Trends of urban surface temperature and heat island characteristics in the Mediterranean

Urban air temperature studies usually focus on the urban canopy heat island phenomenon, whereby the city center experiences higher near surface air temperatures compared to its surrounding non-urban areas. The Land Surface Temperature (LST) is used instead of urban air temperature to identify the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI). In this study, the nighttime LST and SUHI characteristics and trends in the seventeen largest Mediterranean cities were investigated, by analyzing satellite observations for the period 2001–2012. SUHI averages and trends were based on an innovative approach of comparing urban pixels to randomly selected non-urban pixels, which carries the potential to better standardize satellite-derived SUHI estimations. A positive trend for both LST and SUHI for the majority of the examined cities was documented. Furthermore, a 0.1 °C decade^?1 increase in urban LST corresponded to an increase in SUHI by about 0.04 °C decade^?1. A longitudinal differentiation was found in the urban LST trends, with higher positive values appearing in the eastern Mediterranean. Examination of urban infrastructure and development factors during the same period revealed correlations with SUHI trends, which can be used to explain differences among cities. However, the majority of the cities examined show considerably increased trends in terms of the enhancement of SUHI. These findings are considered important so as to promote sustainable urbanization, as well as to support the development of heat island adaptation and mitigation plans in the Mediterranean.     

Responses of urban heat island in Atlanta to different land-use scenarios

The urban heat island (UHI) effect changes heat and water cycles in urban areas, and has been accused of elevating energy consumption, deteriorating living environment, and increasing mortality rates. Understanding various UHI effects necessitates a systematic modeling approach. A major problem in UHI simulations is that urban areas were either considered to have only one category of land use/cover or outdated in land use/cover patterns due to the lack of high resolution data. Therefore, this study aims at integrating up-to-date remotely sensed land use/cover data with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF/UCM)/Urban Canopy Model modeling systems to simulate surface temperature patterns in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, three land-use scenarios, i.e., spontaneous scenario (SS), concentrated scenario (CS), and local policy scenario (LPS), were designed and incorporated into the modeling. Five numerical experiments were conducted by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to explore the impact of urbanization-induced land-cover changes on temperature patterns. Land use and land-cover patterns under all three scenarios suggested that urban growth would continue through in-filling development and outward expansion. Compared to temperature simulations in 2011, temperature maps corresponding to the three urban growth scenarios showed warmer and cooler temperature patterns outside and inside the urban core, respectively. Analysis of the mean diurnal temperature cycle suggested that the highest temperature difference of 3.9 K was observed between 2011 and the LPS, and occurred around 22:00 local time. Overall, the simulations showed different UHI effects respond to the land-use scenarios in the summer. It is recommended for urban managers and policy makers to reflect on the potential impacts of alternative urban growth policies on thermal environment.     

南京夏季城市热岛时空分布特征的观测分析

利用2010年南京夏季城市热岛三维观测试验资料,分析了南京夏季典型天气条件下城市热岛的时空分布特征。结果表明,南京夏季高温晴天日平均热岛强度达1℃以上,夜间热岛强度稳定且强于白天,热岛分布具有方向性特征并与城市土地利用现状对应较好。白天,城市大气混合层的发展速度和高度均大于郊区;夜间,由于城市大气层结的不稳定及下垫面的粗糙特性,致使城市低空始终存在着一个对流混合层,其高度至少有250 m。城市下垫面高热量储存和强湍流输送的共同作用形成边界层内热岛,热岛强度总体上随高度递减,影响高度在白天约900 m、夜间约300 m。     

Temporal characteristics of the Beijing urban heat island

Summary This paper describes the inter-annual trend, and the seasonal and hourly variation of the near surface urban heat island (UHI) in Beijing. The surface air temperature data (mean, maximum, and minimum) from one urban (downtown Beijing) and one rural (70 km from downtown Beijing) station were used for the period 1977 and 2000. It is found that the temperatures in both urban and rural stations show an increasing tendency. Specifically, minimum temperature shows the greatest tendency at the urban station whereas maximum temperature shows the greatest increase at the rural station. The UHI intensity obtained by calculating the difference in temperatures between the two stations identifies that the intensity is greatest and has the greatest increasing trend for minimum temperature, while the UHI intensity of maximum temperature shows a slow decrease over time. UHI intensity for minimum temperature has a strong positive correlation with the increase in the urban population and the expansion of the yearly construction area. Seasonal analyses showed the UHI intensity is strongest in winter. This seasonal UHI variation tends to be negatively correlated with the seasonal variation of relative humidity and vapor pressure. Hourly variation reveals that the strongest UHI intensity is observed in the late nighttime or evening, while the weakest is observed during the day.     

