Metropolitan-scale Transport and Dispersion from the New York World Trade Center Following September 11, 2001. Part I: An Evaluation of the CALMET Meteorological Model

Following the collapse of the New York City World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, Local, State and Federal agencies initiated numerous air monitoring activities to better understand the impact of emissions from the disaster. A study of the estimated pathway that a potential plume of emissions would likely track was completed to support the U.S. EPA’s initial exposure assessments. The plume from the World Trade Center was estimated using the CALMET-CALPUFF dispersion modeling system. The following is the first of two reports that compares several meteorological models, including the CALMET diagnostic model, the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) and 5^th Generation Mesoscale Model (MM5) in the complex marine-influenced urban setting of NYC. Results indicate wind speed, in most cases, is greater in CALMET than the two mesoscale models because the CALMET micrometeorological processor does not properly adjust the wind field for surface roughness variations that exits in a major built-up urban area. Small-scale circulations, which were resolved by the mesoscale models, were not well simulated by CALMET. Independent wind observations in Lower Manhattan suggest that the wind direction estimates of CALMET possess a high degree of error because of the urban influence. Wind speed is on average 1.5 ms⁻¹ stronger in CALMET than what observations indicate. The wind direction downwind of the city is rotated 25–34 clockwise in CALMET, relative to what observations indicate.     

Simulation of the Urban Heat Island Phenomenon in Mediterranean Climates

An intelligent data-driven method is used in the present study for investigating, analyzing and quantifying the urban heat island phenomenon in the major Athens region where hourly ambient air-temperature data are recorded at twenty-three stations. The heat island phenomenon has a serious impact on the energy consumption of buildings, increases smog production, while contributing to an increasing emission of pollutants from power plants, including sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and suspended particulates. The intelligent method is an artificial neural network approach in which the urban heat island intensity at day and nighttime are estimated using as inputs several climatic parameters. Various neural network architectures are designed and trained for the output estimation, which is the daytime and nighttime urban heat island intensity at each station for a two-year time period. The results are tested with extensive sets of non-training measurements and it is found that they correspond well with the actual values. Furthermore, the influence of several input climatic parameters measured at each station, such as solar radiation, daytime and nighttime air temperature, and maximum daily air temperature, on the urban heat island intensity fluctuations is investigated and analyzed separately for the day and nighttime period. From this investigation it is shown that heat island intensity is mainly influenced by urbanization factors. A sensitivity investigation has been performed, based on neural network techniques, in order to adequately quantify the impact of the above input parameters on the urban heat island phenomenon.     

城市冠层结构热力效应对城市热岛形成及强度影响的模拟研究

本文在城市边界层预报模式中耦合了一个单层冠层模式,此模式能够体现城市冠层结构和人为热源对城市热岛的共同作用.通过传统平板模式和城市冠层模式的模拟结果与自动气象站观测资料对比发现,耦合了城市冠层模式的模拟结果与观测资料更为吻合,尤其能够较好地模拟出城市地区夜间地面的气温变化情况.对北京城市区域的模拟结果进行分析,白家庄地区冠层建筑物使得城市地区气温白天下降,夜晚上升,不考虑人为热源作用时,城市冠层使得白家庄站地面气温白天最低下降2.5℃,夜间气温最大升高为4.7℃.针对模拟区域较小的理想算例模拟结果分析表明,城市冠层模式能够很好地模拟城市地区地表能量平衡关系,体现城市冠层对长短波辐射的封截以及热量存储能力,全天平均净辐射通量由传统模式的43.38 W/m²变为84.19 W/m²,热存储通量白天最大值为278.04 W/m²,夜晚最大释放热存储通量为160.35 W/m².冠层建筑物和人为热源对夜间城市热岛强度的贡献分别为70.65％和29.35％.城市冠层建筑物对夜间城市热岛的形成起决定性作用.     

