A comparison study on the role of urbanization in altering the short-duration and long-duration intense rainfall.

Abstract

Urbanization has significantly changed the regional hydrological cycle and energy balance. However, the different roles of urbanization on intense rainfall with short and long persistence need a better understanding, particularly in coastal mega cities with complex terrains. In this study, we compared the spatial and diurnal characteristics of intense rainfall across two coastal cities with different degrees of urbanization with 70 meteorological stations. The effects of anthropogenic and geographical factors on short-duration intense rainfall (SDIR) and long-duration intense rainfall (LDIR) were investigated using the statistical method. SDIR and LDIR events show different spatial patterns that SDIR events center in the highly urbanized regions while LDIR events center in the coastal mountainous regions. In terms of diurnal features, it is found that the higher occurrence frequency of SDIR in the dense urban region than that in suburbs occurs over the period with strong urban heat island intensity (UHII). It indicated that thermal contrast between urban and suburbs breeds an atmospheric environment for inspiriting the convection and SDIR events. The urban-induced increase in SDIR events depended on urbanization stages, with only dense urban regions showing a significant influence. The results of geographical detector model (GDM) also demonstrated that the synergy of build-up area and population explained 48 %-51 % of spatial heterogeneity of SDIR. Nevertheless, urbanization has little effect in modifying the diurnal features of LDIR events, while it might influence spatial rainfall patterns by enhancing rainfall peaks. The GDM results indicated that terrain positively dominates the spatial distribution for LDIR events, and the interactions of multi-factors (terrain, urbanization, or distance to the coast et al.) have enhanced explanatory power (q values up to 0.70). The results provide a fundamental understanding for the effects of anthropogenic and geographical factors on different types of rainfall events in coastal mega cities.