The surface urban heat island in the city of Brno (Czech Republic) derived from land surface temperatures and selected reasons for its spatial variability

Thermal infrared images from Landsat satellites are used to derive land surface temperatures (LST) and to calculate the intensity of the surface urban heat island (UHI) during the summer season in and around the city of Brno (Czech Republic). Overall relief, land use structure, and the distribution of built-up areas determine LST and UHI spatial variability in the study area. Land-cover classes, amount and vigor of vegetation, and density of built-up areas are used as explanatory variables. The highest LST values typically occur in industrial and commercial areas, which contribute significantly to surface UHI intensity. The intensity of surface UHI, defined as the difference between mean LST for urban and rural areas, reached 4.2 and 6.7 °C in the two images analyzed. Analysis of two surface characteristics in terms of the amount of vegetation cover, represented by normalized difference vegetation index, demonstrates the predominance of LST variability (56–67 % of explained variance) over the degree of urbanization as represented by density of buildings (37–40 % of LST variance).     

Statistical and dynamical characteristics of the urban heat island intensity in Seoul

The statistical and dynamical characteristics of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Seoul are investigated for non-precipitation days and precipitation days using 4-year surface meteorological data with 1-h time intervals. Furthermore, the quantitative influence of synoptic pressure pattern on the UHI intensity is examined using a synoptic condition clustering method. The statistical analysis shows that the daily maximum UHI intensity in Seoul for non-precipitation days is strongest in autumn (4.8°C) and weakest in summer (3.5°C). The daily maximum UHI intensity is observed around midnight in all seasons except in winter when the maximum occurrence frequency is found around 08 LST. This implies that anthropogenic heating contributes to the UHI in the cold season. The occurrence frequency of the UHI intensity has a negatively skewed distribution for non-precipitation days but a positively skewed distribution for precipitation days. The amplitude of the heating/cooling rate and the difference in the heating/cooling rate between the urban and rural areas are smaller in all seasons for precipitation days than for non-precipitation days, resulting in weaker UHI intensities for precipitation days. The urban cool island occurs very often in the daytime, with an occurrence frequency being 77% of the total non-precipitation days in spring. The analysis of the impact of large-scale dynamical forcing shows that the daily maximum UHI intensity varies with synoptic pressure pattern, ranging from ?22% in spring to 28% in summer relative to the seasonal mean daily maximum UHI intensity. Comparison of the UHI intensity calculated using station-averaged temperatures to that based on the conventional two-station approach indicates that local effects on the UHI intensity are minimized by using multiple-station data. Accordingly, an estimation of the UHI intensity using station-averaged temperatures for both urban and rural areas is suggested.     

Temporal variability of the Buenos Aires, Argentina, urban heat island

This paper describes the statistical characteristics and temporal variability of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Buenos Aires using 32-year surface meteorological data with 1-h time intervals. Seasonal analyses show that the UHI intensity is strongest during summer months and an “inverse” effect is found frequently during the afternoon hours of the same season. During winter, the UHI effect is in the minimal. The interannual trend and the seasonal variation of the UHI for the main synoptic hours for a longer record of 48?years are studied and associated to changes in meteorological factors as low-level circulation and cloud amount. Despite the population growth, it was found a negative trend in the nocturnal UHI intensity that could be explained by a decline of near clear-sky conditions, a negative trend in the calm frequencies and an increase in wind speed. Urban to rural temperature differences and rural temperatures are negatively correlated for diurnal and nocturnal hours both for annual and seasonal scales. This result is due to the lower interannual variability of urban temperatures in comparison to rural ones.     

典型气象条件下城市热岛效应逐时变化特征

本文基于上海市典型城市和乡村站2017年逐时气象观测数据,详细分析和深入阐述了晴朗微风、大风、强降水和极端高温等典型气象条件下城市热岛强度逐时变化特征。通过分析上海市微风和极端高温等气象事件长期变化趋势,讨论了城市热岛效应未来变化趋势。伴随日出日落,年平均和微风晴朗条件下城市热岛强度呈现出快速降低—稳定低值—快速增加—稳定高值周期性昼夜变化特征,其中微风晴朗条件下城市热岛强度日内变化可高达7℃,而大风、强降水和高温等极端事件下城市热岛强度呈现出不一样的逐时变化特征。随着风速降低和气候变暖,过去40 a上海市微风和极端高温天气日数呈现快速增加趋势,其势必会加剧上海市城市热岛强度及其不利影响。     