北京城市化进程对边界层风场结构影响的研究

随着近10年来北京城市化步伐的加快,城市规模迅速扩大,北京三环以外的地区已由20世纪七、八十年代的城郊非均匀下垫面发展成现在粗糙复杂的城区下垫面,市区建筑物相应增多、增密和增高,导致城区地面动力学粗糙度明显增大.本文统计分析了北京325 m气象塔1994年和1997～2003年夏季平均场观测资料,结果表明:(1)在受下垫面影响最为剧烈的近地层,风向逐年趋于紊乱,现在气象塔周围近地面的流场已经具备了典型城市粗糙下垫面的流场特征;(2)近地面夏季平均风速呈现非常明显的逐年递减的趋势,而且距离地表越近,平均风速逐年递减的趋势也越为显著,这种风速逐年递减的趋势直到63 m左右才不明显,说明现在气象塔47 m以下的观测资料反映的是城市冠层的流场特征,城市冠层厚度约在47～63 m之间;(3)随着北京城市化的发展,城区近地面的平均风速存在逐年递减的趋势,但阵风并不存在相似的递减趋势,表明城市冠层的抬升对阵风的影响并不显著.     

Observational study of land-atmosphere turbulent flux exchange over complex underlying surfaces in urban and suburban areas

Based on observation data from urban observation stations in Nanjing and Suzhou at two heights in the roughness sublayer above the canopy and observation data at three heights in the SORPES station at the Xianlin Campus of Nanjing University in a suburban area, the of land-atmosphere turbulent flux exchange and the energy balance over complex underlying surfaces were analyzed. The results indicated that in the roughness sublayer above the canopy, the nearsurface momentum flux, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux increase with height, and the observation value of the surface albedo increases with height. However, the observation value of the net radiation decreases with height, thus resulting in a change in the urban surface energy budget with height. At the SORPES station in the Xianlin Campus of Nanjing University located in a hilly area, the momentum flux, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux of the ground observation field significantly differed from those of the two heights on the tower, while the two heights on the tower were extremely close. These results indicate that the flux observation over the complex underlying surface exhibits adequate local only when it is conducted at a higher altitude above the ground. The turbulent flux observation results at a lower altitude in urban areas are underestimated, while the turbulent flux observation results near the surface produce a large deviation over the underlying hilly complex.     

Delineation of Ground Water Flow in Fractured Rock in the Southwestern Part of Manhattan, New York, Through Use of Advanced Borehole Geophysical Methods

Advanced borehole-geophysical methods were used to assess the geohydrology of fractured crystalline bedrock at five test boreholes in southwestern Manhattan Island, New York, in preparation for construction of a third water tunnel for New York City. The boreholes penetrated gneiss and other crystalline bedrock that has an overall southwest to northwest dipping foliation with a 60° dip. Most of the fractures encountered are either nearly horizontal or have moderate northwest dip azimuths. Fracture indexes range from 0.25 to 0.44 fracture per foot (0.3 m) of borehole.
Electromagnetic (EM) and heat-pulse flowmeter logs obtained under ambient and pumping conditions, together with other geophysical logs, indicate transmissive fracture zones in each borehole. Pumping tests of each borehole indicated transmissivity ranges from <2 to 360 ft²/day (0.2 to 33 m²/day). Ground water appears to flow within an interconnected fracture network toward the south and west within the study area. No correlation was indicated between the fracture index and the total borehole transmissivity.     

A one-dimensional modeling study of the diurnal cycle in the equatorial Atlantic at the PIRATA buoys during the EGEE-3 campaign

A one-dimensional model is used to analyze, at the local scale, the response of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean under different meteorological conditions. The study was performed at the location of three moored buoys of the Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic located at 10° W, 0° N; 10° W, 6° S; and 10° W, 10° S. During the EGEE-3 (Etude de la circulation océanique et de sa variabilité dans le Golfe de Guinee) campaign of May–June 2006, each buoy was visited for maintenance during 2 days. On board the ship, high-resolution atmospheric parameters were collected, as were profiles of temperature, salinity, and current. These data are used here to initialize, force, and validate a one-dimensional model in order to study the diurnal oceanic mixed-layer variability. It is shown that the diurnal variability of the sea surface temperatures is mainly driven by the solar heat flux. The diurnal response of the near-surface temperatures to daytime heating and nighttime cooling has an amplitude of a few tenths of degree. The computed diurnal heat budget experiences a net warming tendency of 31 and 27 W m⁻² at 0° N and 10° S, respectively, and a cooling tendency of 122 W m⁻² at 6° S. Both observed and simulated mixed-layer depths experience a jump between the nighttime convection phase and the well-stabilized diurnal water column. Its amplitude changes dramatically depending on the meteorological conditions occurring at the stations and reaches its maximum amplitude (~50 m) at 10° S. At 6° and 10° S, the presence of barrier layers is observed, a feature that is clearer at 10° S. Simulated turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rates, compared to independent microstructure measurements, show that the model tracks their diurnal evolution reasonably well. It is also shown that the shear and buoyancy productions and the vertical diffusion of TKE all contribute to the supply of TKE, but the buoyancy production is the main source of TKE during the period of the simulation.     

