Abstract
Long-term urban and rural climate data spanning January 1995 through October 2013 were analyzed to investigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in a representative mid-sized city of the central US. Locally distributed climate data were also collected at nested low density urban, recently developed, and high density urban monitoring sites from June through September 2013 to improve mechanistic understanding of spatial variability of the UHI effect based upon urban land use intensity. Long-term analyses (1995–2013) indicate significant differences (p < 0.001) between average air temperature (13.47 and 12.89 °C, at the urban and rural site respectively), relative humidity (69.11% and 72.51%, urban and rural respectively), and average wind speed (2.05 and 3.15 m/s urban and rural respectively). Significant differences (p < 0.001) between urban monitoring sites indicate an urban microclimate gradient for all climate variables except precipitation. Results of analysis of net radiation and soil heat flux data suggest distinct localized alterations in urban energy budgets due to land use intensity. Study results hold important implications for urban planners and land managers seeking to improve and implement better urban management practices. Results also reinforce the need for distributed urban energy balance investigations.
Highlights
Local climate is a function of upper atmospheric and boundary layer processes operating simultaneously at multiple scales
Actual difference between Sanborn and South Farm air temperature and soil temperature at both soil depths was greater during the summer relative to the fall, winter, and spring (0.68, 0.71, and 0.84 °C for air, 5 cm, and 10 cm soil temperature, respectively, during the summer as compared to 0.55, 0.67, and 0.23 °C during the fall, winter, and spring). These results indicate a greater difference between microclimate at the two sites during the summer, supporting a seasonal influence on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect
Results from analysis of the UHI intra-urban gradient study sites indicate a distinct impact of increasing urban development on microclimate (Table 5, Figure 8), greatly supporting the hypothesis explaining the rural to urban gradient stated earlier
Summary
Local climate is a function of upper atmospheric and boundary layer processes operating simultaneously at multiple scales. Surface characteristics include presence and size of water bodies, topography, and presence, amount, and type of vegetated cover [2]. Land use alters surface characteristics and atmospheric processes across spatial scales. Surface temperatures vary depending on land cover types, for example, agricultural cropland or natural shrubland [3]. Urban development is often accompanied by decreased vegetative cover, an increase in large impervious surface areas, and decreased albedo all of which increase surface absorptivity and reemitted energy [4]. There is little argument that human alterations of the natural landscape by development of urban centers often result in some of the greatest alterations to local and regional climate regimes
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