Anthropogenic elements of heat and water balance of large cities (case study of Moscow)

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of the anthropogenic contributions into urban heat and water balance from various sectors - heating, power, and transport. On the basis of data on consumption of various fuels and an analysis of technological processes, monthly amounts of heat and moisture fluxes into the atmosphere are calculated and compared with natural components of heat and water balance. The input data of the study are urban energy statistics data on annual consumption of various types of energy resources (fossil fuels - coal, natural gas, fuel oil, as well as heat and electricity), as well as territorial (by administrative areas) and monthly distributions of production and consumption of heat and electricity. We present a simple technique using a standard energy data count to obtain spatial-temporal distributions of anthropogenic heat and water fluxes in urbanized areas. The case study of Moscow has shown that man-made sources are essential elements of heat and water balance of urban environment, especially in winter. About 30% of the total annual amount of heat distributed over the year almost evenly comes into the ground. The annual anthropogenic heat and water vapor fluxes in Moscow are less by an order of magnitude than the regional norms of solar radiation and natural evaporation, respectively, but in winter the magnitude of anthropogenic and natural fluxes is comparable.