Using a remote sensing field experiment to investigate flux-footprint relations and flux sampling distributions for tower and aircraft-based observations

During a remote sensing field experiment conducted in the Southern Great Plains in 1997 (SGP97), tower and aircraft-based flux observations were collected over one of the main study sites in central Oklahoma. This is an agricultural region and contains primarily grassland/pasture and winter wheat, which was recently harvested leaving a significant number of fields either as wheat stubble or plowed bare soil. Multi-spectral data obtained by aircraft provided high-resolution (30 m) spatially-distributed vegetation cover and surface temperature information over the study area. The spatial variations in these surface states strongly affect the partitioning of surface fluxes between sensible and latent heat. These data, together with coarser resolution (5 km) satellite data, are used in a remote sensing-based energy balance modeling system that disaggregates flux estimates from 5 km to 30-m resolution. The resulting high-resolution flux maps provide a means for evaluating whether tower and aircraft-based flux measurements sample a full range in flux conditions for this landscape. In addition, this remote sensing-based modeling system can be used to investigate the influence of variability in these key surface states on tower and aircraft measurements through flux-footprint modeling. Under the light wind and unstable conditions that existed during the observations, highest correlation between aircraft and modeled estimated heat and water vapor fluxes were obtained using different flux-footprint estimates. More specifically, the source area for heat was estimated to be much closer to the aircraft flight line than for water vapor.     

Metropolitan-scale Transport and Dispersion from the New York World Trade Center Following September 11, 2001. Part II: An Application of the CALPUFF Plume Model

Following the collapse of the New York World Trade Center (WTC) towers on September 11, 2001, Local, State, and Federal agencies initiated numerous air monitoring activities to better understand the ongoing impacts of emissions from the disaster. The collapse of the World Trade Center towers and associated fires that lasted for several weeks resulted at times in a noticeable plume of material that was dispersed around the Metropolitan New York City (NYC) area. In general, the plume was only noticeable for a short period of time following September 11, and only apparent close to the World Trade Center site. A study of the estimated pathway which the plume of WTC material would likely follow was completed to support the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2002 initial exposure assessments. In this study, the WTC emissions were simulated using the CALMET-CALPUFF model in order to examine the general spatial and temporal dispersion patterns over NYC. This paper presents the results of the CALPUFF plume model in terms of plume dilution and location, since the exact source strength remains unknown. Independent observations of PM_2.5 are used to support the general dispersion features calculated by the model. Results indicate that the simulated plume matched well with an abnormal increase (600–1000% of normal) in PM_2.5 two nights after the WTC collapse as the plume rotated north to southeast, towards parts of NYC. Very little if any evidence of the plume signature was noted during a similar flow scenario a week after September 11. This leads to the conclusion that other than areas within a few kilometers from the WTC site, the PM_2.5 plume was not observable over NYC’s background concentration after the first few days.     

Experimental study of charge vertical transfer in surface air layer

The variability of air–earth electric currents in the lower 3-m air layer is analyzed in a complex with measurement data on the physical parameters that affect charge transfer in the atmosphere. Three types of air–earth current density profiles have been revealed during experimental observations in summer in Rostov region: (1) the current density decreases with an increase in the distance from the Earth’s surface and then stabilizes (nighttime conditions); (2) the current density increases with altitude up to 1 m and then decreases as altitude increases (day hours); (3) transient between types 1 and 2 that are observed in the morning and evening hours. The intensity of charge transfer in the surface air layer under the action of mechanical forces under different stratifications is estimated on the basis of data on altitude variations in the air–earth current density in view of the stationarity of electric processes and the constancy in the altitude of the total air–earth current density. Thermodynamic conditions are estimated with the use of wind velocity measurements and calculations of the turbulence factor and vertical component of the air temperature gradient.     