天津城市热岛效应的时空变化特征

应用2008年天津市14个自动气象站逐小时资料和6h一次的地面常规资料,对天津城市热岛效应的时空特征进行了分析,结果表明：天津市热岛强度的日变化、月变化和年、季特征显著,且天津市热岛强度与城郊站的选择方法有密切关系。通过多元线性回归方法,分析了天津市热岛强度与云量、云高、风向、风速和相对湿度这5种气象要素的相关性,发现风速是影响天津城市热岛效应的显著气象因子,但总体而言气象要素对天津城市热岛效应的影响相对较小。     

武汉城市热岛效应及其影响要素分析

利用武汉市1961—2010年逐日气温观测资料和1981—2010年城市人口资料,采用城郊对比法、相关分析法、多元线性回归分析等方法,研究了武汉城市热岛效应及其影响要素。结果表明,武汉市自20世纪80年代后热岛效应显著,且随时间发展日益严重,2000年后有所减缓;冬季热岛效应较其他季节明显;最低气温对热岛增温贡献率达83.1%,最高气温和平均气温贡献率分别为33.3%和72.2%。总体而言,武汉为弱热岛强度等级。武汉市城市人口总数与热岛效应有较显著的正相关。气象要素中风速对热岛强度的影响较大。城市人口总数对城市热岛强度的影响更明显,武汉城市热岛受人为影响更严重。     

天津地区夏季海陆风对城市热岛日变化特征影响的观测分析

应用2008年天津市14个自动气象站逐小时观测资料、北京站探空资料和天津站6h一次的地面常规观测资料,分析了2008年天津地区夏季海陆风对城市热岛日变化特征的影响.结果表明:在大气层结稳定条件下,海陆风日与非海陆风日相比,天津市热岛强度的日变化幅度增大,海风能使城市降温,削弱城市热岛强度,推迟夜间热岛的出现时间,而陆风能使夜间热岛显著增强;天津市热岛强度与海风向内陆传播的距离有密切关系,在海陆风日,当天气尺度地转风与离岸风的方向一致时,海风的传播距离较近,而当天气尺度地转风与向岸风方向一致时,海风的传播距离较远,当海风只能到达津南、东丽或宁河站时,天津市热岛强度增幅最大,随着海风传播距离的增加,热岛强度的总体增幅减小.     

1981—2020年北京城市热岛效应时空特征及其影响因素分析

在气候变暖和快速城市化背景下,北京一直面临着城市热岛效应带来的环境问题。基于北京市1981—2020年逐日气温观测资料,采用线性回归、克里金插值和相关性分析等方法,研究了北京市城郊气温变化趋势以及北京市城市热岛强度(Urban Heat Island,UHI)的时空变化特征,并评估了气象因素、人口密度和土地利用/覆盖类型对城市热岛效应的影响。结果表明:近40 a来北京市城郊区的平均气温均呈上升的变化趋势,且城区气温增幅大于郊区,表明北京市UHI上升趋势显著。就季节而言,北京市冬季UHI最强(1.22 ℃),秋季次之,春、夏最弱,其中秋季UHI增幅最大。同时,北京市城市热岛效应范围也在逐渐扩大,其中城六区为高值区,热岛区由西北向东南方向延伸至城市副中心通州区,朝阳区和通州区增温趋势明显。2000年以来,北京市冬季UHI出现了显著的增加趋势,高值区UHI增加至1.6 ℃。此外,主成分分析表明人口、建设用地和气压对城市热岛效应的形成起促进作用,而风速和耕地是缓解城市热岛效应的重要影响因素。     

Mitigating the surface urban heat island: Mechanism study and sensitivity analysis

In a surface urban heat island (SUHI), the urban land surface temperature (LST) is usually higher than the temperature of the surrounding rural areas due to human activities and surface characteristics. Because a SUHI has many adverse impacts on urban environment and human health, SUHI mitigation strategies are very important. This paper investigates the mechanism of a SUHI based on the basic physical laws that control the formation of a SUHI; five mitigation strategies are proposed, namely: sprinkling and watering; paving a pervious surface; reducing the anthropogenic heat (AH) release; using a “white roof”; increasing the fractional vegetation cover or leaf area index (LAI). To quantify the effect of these mitigation strategies, 26 sets of experiments are designed and implemented by running the integrated urban land model (IUM). The results of the sensitivity analysis indicate that sprinkling and watering is an effective measure for mitigating a SUHI for an entire day. Decreasing the AH release is also useful for both night- and daytime SUHI mitigation; however, the cooling extent is proportional to the diurnal cycle of AH. Increasing the albedo can reduce the LST in the daytime, especially when the solar radiation is significant; the cooling extent is approximately proportional to the diurnal cycle of the net radiation. Increasing the pervious surface percentage can mitigate the SUHI especially in the daytime. Increasing the fractional vegetation cover can mitigate the SUHI in the daytime but may aggravate the SUHI at night.     

