Industrial heat island: a case study of Angul-Talcher region in India

Abstract

Most of the urban heat island (UHI) studies are carried out in densely populated cities but core industrial areas are also potential sites of heat island effect despite having a comparatively lower population. In the present study, heat island assessment has been carried out for Angul-Talcher industrial area (ATIA) which is one of the oldest industrial areas of India and is still undergoing a transformation to accommodate more industries and mining operations. As the major contributors towards influencing local meteorology were expected to be industrial (and mining) activities, the heat island was studied as “industrial heat island” (IHI) rather than urban heat island. Industrial and mining sites were the most frequent nighttime canopy-layer heat island intensity (HIN) hotspots due to anthropogenic heat of associated industrial processes as well as built structures. During the daytime, croplands experienced the most frequent canopy-layer HIN hotspots which could be attributed to low moisture of the soils during the non-farming period of the field campaign. Hourly maximum atmospheric heat island intensities were observed in the range of 7–9 °C. Monthly maximum HINs ranged from 2.97 to 4.04 °C while 3-month mean HINs varied from 1.45 to 2.74 °C. Amongst different land use/land cover classes, the highest mean canopy-layer heat island intensity for the entire 3-month-long duration of field campaign during nighttime was assessed at the mining sites (3-month mean 2.74 °C) followed in decreasing order by the industrial sites (2.52 °C), rural and urban settlements (2.13 °C), and croplands (2.06 °C). Corresponding daytime canopy-layer heat island intensity was highest for the croplands (2.07 °C) followed in decreasing order by the mining sites (1.70 °C), rural and urban settlements (1.68 °C), and industry (1.45 °C).