Preliminary transient heat flow model of the Rio Grande rift in southern New Mexico

A positive gravity anomaly, anomalous seismic structure, and abnormally high reduced heat flow occur in a possible extension of the Rio Grande rift in southern New Mexico. The reduced heat flux is explained by the transient effects of basaltic intrusions with dimensions based on interpretations from gravity and seismic data. Ages of volcanic activity in the rift area are used to determine times of thermal events. The effect of latent heat and sharp boundaries of the reduced heat flow anomaly also restrict modeling. The thermal model consists of three intrusions at the base of the crust at 35 m.y., 10 m.y. and 5 m.y. The initial temperatures of these intrusions would differ from those in the surrounding crust and upper mantle by about +800°C, +800°C, and +600°C, respectively. The 35-m.y. intrusion is consistent with Oligocene volcanism and tectonic activity in southwestern New Mexico. This mass also contributes to the Bouguer gravity high in the rift area, as do the intrusions at 10 and 5 m.y. The intrusions at 10 and 5 m.y. explain the excess reduced flux, with the 5-m.y. pulse accounting for most of the curvature in the sharp boundaries of the anomaly. The idealized model is consistent with late Tertiary andesites, the periods of little extrusive activity, and Pliocene-Quaternary basalts in the rift area.     

Simulation of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Characteristics during Indian Summer Monsoon using Observations from Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment at Jodhpur, India

The diurnal structure of the boundary layer during Indian summer monsoon period is studied using a one-dimensional meteorological boundary layer model and the observations collected from the Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment conducted in 1990 at Jodhpur, India. The model was initialized with the observed temperature profiles at 0530 LST on 17 July, 1990 at Jodhpur and was run for 26 hours. The study is carried out with a geostrophic wind speed of 9.5 m s⁻¹ corresponding to the strong wind simulation. The mean thermodynamic and wind structure simulated by the model are in good agreement with those observed from 30 m tower. The computed surface layer characteristics such as the surface fluxes, TKE and standard deviations of velocity components are found to be reasonably in good agreement with those based on turbulence measurements. The shear and buoyancy budget computed from the model are also compared with the turbulence measurements. The integrated cooling budget in the nocturnal boundary layer is examined.     

北京城市化进程对城市热岛的影响研究

利用1971～2000年北京20个气象观测站逐日４个时次（02:00、08:00、14:00、20:00）的温度资料,选取具有代表性的城区和郊区多个站点的平均值对北京城市化进程对城市热岛效应的影响、城市热岛强度的日变化和长期变化进行了研究.分析结果指出：（1）北京城市热岛强度和总人口对数呈线性相关关系,其长期变化相关系数为076;（2）北京城市建成区的范围与城市热岛影响范围呈同步变化趋势;(3)不同时次城市热岛强度的长期变化指出,北京城市热岛强度以平均每10年022℃的速率加剧,其中1999年北京热岛强度达113℃（夜间,02:00）;(4)夜间热岛强度明显大于日间.就10年平均而言, 20世纪80年代和90年代夜戒热岛强度均超过05℃;(5)一天4个时次热岛强度的季节变化趋势基本一致,均表现为冬季强、夏季弱.并且,夜间02:00时热岛最强,中午14:00时热岛最弱.     

Simulation and evaluation of 2-m temperature over Antarctica in polar regional climate model

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis ERA40,National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) 20th-century reanalysis,and three station observations along an Antarctic traverse from Zhongshan to Dome-A stations are used to assess 2-m temperature simulation skill of a regional climate model.This model(HIRHAM) is from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany.Results show:(1) The simulated multiyear averaged 2-m temperature field pattern is close to that of ERA40 and NCEP;(2) the cold bias relative to ERA40 over all of Antarctic regions is 1.8℃,and that to NCEP reaches 5.1℃;(3) bias of HIRHAM relative to ERA40 has seasonal variation,with a cold bias mainly in the summer,as much as 3.4℃.There is a small inland warm bias in autumn of 0.3℃.Further analysis reveals that the reason for the cold bias of 2-m temperature is that physical conditions of the near-surface boundary layer simulated by HIRHAM are different from observations:(1) During the summer,observations show that near-surface atmospheric stability conditions have both inversions and non-inversions,which is due to the existence of both positive and negative sensible heat fluxes,but HIRHAM almost always simulates a situation of inversion and negative sensible heat flux;(2) during autumn and winter,observed near-surface stability is almost always that of inversions,consistent with HIRHAM simulations.This partially explains the small bias during autumn and winter.     