苏州夏季城市热岛现状及影响因子分析研究

利用2007年夏季常规和自动站气象观测资料,分析研究苏州城市热岛及其与影响因子关系.气温分布表明,市中心干将桥气温相对较高,而靠近太湖的新区镇湖镇、东山等郊区气温相对较低.苏州城市热岛强度日变化呈现双峰分布,两个峰值分别出现在10时和20时左右,最低值出现在16时左右.热岛强度与气象条件关系分析表明:(1)热岛强度受云量的影响较大;(2)与城区气温分布关系密切,相关系数为0.62;(3)与风向有关,城区风向为西风时的热岛强度大于东风时热岛强度;而城区热岛强度与风速关系不明显.另外相关站点的合理选取对城市热岛研究也十分重要.     

2014-2017年西安市城市热岛、冷岛精细化时空特征分析

选取1971—2017年7个国家级气象站的气温资料,分析年代际气温变化特征及城郊温差、城县温差;选取2014—2017年103个国家考核区域气象站及7个国家级气象站逐时气温资料,利用标准化相对气温法,研究西安市城市热岛、冷岛的年、季平均空间分布特征,以及逐日热岛、冷岛变化规律。结果显示:1971—2017年城区、郊区和郊县气温均呈上升趋势,城区增温速率最大,郊县增温速率最小,进入21世纪后,城市热岛效应较为显著。西安市城市热岛、冷岛现象明显,且均呈"多中心"特征,热岛中心多为老城区及旅游中心,建筑物面积和人口密度占绝对优势;冷岛中心多为地势较高、水域绿被覆盖较大、非人口密集区的秦岭坡脚线附近。城区代表站的年、春季、夏季、秋季基本处于平稳状态,年、春季、夏季06—07时热岛强度最大,秋季、冬季23时热岛强度最大;郊区代表站和郊县代表站的年及四季热岛、冷岛强度均有明显的日变化特征,且变化趋势相反;郊区代表站10时热岛转为冷岛,春、夏季16—17时转为热岛,年及秋、冬两季19—20时转为热岛;郊县代表站年、春季、夏季06—07时冷岛强度最大,秋季、冬季2时冷岛强度最大,08时后冷岛开始减弱,12—13时为最弱后开始增强。     

上海城市热岛的精细结构气候特征分析

对上海地区59个自动站2006—2013年逐时气温资料进行了本地化的质量控制,得到一套高分辨率气温数据集。将其与常规观测资料进行对比,发现两者反映的上海年平均及季节平均气温基本一致,说明经质量控制的加密资料是可信的。但其空间差异更为明显,表明高分辨气温数据在城市热环境精细空间分布研究中更具代表性和有效性。基于该数据集研究了上海的城市热岛空间分布。结果表明,加密观测数据可反映出城市热岛的精细结构气候特征:热岛分布由中心城区向四周及西南部扩展,尤其是出现了"多中心"结构特征,即除中心城区的热岛主中心外,在闵行北部和松江南部均出现了与快速城市化进程相联系的区域性副热岛中心;受大气环流季节转换和局地海陆风的影响,热岛位置在秋冬季偏东南方向,春夏季偏西北方向。上述精细化特征在常规资料中并不明显或无法体现。由此可见,经质量控制的加密气温数据在城市热岛的精细结构研究中更具优势。     

昆山城市热岛效应特征及其关键影响因子研究北大核心

昆山地处长三角超大城市群中,在热岛效应上受到了上海、苏州等大、中城市的显著影响。利用2014—2017年昆山气象站网逐小时观测资料分析昆山城市热岛强度时空分布特征的基础上,结合归一化建筑指数(Normalized Difference Built-up Index,NDBI),揭示了城市功能分区和城市扩张对该市热岛强度的影响,并通过一套用于城市气候研究的系统的场地分类方法—局地气候分区体系(Local Climate Zones,LCZ),探讨了不同城市用地的热岛强度特征。研究发现:昆山市热岛强度总体呈现夜间强、白天弱的特征。季节变化上表现为秋季最强,冬季次之,春季和夏季较弱;昆山市城市热岛强度处于逐年增长的过程,各镇中平均年际热岛强度增长率最高可达0.19℃·a^(-1)。高热岛强度范围由东南向西北延伸,湖陆风效应对昼夜热岛强度的分布及其变化有一定的影响,由于水体的作用,昆山市NDBI与夜间热岛强度的相关性较差,而与白天的热岛强度呈高度正相关。各镇不同的功能分区对热岛效应有显著影响,且当各镇的平均NDBI每增加0.1时,白天平均热岛强度会增加0.16℃;不同LCZ类型的热岛强度具有显著的差异,且地块城市化程度越高,热岛效应越强。密集低层建筑区(LCZ 3)和工业厂房(LCZ 10)的热岛强度与人类活动密切相关;开阔低层建筑区(LCZ 6)与茂密树木区(LCZ A)热岛强度表现出相似的变化特征;森林绿地(LCZ A、LCZ B)对热岛效应有缓解作用;水体(LCZ G)在白天有一定的降温效果,在夜间则会加剧热岛效应。     

