Temporal variations in heat fluxes over a central European city centre

Summary Energy fluxes have been measured over an area near the centre of the city of Łódź, Poland, since November 2000. The site was selected because the building style (surface cover and morphology) is typical of European cities, yet distinct from the majority of cities where energy balance observations have been studied thus far. The multi-year dataset permits consideration of temporal changes in energy balance partitioning over a wide range of seasonal and synoptic conditions and of the role of heat storage and anthropogenic fluxes in the energy balance. Partitioning of net radiation into the turbulent fluxes is consistent in the two years, with the largest differences occurring due to differing precipitation. The monthly ensemble diurnal cycles of the turbulent fluxes over the two years are similar. The largest differences occur during the July–September period, and are attributable to greater net radiation and lower rainfall in 2002. The latent heat flux accounts for approximately 40% of the turbulent heat transfer on an annual basis. The average daily daytime Bowen ratio and its variability are slightly reduced during the summer (growing) season. Anthropogenic heat is a significant input to the urban energy balance in the winter. The fluxes observed in this study are consistent with results from other urban sites.