An Observational Case Study of Synergies between an Intense Heat Wave and the Urban Heat Island in Beijing

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning An ◽  
Jingjing Dou ◽  
Jorge E. González-Cruz ◽  
Robert D. Bornstein ◽  
Shiguang Miao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Apparent Temperature ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Canopy Layer ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Peak Pattern ◽  
Intense Heat

AbstractThe focus of this study is an intense heat episode that occurred on 9–13 July 2017 in Beijing, China, that resulted in severe impacts on natural and human variables, including record-setting daily electricity consumption levels. This event was observed and analyzed with a suite of local and mesoscale instruments, including a high-density automated weather station network, soil moisture sensors, and ground-based vertical instruments (e.g., a wind profiler, a ceilometer, and three radiometers) situated in and around the city, as well as electric power consumption data and analysis data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The results show that the heat wave originated from dry adiabatic warming induced by the dynamic downslope and synoptic subsidence. The conditions were aggravated by the increased air humidity during subsequent days, which resulted in historically high records of the heat index (i.e., an index representing the apparent temperature that incorporates both air temperature and moisture). The increased thermal energy and decreased boundary layer height resulted in a highly energized urban boundary layer. The differences between urban and rural thermal conditions throughout almost the entire boundary layer were enhanced during the heat wave, and the canopy-layer urban heat island intensity (UHII) reached up to 8°C at a central urban station at 2300 local standard time 10 July. A double-peak pattern in the diurnal cycle of UHIIs occurred during the heat wave and differed from the single-peak pattern of the decadal average UHII cycles. Different spatial distributions of UHII values occurred during the day and night.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Urban Heat Island during an Intense Heat Wave in Oklahoma City

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey B. Basara ◽  
Heather G. Basara ◽  
Bradley G. Illston ◽  
Kenneth C. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Oklahoma City ◽  
Apparent Temperature ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Intense Heat

During late July and early August 2008, an intense heat wave occurred in Oklahoma City. To quantify the impact of the urban heat island (UHI) in Oklahoma City on observed and apparent temperature conditions during the heat wave event, this study used observations from 46 locations in and around Oklahoma City. The methodology utilized composite values of atmospheric conditions for three primary categories defined by population and general land use: rural, suburban, and urban. The results of the analyses demonstrated that a consistent UHI existed during the study period whereby the composite temperature values within the urban core were approximately C warmer during the day than the rural areas and over C warmer at night. Further, when the warmer temperatures were combined with ambient humidity conditions, the composite values consistently revealed even warmer heat-related variables within the urban environment as compared with the rural zone.

Can climate adaptation solutions fix the urban heat island? An assessment of the thermal conditions during heat waves in Vienna impacted by climate change and urban development scenarios for the mid-21st-century

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hamer ◽  
Heidelinde Trimmel ◽  
Philipp Weihs ◽  
Stéphanie Faroux ◽  
Herbert Formayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Human Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Heat

<p>Climate change threatens to exacerbate existing problems in urban areas arising from the urban heat island. Furthermore, expansion of urban areas and rising urban populations will increase the numbers of people exposed to hazards in these vulnerable areas. We therefore urgently need study of these environments and in-depth assessment of potential climate adaptation measures.</p><p>We present a study of heat wave impacts across the urban landscape of Vienna for different future development pathways and for both present and future climatic conditions. We have created two different urban development scenarios that estimate potential urban sprawl and optimized development concerning future building construction in Vienna and have built a digital representation of each within the Town Energy Balance (TEB) urban surface model. In addition, we select two heat waves of similar frequency of return representative for present and future conditions (following the RCP8.5 scenario) of the mid 21<sup>st</sup> century and use the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to simulate both heat wave events. We then couple the two representations urban Vienna in TEB with the WRF heat wave simulations to estimate air temperature, surface temperatures and human thermal comfort during the heat waves. We then identify and apply a set of adaptation measures within TEB to try to identify potential solutions to the problems associated with the urban heat island.</p><p>Global and regional climate change under the RCP8.5 scenario causes the future heat wave to be more severe showing an increase of daily maximum air temperature in Vienna by 7 K; the daily minimum air temperature will increase by 2-4 K. We find that changes caused by urban growth or densification mainly affect air temperature and human thermal comfort local to where new urbanisation takes place and does not occur significantly in the existing central districts.</p><p>Exploring adaptation solutions, we find that a combination of near zero-energy standards and increasing albedo of building materials on the city scale accomplishes a maximum reduction of urban canyon temperature of 0.9 K for the minima and 0.2 K for the maxima. Local scale changes of different adaption measures show that insulation of buildings alone increases the maximum wall surface temperatures by more than 10 K or the maximum mean radiant temperature (MRT) in the canyon by 5 K.  Therefore, additional adaptation to reduce MRT within the urban canyons like tree shade are needed to complement the proposed measures.</p><p>This study concludes that the rising air temperatures expected by climate change puts an unprecedented heat burden on Viennese inhabitants, which cannot easily be reduced by measures concerning buildings within the city itself. Additionally, measures such as planting trees to provide shade, regional water sensitive planning and global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce temperature extremes are required.</p><p>We are now actively seeking to apply this set of tools to a wider set of cases in order to try to find effective solutions to projected warming resulting from climate change in urban areas.</p>

scholarly journals Analysis of Urban Heat Island and Heat Waves Using Sentinel-3 Images: a Study of Andalusian Cities in Spain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hidalgo García
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Multivariate Relationships ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Wave Conditions

