Abstract
There is a lot of research on the urban thermal environment, mainly on air temperature. However, fewer studies focus on soil temperature that is influenced by built environment, especially on the horizontal heat impacts from buildings. In this research, soil temperature was investigated at different depths in Beijing, China, to compare the differences between two locations. One was next to the building and the other was far away from the building (10 m). The locations are referred to as site A and site B, respectively. These two sites were chosen to compare the differences in soil temperatures between them to present the horizontal heat impact from facade. The results show that facades caused horizontal heat impacts on the soil at different depths in the winter, spring, and summer. Basically, facades functioned as heat sources to the soil surrounding them. The mean temperature differences between the two sites were 3.282, 4.698 and 0.316 K in the winter, spring and summer, respectively. Additionally, the thermal effects of the buildings were not only exhibited as higher soil temperatures but the temporal appearance of the maximum and minimum temperature was also influenced. Buildings functioned as heat sources to heat soil in the winter and spring and stabilized soil temperature so that it would not fluctuate too much in the summer. Additionally, the coefficient of variation indicates that buildings primarily increased the soil temperature in the winter and spring and stabilized the soil temperature in the summer.
Highlights
Global warming seems to be an unreturnable trend, it is said that the average air temperature is going to increase by 2–4.9 ◦C by the end of the 21st century [1]
The present study expands the scope of research and fills up the gap to some extent. It focuses on the soil temperature difference between sites that are next to a building and far away from the construction, in order to acquire the degree and pattern of heat impacts caused by buildings at various depths of soil layer in different seasons
The results show that the time frequencies of minimal soil temperatures were more concentrated than those of the maximum temperatures
Summary
Global warming seems to be an unreturnable trend, it is said that the average air temperature is going to increase by 2–4.9 ◦C by the end of the 21st century [1]. Some of the factors mentioned above lead to changes in radiation and energy budget and higher air temperature in urban areas. Compared with atmospheric and underground studies, research on surface soil layer is still lacking, but it happens to be the most active area where energy exchanges and relates to the eco-environment and the lives of residents. Current research indicates that urbanization causes higher soil temperature in cities, but few studies concern heat impact from buildings and other infrastructure. The present study expands the scope of research and fills up the gap to some extent It focuses on the soil temperature difference between sites that are next to a building and far away from the construction, in order to acquire the degree and pattern of heat impacts caused by buildings at various depths of soil layer in different seasons
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