scholarly journals Quantifying Surface Urban Heat Island Formation in the World Heritage Tropical Mountain City of Sri Lanka

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
DMSLB Dissanayake ◽  
Yuji Murayama ◽  
Xinmin Zhang ◽  
Ronald C. Estoque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Green Space ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
The World ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Mean

Presently, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon, and its adverse impacts, are becoming major research foci in various interrelated fields due to rapid changes in urban ecological environments. Various cities have been investigated in previous studies, and most of the findings have facilitated the introduction of proper mitigation measures to overcome the negative impact of UHI. At present, most of the mountain cities of the world have undergone rapid urban development, and this has resulted in the increasing surface UHI (SUHI) phenomenon. Hence, this study focuses on quantifying SUHI in Kandy City, the world heritage tropical mountain city of Sri Lanka, using Landsat data (1996 and 2017) based on the mean land surface temperature (LST), the difference between the fraction of impervious surfaces (IS), and the fraction of green space (GS). Additionally, we examined the relationship of LST to the green space/impervious surface fraction ratio (GS/IS fraction ratio) and the magnitude of the GS/IS fraction ratio. The SUHI intensity (SUHII) was calculated based on the temperature difference between main land use/cover categories and the temperature difference between urban-rural zones. We demarcated the rural zone based on the fraction of IS recorded, <10%, along with the urban-rural gradient zone. The result shows a SUHII increase from 3.9 °C in 1996 to 6.2 °C in 2017 along the urban-rural gradient between the urban and rural zones (10 < IS). These results relate to the rapid urban expansion of the study areas from 1996 to 2017. Most of the natural surfaces have changed to impervious surfaces, causing an increase of SUHI in Kandy City. The mean LST has a positive relationship with the fraction of IS and a negative relationship with the fraction of GS. Additionally, the GS/IS fraction ratio shows a rapid decline. Thus, the findings of this study can be considered as a proxy indicator for introducing proper landscape and urban planning for the World Heritage tropical mountain city of Kandy in Sri Lanka.

scholarly journals Spatial Analysis of Surface Urban Heat Islands in Four Rapidly Growing African Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 1645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matamyo Simwanda ◽  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
Ronald C. Estoque ◽  
Yuji Murayama
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Impervious Surface ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Urban Heat

Africa’s unprecedented, uncontrolled and unplanned urbanization has put many African cities under constant ecological and environmental threat. One of the critical ecological impacts of urbanization likely to adversely affect Africa’s urban dwellers is the urban heat island (UHI) effect. However, UHI studies in African cities remain uncommon. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the spatial patterns, composition and configuration of impervious surfaces/green spaces in four African cities, Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Lusaka (Zambia). Landsat OLI/TIRS data and various geospatial approaches, including urban–rural gradient, urban heat island intensity, statistics and urban landscape metrics-based techniques, were used to facilitate the analysis. The results show significantly strong correlation between mean LST and the density of impervious surface (positive) and green space (negative) along the urban–rural gradients of the four African cities. The study also found high urban heat island intensities in the urban zones close (0 to 10 km) to the city center for all cities. Generally, cities with a higher percentage of the impervious surface were warmer by 3–4 °C and vice visa. This highlights the crucial mitigating effect of green spaces. We also found significant correlations between the mean LST and urban landscape metrics (patch density, size, shape, complexity and aggregation) of impervious surfaces (positive) and green spaces (negative). The study revealed that, although most African cities have relatively larger green space to impervious surface ratio with most green spaces located beyond the urban footprint, the UHI effect is still evident. We recommend that urban planners and policy makers should consider mitigating the UHI effect by restoring the urban ecosystems in the remaining open spaces in the urban area and further incorporate strategic combinations of impervious surfaces and green spaces in future urban and landscape planning.

