclimatic conditions are also presented in detail for the summer by the relative strain index (RSI), which exceeds the stress threshold value mostly during heat waves, when a significant contrast between urban and rural areas is felt. In brief, it has been determined that the most suitable area for human comfort in Iași city is inside the urban area during the winter and in the rural areas during the summer.

scholarly journals Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect in Megacity Tehran

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Sodoudi ◽  
Parisa Shahmohamadi ◽  
Ken Vollack ◽  
Ulrich Cubasch ◽  
A. I. Che-Ani
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Cooling Effect ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Microscale Model ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Surrounding Areas

Cities demonstrate higher nocturnal temperatures than surrounding rural areas, which is called “urban heat island” (UHI) effect. Climate change projections also indicate increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves, which will intensify the UHI effect. As megacity Tehran is affected by severe heatwaves in summer, this study investigates its UHI characteristics and suggests some feasible mitigation strategies in order to reduce the air temperature and save energy. Temperature monitoring in Tehran shows clear evidence of the occurrence of the UHI effect, with a peak in July, where the urban area is circa 6 K warmer than the surrounding areas. The mobile measurements show a park cool island of 6-7 K in 2 central parks, which is also confirmed by satellite images. The effectiveness of three UHI mitigation strategies high albedo material (HAM), greenery on the surface and on the roofs (VEG), and a combination of them (HYBRID) has been studied using simulation with the microscale model ENVI-met. All three strategies show higher cooling effect in the daytime. The average nocturnal cooling effect of VEG and HYBRID (0.92, 1.10 K) is much higher than HAM (0.16 K), although high-density trees show a negative effect on nocturnal cooling.

Climate Bubbles: Games to Monitor Urban Climate

Leonardo ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-65
Author(s):  
Drew Hemment ◽  
Carlo Buontempo ◽  
Alfie Dennen
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Air Flow ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Flow Circulation ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The City

Climate Bubbles was a playful, participatory mass observation project on local climate. Bubble blowing games were devised to enable people across the city of Manchester to test air flow circulation and, by sharing the results online, enabled the Met Office to create a snapshot of the effect the Urban Heat Island has on wind.

Synergistic Interactions between Urban Heat Islands and Heat Waves: The Impact in Cities Is Larger than the Sum of Its Parts

2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 2051-2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Elie Bou-Zeid
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Heat Islands ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact

AbstractCities are well known to be hotter than the rural areas that surround them; this phenomenon is called the urban heat island. Heat waves are excessively hot periods during which the air temperatures of both urban and rural areas increase significantly. However, whether urban and rural temperatures respond in the same way to heat waves remains a critical unanswered question. In this study, a combination of observational and modeling analyses indicates synergies between urban heat islands and heat waves. That is, not only do heat waves increase the ambient temperatures, but they also intensify the difference between urban and rural temperatures. As a result, the added heat stress in cities will be even higher than the sum of the background urban heat island effect and the heat wave effect. Results presented here also attribute this added impact of heat waves on urban areas to the lack of surface moisture in urban areas and the low wind speed associated with heat waves. Given that heat waves are projected to become more frequent and that urban populations are substantially increasing, these findings underline the serious heat-related health risks facing urban residents in the twenty-first century. Adaptation and mitigation strategies will require joint efforts to reinvent the city, allowing for more green spaces and lesser disruption of the natural water cycle.

scholarly journals Lisbon Urban Heat Island Updated: New Highlights about the Relationships between Thermal Patterns and Wind Regimes

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Lopes ◽  
Elis Alves ◽  
Maria João Alcoforado ◽  
Raquel Machete
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Local Wind ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Thermal Patterns ◽  
Wind Regimes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

Urban growth implies significant modifications in the urban climate. To understand the influence of the city of Lisbon on the urban boundary layer, a mesoscale meteorological network was installed in 2004. The main goals of the present study are to update the results of the research published in 2007 and to bring more precise information about the relationship between the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and the regional and local wind systems. The highest frequencies of the UHI were found in the city centre (Restauradores). In the green park of Monsanto, the highest frequency occurred between −2 and 0°C. During the summer, the effect of the breezes was observed in Belém, lowering the temperature. The “strong” UHI (intensity >4°C) occurred more often during the summer, with median values of 2°C by night and 1.8°C by day. The highest frequencies of UHI occurred for winds between 2 and 6 m/s and were not associated with atmospheric calm, as pointed out in the literature. Winds above 8 m/s inhibit the occurrence of strong UHI in Lisbon. Summer nighttime strong UHI should be further investigated, due to the heat stress consequences on the population and probable increase of energy consumption.

