Mitigating Intensity of Urban Heat Island by Better Understanding on Urban Morphology and Anthropogenic Heat Dispersion

Abstract

<p>Anthropogenic heat is one of the key factors that causes intensive urban heat island due to its direct impact on ambient temperature in urban areas. Stagnated airflow due to closely packed tall buildings causes weak dilution and removal of anthropogenic heat. Consequently, research is critically needed to investigate the effect of urban morphology on anthropogenic heat dispersion and provide effective planning strategies to reduce UHI intensity, especially at the extreme scenario, such as with very low wind speed and high heat emission. This study provides scientific understanding and develops a GIS-based modelling tool to support decision-making in urban planning practice. We start from a computational parametric study at the neighbourhood scale to investigate the impact of urban morphology on heat dispersion. Site coverage ratio ( ), and frontal area density ( ) are two urban morphological parameters. Ten parametric cases with two heat emission scenarios are designed to study representative urban areas. Furthermore, based on the energy conservation within the urban canopy layer, we develop a semi-empirical model to estimate spatially-averaged in-canopy air temperature increment, in which the exchange velocity between the street canyon and overlying atmosphere is estimated by the Bentham and Britter model. The performance of the new model is validated by cross-comparing with CFD results from the parametric study. By applying this new model, the impact of anthropogenic heat on air temperature is mapped in residential areas of Singapore for both long-term annually averaged and short-term extreme low wind speed to improve urban climate sustainability and resilience.</p>