Conversion of Abandoned Property to Green Space as a Strategy to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Investigated with Numerical Simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 1827-1843
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Cady ◽  
David A. Rahn ◽  
Nathaniel A. Brunsell ◽  
Ward Lyles
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Aggressive Approach ◽  
Urban Heat

AbstractImpervious surfaces and buildings in the urban environment alter the radiative balance and surface energy exchange and can lead to warmer temperatures known as the urban heat island (UHI), which can increase heat-related illness and mortality. Continued urbanization and anthropogenic warming will enhance city temperatures worldwide, raising the need for viable mitigation strategies. Increasing green space throughout a city is a viable option to lessen the impacts of the UHI but can be difficult to implement. The potential impact of converting existing vacant lots in Kansas City, Missouri, to green spaces is explored with numerical simulations for three heat-wave events. Using data on vacant property and identifying places with a high fraction of impervious surfaces, the most suitable areas for converting vacant lots to green spaces is determined. Land-use/land-cover datasets are modified to simulate varying degrees of feasible conversion of urban to green spaces in these areas, and the local cooling effect using each strategy is compared with the unmodified simulation. Under more aggressive greening strategies, a mean local cooling impact of 0.5°–1.0°C is present within the focus area itself during the nighttime hours. Some additional cooling via the “park cool island” is possible downwind of the converted green spaces under the more aggressive scenarios. Although moderate and conservative strategies of conversion could still lead to other benefits, those strategies have little impact on cooling. Only an aggressive approach yields significant cooling.

scholarly journals Spatial Variation of Land Use/Cover Composition and Impact on Surface Urban Heat Island in a Tropical Sub-Saharan City of Accra, Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7953
Author(s):  
Darshana Athukorala ◽  
Yuji Murayama
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Bare Land ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Sub Saharan

Rapid urbanization is one of the most crucial issues in the world of the 21st century. Notably, the urban heat island phenomenon is becoming more prominent in megacities and their hinterlands in temperate and subtropical climatic regions. In the daytime in summer, there exists a high possibility of accelerating the land surface temperature (LST) in desert cities, due to the alterations made by human beings in the natural environment. In this study, we investigate the spatial formation of LST in a tropical sub-Saharan city of Accra, a gateway to West Africa, using Landsat data in 2003 and 2017. Machine learning techniques and the different spatial and statistical methods such as tasseled cap transformation (TCT), urban-rural gradient, and multiresolution grid-based and landscape metrics were employed to examine procured land use/cover (LUC) and LST maps. LUC was classified into five categories: Built up, Green 1, Green 2, Bare land, and Water. The results of the analysis indicate that Built up, Green 2, and Bare land had caused the highest heating effect while Green 1 and Water had caused the considerable cooling effect during the daytime in Accra. The urban-rural difference in LST recorded 1.4 °C in 2003 and 0.28 °C in 2017. The mean size, mean shape, largest patch, and aggregation of Built up, Green 1, and Green 2 had a strong relationship with the mean LST. It is essential for urban planners to carefully examine the formation and effect of the urban heat island (UHI) for sustainable urban development and landscape policy toward mitigation and adaptation planning in Accra.

scholarly journals The Impacts of Landscape Changes on Annual Mean Land Surface Temperature in the Tropical Mountain City of Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Nuwara Eliya (1996–2017)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
Yuji Murayama ◽  
DMSLB Dissanayake ◽  
Matamyo Simwanda
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
Rural Zone ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Grid Based

Although urbanization has contributed to improving living conditions, it has had negative impacts on the natural environment in urbanized areas. Urbanization has changed the urban landscape and resulted in increasing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, studies related to LST in various urban environments have become popular. However, there are few LST studies focusing on mountain landscapes (i.e., hill stations). Therefore, this study investigated the changes in the landscape and their impacts on LST intensity (LSTI) in the tropical mountain city of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. The study utilized annual median temperatures extracted from Landsat data collected from 1996 to 2017 based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) interface. The fractions of built-up (BL), forested (FL) and agricultural (AL) land, were calculated using land use and cover maps based on urban–rural zone (URZ) analysis. The urban–rural margin was demarcated based on the fractions of BL (<10%), and LSTI that were measured using the mean LST difference in the urban–rural zone. Besides, the mixture of land-use types was calculated using the AL/FL and BL/FL fraction ratios, and grid-based density analysis. The results revealed that the BL in all URZs rapidly developed, while AL decreased during the period 1996 to 2017. There was a minimal change in the forest area of the Nuwara Eliya owing to the government’s forest preservation policies. The mean temperature of the study area increased by 2.1 °C from 1996 to 2017. The magnitude of mean LST between urban–rural zones also increased from 1.0 °C (1996) to 3.5 °C (2017). The results also showed that mean LST was positively correlated with the increase and decrease of the BL/FL and AL/FL fraction ratios, respectively. The grid-based analysis showed an increasing, positive relationship between mean LST and density of BL. This indicated that BL density had been a crucial element in increasing LST in the study area. The results of this study will be a useful indicator to introduce improved landscape and urban planning in the future to minimize the negative impact of LST on urban sustainability.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Variation of Urban Heat Islands for Implementing Nature-Based Solutions: A Case Study of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
Sujith S. Ratnayake ◽  
DMSLB Dissanayake ◽  
Lalit Kumar ◽  
Hasula Wickremasinghe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variation ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Positive Temperature ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Mean