Abstract At present, understanding the synergies between the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) phenomenon and extreme climatic events entailing high mortality, i.e., heat waves, is a great challenge that must be faced to improve the quality of life in urban zones. The implementation of new mitigation and resilience measures in cities would serve to lessen the effects of heat waves and the economic cost they entail. In this research, the Land Surface Temperature (LST) and the SUHI were determined through Sentinel-3A and 3B images of the eight capitals of Andalusia (southern Spain) during the months of July and August of years 2019 and 2020. The objective was to determine possible synergies or interaction between the LST and SUHI, as well as between SUHI and heat waves, in a region classified as highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. For each Andalusian city, the atmospheric variables of ambient temperature, solar radiation, wind speed and direction were obtained from stations of the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET); the data were quantified and classified both in periods of normal environmental conditions and during heat waves. By means of Data Panel statistical analysis, the multivariate relationships were derived, determining which ones statistically influence the SUHI during heat wave periods. The results indicate that the LST and the mean SUHI obtained are statistically interacted and intensify under heat wave conditions. The greatest increases in daytime temperatures were seen for Sentinel-3A in cities by the coast (LST = 3.90 °C, SUHI = 1.44 °C) and for Sentinel-3B in cities located inland (LST = 2.85 °C, SUHI = 0.52 °C). The existence of statistically significant positive relationships above 99% (p < 0.000) between the SUHI and solar radiation, and between the SUHI and the direction of the wind, intensified in periods of heat wave, could be verified. An increase in the urban area affected by the SUHI under heat wave conditions is reported. Graphical Abstract

scholarly journals Opposite Effects of Aerosols on Daytime Urban Heat Island Intensity between Summer and Winter

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Han ◽  
Zhanqing Li ◽  
Fang Wu ◽  
Yuwei Zhang ◽  
Jianping Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Heat Island Intensity ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Different Seasons ◽  
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 by changing the surface energy balance and atmospheric thermodynamic structure. 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 found that aerosols have very different effects on daytime UHII in different seasons: reducing the UHII in summer, but increasing the UHII in winter. The seasonal contrast in the spatial distribution of aerosols between the urban centers and the suburbs lead to a spatial discrepancy in aerosol radiative effect (SD-ARE). Additionally, different stability of the planetary boundary layer induced by aerosol is closely associated with a dynamic effect (DE) on the UHII. SD-ARE reduces the amount of radiation reaching the ground and changes the vertical temperature gradient, whereas DE increases the stability of the planetary boundary layer and weakens heat release and exchange between the surface and the PBL. Both effects exist under polluted conditions, but their relative roles are opposite between the two seasons. It is the joint effects of the SD-ARE and the DE that drive the UHII to behave differently in different seasons, which is confirmed by model simulations. In summer, the UHII is mainly affected by the SD-ARE, and the DE is weak, and the opposite is the case in winter. This finding sheds a new light on the impact of the interaction between urbanization-induced surface changes and air pollution on urban climate.

Interaction between heat wave and urban heat island: A case study in a tropical coastal city, Singapore

2021 ◽  
Vol 247 ◽  
pp. 105134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lup Wai Chew ◽  
Xuan Liu ◽  
Xian-Xiang Li ◽  
Leslie K. Norford
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Coastal City ◽  
Urban Heat

Satellite and Ground Estimates of Surface and Canopy-Layer Urban Heat Island

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Bakul Budhiraja ◽  
Prasad Pathak ◽  
Girish Agarwal ◽  
Raja Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Canopy Layer ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Climate Zones ◽  
Tropical Cities ◽  
Urban Heat

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the prominent impacts of urbanization that affects human health and energy consumption. As the data is limited and inconsistent, UHI comparative studies between UHIUCL and UHISurf on the seasonal scale are limited. The use of only daytime summer imagery reporting “Inverted UHI” undermines the holistic view of the phenomenon. Therefore, this study analyses the seasonal patterns for UHISurf and UHIUCL in three climate zones (Delhi, Pune, and Montreal). The three cities experience a high traditional night-time UHIUCL (Delhi 7°C, Pune 6°C, Montreal 1.89°C). Landsat captures a prominent daytime UHISurf (15°C) in Montreal with temperate climate and daytime inverted UHISurf (-4°C) for Delhi in summer. Seasonally, the night-time UHI is prominent in summer and monsoon for Delhi, summer and spring for Pune, and summer for Montreal. Due to UHI effect, the heatwaves can be more intense in semi-arid and tropical cities than temperate cities.

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