scholarly journals The diurnal evolution of the urban heat island of Paris: a model-based case study during Summer 2006

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 25941-25981
Author(s):  
H. Wouters ◽  
K. De Ridder ◽  
N. P. M. van Lipzig ◽  
M. Demuzere ◽  
D. Lauwaet
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Regional Prediction ◽  
Prevailing Wind Direction ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The City

Abstract. The urban heat island (UHI) over Paris during summer 2006 was simulated using the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) updated with a simple urban parametrization at a horizontal resolution of 1 km. Two integrations were performed, one with the urban land cover of Paris and another in which Paris was replaced by cropland. The focus is on a five-day clear-sky period, for which the UHI intensity reaches its maximum. The diurnal evolution of the UHI intensity was found to be adequately simulated for this five day period. The maximum difference at night in 2-m temperature between urban and rural areas stemming from the urban heating is reproduced with a relative error of less than 10%. The UHI has an ellipsoidal shape and stretches along the prevailing wind direction. The maximum UHI intensity of 6.1 K occurs at 23:00 UTC located 6 km downstream of the city centre and this largely remains during the whole night. An idealized one-column model study demonstrates that the nocturnal differential sensible heat flux, even though much smaller than its daytime value, is mainly responsible for the maximum UHI intensity. The reason for this nighttime maximum is that additional heat is only affecting a shallow layer of 150 m. At the same time, an idealized study shows that the orography around the city of Paris induces an uplift. This leads to a considerable nocturnal adiabatic cooling over cropland. In contrast, this uplift has little effect on the mixed-layer temperature over the city. About twenty percent of the total maximum UHI intensity is estimated to be caused by this uplift.

scholarly journals Synergies between urban heat island and heat waves in Seoul: The role of wind speed and land use characteristics

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243571
Author(s):  
Jack Ngarambe ◽  
Jacques Nganyiyimana ◽  
Inhan Kim ◽  
Mat Santamouris ◽  
Geun Young Yun
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Emergency Relief ◽  
Urban Heat

The effects of heat waves (HW) are more pronounced in urban areas than in rural areas due to the additive effect of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. However, the synergies between UHI and HW are still an open scientific question and have only been quantified for a few metropolitan cities. In the current study, we explore the synergies between UHI and HW in Seoul city. We consider summertime data from two non-consecutive years (i.e., 2012 and 2016) and ten automatic weather stations. Our results show that UHI is more intense during HW periods than non-heat wave (NHW) periods (i.e., normal summer background conditions), with a maximum UHI difference of 3.30°C and 4.50°C, between HW and NHW periods, in 2012 and 2016 respectively. Our results also show substantial variations in the synergies between UHI and HW due to land use characteristics and synoptic weather conditions; the synergies were relatively more intense in densely built areas and under low wind speed conditions. Our results contribute to our understanding of thermal risks posed by HW in urban areas and, subsequently, the health risks on urban populations. Moreover, they are of significant importance to emergency relief providers as a resource allocation guideline, for instance, regarding which areas and time of the day to prioritize during HW periods in Seoul.

scholarly journals Analysis of the urban heat island in representative points of the city of Bayeux / PB

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 345
Author(s):  
Amanda Mayara Paulino Da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Thermal Field ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Thermal Discomfort ◽  
Heat Islands ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The City

Abstrat Urban growth has generated several socio-environmental problems and has altered the quality of life of people living in these environments. Due to the disorderly growth of cities and the various forms of urban land use and occupation, changes in the thermal field of these areas have occurred and caused the formation of urban heat islands and thermal discomfort in urban environments. Thus, the need to understand the formation of heat islands in these areas and the study of their causes and consequences grows. Given this context, the present work intends to study the urban climate of the city of Bayeux / PB, specifically the urban thermal field, and the formation of heat islands. For the accomplishment of the research, initially a bibliographical survey of the subject in question was made. Subsequently experimental points of meteorological data collection (temperature and relative air humidity) were defined in the metropolitan area of the city of João Pessoa, specifically in the municipality of Bayeux / PB. These points were defined based on the different types of land use and cover in the study area. The following experimental points were defined: a point in the center of the city of Bayeux / PB, another point on the banks of the BR230 direction Bayeux, and a reference point in a remnant of Atlantic forest. To obtain the urban heat island the reference point was used as a parameter of the climatic conditions of a natural environment. The data of temperature and relative humidity were collected through thermometers (HOBO U-10), which were placed on steel tripods (1.5 meters high) and monitored at uninterrupted intervals of 1 and 1 hour during the dry period and rainy region. The analysis of the data points to the formation of urban heat islands in the two periods evaluated in the city of Bayeux / PB, being the center of the city, the most critical area with the most intense heat islands. The vegetative cover played a predominant role in the climatic mitigation of the experimental samples as well as the presence of precipitation. The areas with impermeable soil cover presented the largest heat islands and contributed to the thermal discomfort of the study area. Keywords: Urban Climate, Thermodynamic Field, Urban Heat Island.