Urban effects and summer thunderstorms in a tropical cyclone affected situation over Guangzhou city

With data mainly from Guangzhou mesonet Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Guangzhou Doppler Radar and satellite T _BB data, characteristics and evolution of the urban heat island (UHI) over Guangzhou City were analyzed in a tropical cyclone affected situation for early August 2005. In particular, two thunderstorms occurring during this period respectively at the night of 4 August and in the afternoon of 7 August were investigated to study the relationships between the development of thunderstorms and the UHI. Results showed that two thunderstorms were associated with the UHI effects. UHI induced local air convergence and initiated the thunderstorm convections. Both cases showed a general agreement in time and space for the locations of maximum UHI, convergence, convection, and precipitation. Convection was found to be more favorable to developing in time periods and locations with stronger intensity of UHI. Analysis also showed that, due to the urban effects, both thunderstorms got strengthened when moving over Guangzhou City, with maximum radar echoes observed right over the urban area and precipitation located within the city. All these features reveal that two thunderstorms were urban-induced storms. Supported jointly by the R&D Infrastructure and Facility Developemnt Program (2003DIB4J145) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Urban Meteorological Science Research Fund (UMRF200504) and the Open Research Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences     

Terrestrial heat flow in the North Island of New Zealand

Large variations in terrestrial heat flow from 21 to 209 mW/m² have been observed over the North Island, New Zealand. This is generally in good agreement with the pattern of existing geological and geophysical observations. A high heat flow zone with a value of 92 ±3 mW/m², which corresponds to melting temperatures near the base of the crust, is delineated in the northern part of the Taranaki Basin. In the rest of the island, heat flow appears to be low to normal, but some isolated high values are also found. Observed results are interpreted in terms of crust and mantle structure in a region of plate subduction.     

Vertical structures of PM10 and PM 2.5 and their dynamical character in low atmosphere in Beijing urban areas

The vertical structures and their dynamical character of PM2.5 and PM10 over Beijing urban areas are revealed using the 1 min mean continuous mass concentration data of PM2.5 and PM10 at 8, 100, and 320 m heights of the meteorological observation tower of 325 m at Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP CAS tower hereafter) on 10―26 August, 2003, as well as the daily mean mass concentration data of PM2.5 and PM10 and the continuous data of CO and NO2 at 8, 100 (low layer), 200 (middle layer), and 320 m (high layer) heights, in combination with the same period meteorological field observation data of the meteorological tower. The vertical distributions of aerosols observed on IAP CAS tower in Beijing can be roughly divided into two patterns: gradually and rapidly decreasing patterns, I.e. The vertical distribution of aerosols in calm weather or on pollution day belongs to the gradually decreasing pattern, while one on clean day or weak cold air day belongs to the rapidly decreasing pattern. The vertical distributive characters of aerosols were closely related with the dynamical/thermal structure and turbulence character of the atmosphere boundary layer. On the clean day, the low layer PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were close to those at 8 m height, while the concentrations rapidly decreased at the high layer, and their values were only one half of those at 8 m, especially, the concentration of PM2.5 dropped even more. On the clean day, there existed stronger turbulence below 150 m, aerosols were well mixed, but blocked by the more stronger inversion layer aloft, and meanwhile, at various heights, especially in the high layer, the horizontal wind speed was larger, resulting in the rapid decrease of aerosol concentration, I.e. Resulting in the obvious vertical difference of aerosol concentrations between the low and high layers. On the pollution day, the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 at the low, middle, and high layers dropped successively by, on average, about 10% for each layer in comparison with those at 8 m height. On pollution days, in company with the low wind speed, there existed two shallow inversion layers in the boundary layer, but aerosols might be, to some extent, mixed below the inversion layer, therefore, on the pollution day the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 dropped with height slowly; and the observational results also show that the concentrations at 320 m height were obviously high under SW and SE winds, but at other heights, the concentrations were not correlated with wind directions. The computational results of footprint analysis suggest that this was due to the fact that the 320 m height was impacted by the pollutants transfer of southerly flow from the southern peripheral heavier polluted areas, such as Baoding, and Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province, Tianjin, and Shandong Province, etc., while the low layer was only affected by Beijing's local pollution source. The computational results of power spectra and periods preliminarily reveal that under the condition of calm weather, the periods of PM10 concentration at various heights of the tower were on the order of minutes, while in cases of larger wind speed, the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 at 320 m height not only had the short periods of minute-order, but also the longer periods of hour order. Consistent with the conclusion previously drawn by Ding et al., that air pollutants at different heights and at different sites in Beijing had the character of "in-phase" variation, was also observed for the diurnal variation and mean diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 at various heights of the tower in this experiment, again confirming the "in-phase" temporal/spatial distributive character of air pollutants in the urban canopy of Beijing. The gentle double-peak character of the mean diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 was closely related with the evident/similar diurnal variation of turbulent momentum fluxes, sensible heat fluxes, and turbulent kinetic energy at various heights in the urban canopy. Besides, under the condition of calm weather, the concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 declined with height slowly, it was 90% of 8 m concentration at the low layer, a little lesser than 90% at the middle layer, and 80% at the high layer, respectively. Under the condition of weak cold air weather, the concentration remarkably dropped with height, it was 70% of 8 m concentration at the low layer, and 20%―30% at the middle and high layers, especially the concentration of PM2.5 was even lower.     

