Impact of Urban Expansion on Rain Island Effect in Jinan City, North China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization leads to changes in urban micro meteorology, such as the urban heat island effect and rain island effect, which eventually brings about urban waterlogging and other problems. In this study, the data of precipitation, temperatures and impervious surfaces with long series and high resolution are used to study the rain island effect in Jinan City, China. MK-Sen’s slope estimator, Pettitt test and Pearson correlation analysis are used to quantitatively analyze the impact of urban expansion on extreme climate indices. The results show that Jinan City has experienced rapid urbanization since the 1978 economic reform, and the impervious surface areas have increased from 311.68 km2 (3.04%) in 1978 to 2389.50 km2 (23.33%) in 2017. Urban expansion has a significant impact on temperature, with large variations in extreme temperature indices over the intensive construction area relative to the sparse construction area. The extreme temperature indices have a significant correlation with impervious surfaces. Jinan City shows a certain degree of rain island effect, which seems to be spatially correlated with the urban heat island effect. The frequency of short-duration precipitation events significantly increases and the intensity of precipitation events generally increases. The magnitude and frequency of extreme precipitation indices in the intensive construction area significantly increase when compared to that in the sparse construction area, and they have a significant correlation with impervious surfaces. There is a tendency that Jinan City’s rainfall center moves towards to the intensive construction area.