scholarly journals Observational evidence of urban heat island intensification during heatwaves in European cities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Possega ◽  
Leonardo Aragão ◽  
Paolo Ruggieri ◽  
Marco Antonio Santo ◽  
Silvana Di Sabatino
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Observational Evidence ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Urban Heat

<p>Heat waves (HWs) are extreme weather conditions characterized by persistent high temperatures with considerable impacts on society in terms of<br>mortality, thermal stress and energy demand of the population. One of the most interesting aspects of HWs concerns the interaction with the phenomenon<br>of urban heat island (UHI). The UHI is the tendency of urbanized areas to have warmer temperatures than the surrounding rural areas, mainly due to the thermal<br>properties of materials forming urban environment and the heat produced by human activities. Some studies analyzed the behavior of UHI during periods of<br>extreme heat, showing an amplification of the gradient of temperature between urban and rural areas in HW conditions, but results are often limited to case<br>studies with a single HW and/or a specific city. Other papers dealt with the same topic by examining events on various cities using outputs of global models,<br>but with resolution insufficient to include in detail urban-scale processes and therefore to take into account specific properties of the cities investigated. The<br>approach of this work consisted in providing observational evidence and extending the aforementioned results, studying the effect of HWs on UHI in 41 European cities<br>with different characteristics (geography, topography, urban planning) through the analysis of daily maximum / minimum temperatures data measured by<br>meteorological stations for the summers of period 2000-2019. In particular, the intensity of UHI was assessed through the computation of a Composite UHI Index<br>(UHII), defined as the difference between averaged urban and non-urban values. The different behavior of UHII during HWs compared to "normal" summer days<br>(NO) in selected European cities was investigated, detecting an intensification of index values regarding periods of extreme heat for the majority of examined<br>locations. More specifically, the analysis of temporal evolution of UHII was conducted, revealing an average increase of this index during the occurrence of<br>HW events due to higher urban than rural temperatures. This work provides an indication of how European urban areas respond to severe hot periods and could<br>be useful to validate numerical model simulations for more detailed analysis, for example regarding mitigation strategies. Finally, the emergence of some outliers,<br>namely cities whose UHI manifested a different reaction to HWs, may deserve dedicated studies in the future.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Analysis of UHI using Geo-Spatial Techniques: A case study of Ahmedabad

2014 ◽  
Vol XL-8 ◽  
pp. 997-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Vyas ◽  
B. Shastri ◽  
Y. Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The City