The impact of heat waves on surface urban heat island and local economy in Cluj-Napoca city,Romania

The association between heat waves and the urban heat island effect can increase the impact on environment and society inducing biophysical hazards. Heat stress and their associated public health problems are among the most frequent. This paper explores the heat waves impact on surface urban heat island and on the local economy loss during three heat periods in Cluj-Napoca city in the summer of 2015. The heat wave events were identified based on daily maximum temperature, and they were divided into three classes considering the intensity threshold: moderate heat waves (daily maximum temperature exceeding the 90th percentile), severe heat waves (daily maximum temperature over the 95th percentile), and extremely severe heat waves (daily maximum temperature exceeding the 98th percentile). The minimum length of an event was of minimum three consecutive days. The surface urban heat island was detected based on land surface temperature derived from Landsat 8 thermal infrared data, while the economic impact was estimated based on data on work force structure and work productivity in Cluj-Napoca derived from the data released by Eurostat, National Bank of Romania, and National Institute of Statistics. The results indicate that the intensity and spatial extension of surface urban heat island could be governed by the magnitude of the heat wave event, but due to the low number of satellite images available, we should consider this information only as preliminary results. Thermal infrared remote sensing has proven to be a very efficient method to study surface urban heat island, due to the fact that the synoptic conditions associated with heat wave events usually favor cloud free image. The resolution of the OLI_TIRS sensor provided good results for a mid-extension city, but the low revisiting time is still a drawback. The potential economic loss was calculated for the working days during heat waves and the estimated loss reached more than 2.5 mil. EUR for each heat wave day at city scale, cumulating more than 38 mil. EUR for the three cases considered.     

上海地区高温过程中局地气候区尺度城市热岛特征分析

本文以超大城市上海为研究对象,选取2017年7月为夏季代表月,利用自动气象站网观测得到的逐小时气温和风速数据,基于局地气候分区方法分析了上海市各局地气候区(Local Climate Zone,LCZ)在不同天气条件下的气温和城市热岛强度(Urban Heat Island Intensity,UHII)时空特征及其成因。结果表明:由于城市几何形态、建筑材料、表面不透水面占比以及人类活动的不同,上海市夏季典型月各LCZ的气温和UHII表现出明显差异,在高温日,UHII日变化曲线可以分为"W "型、浅" U"型、"V"型、日间型和平稳型这五类。城市建筑形态对城市风、热环境具有较为复杂的影响,UHII与天空可视因子(Sky View Factor,SVF)的相关系数在00时(北京时,下同)为负,而在12、16时为正,这是由于建筑物对城市冠层内的辐射传输的影响和建筑物的热量储存导致的;城乡风速之比与SVF在00、12和16时都为正相关,说明了高大密集的建筑物对风速有衰减作用,同时风速通过影响大气的平流输送进一步影响UHII。     

城市热岛效应研究进展

随着城市规模的高速发展和城市人口的急剧膨胀,因城市下垫面结构的急剧变化和城市人为热排放的迅速增加所引起的城市热岛效应已逐渐成为严重影响城市人居环境和居民健康的重要因素。城市热岛效应研究已成为城市气候和区域气候研究中的热点问题。为更好地研究城市热岛效应,及时追踪国内外最新进展,综述了城市热岛的概念和形成机制,重点介绍了地面气象资料观测法、遥感监测法和边界层数值模式模拟法等3种城市热岛效应研究方法,总结了城市热岛效应国内外最新研究进展。最后基于现有城市热岛效应研究不够完善和深入,研究过于简单化和表面化,尺度局限于宏观大尺度以及各种方法自身的局限性等不足,指出在未来的城市热岛效应研究中,应突破现有的大中尺度,注意结合高分辨率卫星遥感影像进行多尺度多平台监测以及综合考虑气溶胶粒子对辐射强迫的影响等。