Changes in the urban landscape resulting from rapid urbanisation and climate change have the potential to increase land surface temperature (LST) and the incidence of the urban heat island (UHI). An increase in urban heat directly affects urban livelihoods and systems. This study investigated the spatiotemporal variation of the UHI in the Kurunegala urban area (KUA) of North-Western Province, Sri Lanka. The KUA is one of the most intensively developing economic and administrative capitals in Sri Lanka with an urban system that is facing climate vulnerabilities and challenges of extreme heat conditions. We examined the UHI formation for the period 1996–2019 and its impact on the urban-systems by exploring nature-based solutions (NBS). This study used annual median temperatures based on Landsat data from 1996 to 2019 using the Google Earth Engine (GEE). Various geospatial approaches, including spectral index-based land use/cover mapping (1996, 2009 and 2019), urban-rural gradient zones, UHI profile, statistics and grid-based analysis, were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that the mean LST increased by 5.5 °C between 1996 and 2019 mainly associated with the expansion pattern of impervious surfaces. The mean LST had a positive correlation with impervious surfaces and a negative correlation with the green spaces in all the three time-points. Impacts due to climate change, including positive temperature and negative rainfall anomalies, contributed to the increase in LST. The study recommends interactively applying NBS to addressing the UHI impacts with effective mitigation and adaptation measures for urban sustainability.

scholarly journals Quantitative Analysis of Factors Contributing to Urban Heat Island Intensity

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 842-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Hee Ryu ◽  
Jong-Jin Baik
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Anthropogenic Heat ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Impervious Surfaces ◽  
Additional Heat ◽  
Urban Geometry ◽  
Causative Factors ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Vertical Walls

AbstractThis study identifies causative factors of the urban heat island (UHI) and quantifies their relative contributions to the daytime and nighttime UHI intensities using a mesoscale atmospheric model that includes a single-layer urban canopy model. A midlatitude city and summertime conditions are considered. Three main causative factors are identified: anthropogenic heat, impervious surfaces, and three-dimensional (3D) urban geometry. Furthermore, the 3D urban geometry factor is subdivided into three subfactors: additional heat stored in vertical walls, radiation trapping, and wind speed reduction. To separate the contributions of the factors and interactions between the factors, a factor separation analysis is performed. In the daytime, the impervious surfaces contribute most to the UHI intensity. The anthropogenic heat contributes positively to the UHI intensity, whereas the 3D urban geometry contributes negatively. In the nighttime, the anthropogenic heat itself contributes most to the UHI intensity, although it interacts strongly with other factors. The factor that contributes the second most is the impervious-surfaces factor. The 3D urban geometry contributes positively to the nighttime UHI intensity. Among the 3D urban geometry subfactors, the additional heat stored in vertical walls contributes most to both the daytime and nighttime UHI intensities. Extensive sensitivity experiments to anthropogenic heat intensity and urban surface parameters show that the relative importance and ranking order of the contributions are similar to those in the control experiment.

scholarly journals Patterns of Urban Heat Island Effect in Adelaide: A Mobile Traverse Experiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Ehsan Sharifi ◽  
Ali Soltani
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Urban Heat Island Effect ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Island Effect ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Urban Heat