Uncertainty analysis of urban sewer system using spatial simulation of radar rainfall fields: New York City case study

The goal of this study is to investigate the uncertainty of an urban sewer system’s response under various rainfall and infrastructure scenarios by applying a recently developed nonparametric copula-based simulation approach to extreme rainfall fields. The approach allows for Monte Carlo simulation of multiple variables with differing marginal distributions and arbitrary dependence structure. The independent and identically distributed daily extreme rainfall events of the corresponding urban area, extracted from nationwide high resolution radar data stage IV, are the inputs of the spatial simulator. The simulated extreme rainfall fields were used to calculate excess runoff using the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s approach. New York City is selected as a case study and the results highlight the importance of preserving the spatial dependence of rainfall fields between the grids, even for simplified hydrologic models. This study estimates the probability of combined sewer overflows under extreme rainfall events and identifies the most effective locations in New York City to install green infrastructure for detaining excess stormwater runoff. The results of this study are beneficial for planners working on stormwater management and the approach is broadly applicable because it does not rely on extensive sewer system information.     

北京地区气温的年代际变化和热岛效应

用北京地区20个气象观测站41年(1960~2000年)的年平均气温记录,研究了北京地区的大尺度气温变化及其热岛效应.结果认为,(1)北京地区气温的年际变化具有大尺度的特点,1981年是显著的跃变点,跃变点比跃变前北京地区气温增加了0.55℃,近40年的增温率为0.25℃/10年.(2)北京城市热岛效应具有典型性.1960~2000年北京城市热岛平均强度接近1℃.随着北京城市建设和城市化速度的加快,北京城市热岛强度也在明显地增加,近40年热岛强度的增温率为0.31℃/10年.     

Enhanced modeling of latent heat flux from urban surfaces in the Noah/single-layer urban canopy coupled model

The numerical modeling of the impacts of urban buildings in mesoscale meteorological models has gradually improved in recent years. Correctly representing the latent heat flux from urban surfaces is a key issue in urban land-atmosphere coupling studies but is a common weakness in current urban canopy models. Using the surface energy balance data at a height of 140 m from a 325 m meteorological tower in Beijing, we conducted a 1-year continuous off-line simulation by using a coupled land surface model and a single-layer urban canopy model and found that this model has a relatively large systematic error for simulated latent heat flux. To improve the numerical method for modeling latent heat flux from urban surfaces, we combined observational analysis and urban land surface model to derive an oasis effect coefficient for urban green areas; to develop a temporal variation formula for water availability in urban impervious surfaces; and to specify a diurnal profile and the maximum values of anthropogenic latent heat release for four seasons. These results are directly incorporated into the urban land surface model to improve model performance. In addition, this method serves as a reference for studies in other urban areas.