As per the current estimates, nearly half of the world’s population lives in the cities, by 2030 it is calculated to increase to 70%. This calls for a need of more sustainable structure in the urban areas as to support increase in the urban population. Urban Heat Island is one such conspicuous phenomenon which has its significance at local regional and also at the global levels. It is a microscale temperature variation between urban and rural areas, in which urban area are warmer compare to surrounding rural area. The temperature difference between the urban and the rural areas are usually modest, averaging less than 1°C, but occasionally rising to several degrees when urban, topographical and meteorological conditions are favorable for the UHI to develop. It is defined as the phenomena where in the occurrence of surface and atmospheric modifications due to the urbanization causes modification in the thermal climatic conditions which results into warmer areas as compared to the surrounding non urbanized areas, particularly in night. In that case urban built forms such as buildings, roofs, pavements etc. absorb more solar heat/radiation and remain warmer throughout the day time and slowly release energy during night time. The two major causes are rapid urbanization and anthropogenic heat generated due to transport and industrial activities. Urban Heat Island is a crucial subject for global environment. Urbanization has significant effects on local weather and climate. Among these effects one of the most popular is the urban heat island, for which the temperatures of the central urban locations are several degrees higher than those of nearby rural areas of similar elevation. Satellite data provides important inputs for estimating regional surface albedo and evapo-transpiration required in the studies related to surface energy balance. <br><br> The phenomenon of UHI affects environment and population in so many ways it can also be considered as an active element that cause vulnerabilities to human health, the marginal population affected largely as the natural environment is their only home or their main shelter. Furthermore elderly people also affected in greater amount as their weakening immunes system. Major effects of UHI on environment include: a) Air Quality, b) Energy consumption and c) Human health. <br><br> To study the causes and effect of UHI of any urban area, the first step is to demarcate the spatial distribution of UHI and its intensity over different time period of the day as well as difference in the temperature of urban area with the surrounding rural areas. Secondly, study of land use land cover change in the area also helps in identifying causes of heat accumulation for particular region. After marking up of intensity, analysis of different zones for understanding the relationship between UHI and urban morphological features can be done which further became suggestive towards planning of urban center that mitigates the effect of UHI. Mainly two approaches are there to demarcate UHI study as: <br><br> &ndash; Field data collection and observations <br> &ndash; Remote sensing data analysis <br><br> For a long period of time observations from interior of the city and outwards of it can analyze by a climatic methods, by observing many days as well as many times of a day continuously to analyze the daily variation law of the heat island effects. As the city is for its developmental approaches may cover an area of hundreds of square kilometers, the ground observation data is not able to provide enough detail about the urban heat island distribution characteristics. The most precise method is the Satellite Remote Sensing method. The UHI phenomenon can be analyzed by using the thermal infrared data obtained meteorological satellite sensing. The atmospheric attenuation can be corrected for the remote sensing data by use of meteorological soundings and ground observation data. Ideally the heat island effect over a city is not same for any other city. <br><br> Satellite images from AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) or ENVISAT AATSR provides thermal infrared data and comparatively easy to acquire, process and analyze. In the case of Ahmedabad city, land cover changes over the time is to be studied by classifying the image and then temperature can be derived by using a quadratic regression model from Malaret at al. (1985). Band 6 produces the images that show the relative difference emitted thermal energy that correlate in part with the effects of solar heating on surface of varying composition and orientation. The surface temperatures are suitable to detect UHI at Urban canopy level. Nichol (1996) found that surface temperatures extracted are moreover similar to the actual ambient air temperatures recorded. <br><br> The paper has narrated analylitical framework on which the research has been carried out. The result derived on Land Surface Temperature variation causing Urban Heat Island, its relationship with the land use land cover. A time series data has been used. Authors are thankful to Ms. Darshana Rawal, Ms. Pallavi Knahdewal and Mr. Hardik Panchal.

scholarly journals The mechanisms and seasonal differences of the impact of aerosols on daytime surface urban heat island effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 6479-6493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Han ◽  
Zhanqing Li ◽  
Fang Wu ◽  
Yuwei Zhang ◽  
Jianping Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Dynamic Effect ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The urban heat island intensity (UHII) is the temperature difference between urban areas and their rural surroundings. It is commonly attributed to changes in the underlying surface structure caused by urbanization. Air pollution caused by aerosol particles can affect the UHII through changing (1) the surface energy balance by the aerosol radiative effect (ARE) and (2) planetary-boundary-layer (PBL) stability and airflow intensity by modifying thermodynamic structure, which is referred to as the aerosol dynamic effect (ADE). By analyzing satellite data and ground-based observations collected from 2001 to 2010 at 35 cities in China and using the WRF-Chem model, we find that the impact of aerosols on UHII differs considerably: reducing the UHII in summer but increasing the UHII in winter. This seasonal contrast is proposed to be caused by the different strengths of the ARE and ADE between summer and winter. In summer, the ARE on UHII is dominant over the ADE, cooling down surface temperature more strongly in urban areas than in rural areas because of much higher aerosol loading, and offsets the urban heating, therefore weakening UHII. In winter, however, the ADE is more dominant, because aerosols stabilize the PBL more in the polluted condition, weakening the near-surface heat transport over urban areas in both vertical and horizontal directions. This means that the heat accumulated in urban areas is dispersed less effectively, and thus the UHII is enhanced. These findings shed new light on the impact of the interaction between urbanization-induced surface changes and air pollution on urban climate.

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