Urban structure, hard surfaces and shortage of vegetation cause an artificial temperature increase in cities, known as the urban heat island effect. This paper determines the daily patterns of urban heat in Adelaide, Australia. The near-surface temperature profile of Adelaide was mapped in 60 journeys alongside a straight cross route connecting Adelaide Hills to the West Beach between 26 July and 15 August 2013. Results indicate that the most intense urban-rural temperature differences occurred during midnight in Adelaide. However, the afternoon urban heat had more temperature variation in the urban area. In the late afternoon, the near-surface urban heat fluctuates by 2°C within three kilometres and by 1.2°C in just one kilometer. Afternoon heat stress can vary based on space configurations and urban surface covers. Afternoon heat stress causes the highest heat load on urban dwellers. A better understanding of daily urban heat variations in cities assists urban policy making and public life management in the context of climate change.

scholarly journals Influence of Spatial Characteristics of Green Spaces on Microclimate: A Case Study in Suzhou Industrial Park, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangdong Xiao ◽  
Lulu Zhang ◽  
Yimei Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Industrial Park ◽  
Air Cooling ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Heat

Abstract Continuous urban development leads to urban heat island effects. Research suggests that urban green spaces can help effectively reduce urban heat island effects in the summer. Previous studies have mainly focused on the influence of different underlying surfaces on air cooling and humidification. There is a lack of in-depth research on the relationship between park structure and microclimatic effects. Here, we examined the main landscape parameters of green spaces in 15 parks located in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) with a subtropical maritime monsoon climate zone during the summer to analyze their influence on the microclimate. The average cooling and humidifying effect of medium-size green spaces was most significant during high-temperature hours in the daytime. When the distance to a water body was the same, the average cooling and humidifying effect ranked as follows: large-size green space > small-size green space > medium-size green space. We explored the mechanisms of the local cooling and humidifying effects of woodland and water areas in parks by numerical simulations. The significance of the cooling and humidifying effects of water areas of different shapes was as follows: annular water > massive water > banded water. This confirmed that the shape and size of water areas within a green space has a significant influence on local cooling and humidification.

Effects of Dubai coastline extreme urbanization in land and sea on local near-surface climate variables patterns

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Elhacham ◽  
Pinhas Alpert
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Modis Data ◽  
The World ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Surface Urban Heat Island ◽  
Coastal Urbanization ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Over a billion people currently live in coastal areas, and coastal urbanization is rapidly growing worldwide. Here, we explore the impact of an extreme and rapid coastal urbanization on near-surface climatic variables, based on MODIS data, Landsat and some in-situ observations. We study Dubai, one of the fastest growing cities in the world over the last two decades. Dubai's urbanization centers along its coastline &amp;#8211; in land, massive skyscrapers and infrastructure have been built, while in sea, just nearby, unique artificial islands have been constructed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Studying the coastline during the years of intense urbanization (2001-2014), we show that the coastline exhibits surface urban heat island characteristics, where the urban center experiences higher temperatures, by as much as 2.0&amp;#176;C and more, compared to the adjacent less urbanized zones. During development, the coastal surface urban heat island has nearly doubled its size, expanding towards the newly developed areas. This newly developed zone also exhibited the largest temperature trend along the coast, exceeding 0.1&amp;#176;C/year on average.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Overall, we found that over land, temperature increases go along with albedo decreases, while in sea, surface temperature decreases and albedo increases were observed particularly over the artificial islands. These trends in land and sea temperatures affect the land-sea temperature gradient which influences the breeze intensity. The above findings, along with the increasing relative humidity shown, directly affect the local population and ecosystem and add additional burden to this area, which is already considered as one of the warmest in the world and a climate change 'hot spot'.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;E. Elhacham and P. Alpert, &quot;Impact of coastline-intensive anthropogenic activities on the atmosphere from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data in Dubai (2001&amp;#8211;2014)&quot;, &lt;em&gt;Earth&amp;#8217;s Future&lt;/em&gt;, 4, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015EF000325&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;E. Elhacham and P. Alpert, &quot;Temperature patterns along an arid coastline experiencing extreme and rapid urbanization, case study: Dubai&quot;, submitted.&lt;/p&gt;

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