Abstract
The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with an Urban Canopy Model (UCM) was used for studying urban environmental issues. Because land use data employed in the WRF model do not agree with the current situation around Guangzhou, China, the performance of WRF/UCM with new land-use data extracted from Remote Sensing (RS) data was evaluated in early August 2012. Results from simulations reveal that experiments with the extracted data are capable of reasonable reproductions of the majority of the observed temporal characteristics of the 2-m temperature, and can capture the characteristics of Urban Heat Island (UHI). The “UCM_12” simulation, which employed the extracted land-use data with the WRF/UCM model, provided the best reproduction of the 2-m temperature data evolution and the smallest minimum absolute average error when compared with the other two experiments without coupled UCM. The contributions of various factors to the UHI effect were analyzed by comparing the energy equilibrium processes of “UCM_12” in urban and suburban areas. Analysis revealed that energy equilibrium processes with new land use data can explain the diurnal character of the UHI intensity variation. Furthermore, land use data extracted from RS can be used to simulate the UHI.
Highlights
Urbanization is a population shift from rural to urban areas, and covers the ways in which society adapts to this change
The coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)/Urban Canopy Model (UCM) modeling system has been applied to many regions, such as Houston, USA [6], Nanjing, China [7], and New York, USA [8], and its performance has been evaluated against observations
Summary and Conclusions The thermal environment over Guangzhou from late July to early August 2012 was investigated usingTthhee ctohuerpmleadl WenRvFi/rUonCmMenmt odovele.rSiGmuualantgioznhoeuxpefroimmenltasteweJruelypertfoormeaerdlyusAinuggubostth2t0h1e2urwbaans ilnanvdesutisgeadteadtauesxintrgacttheed cfrooumpleredmWotReFs/eUnCsiMng mdaotdaseel.tsSaimndultahteiodnefeaxupletrMimOeDntIsS wdaetrae. performed using both the urban land use data extracted from remote sensing datasets and the default Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data
Summary
Urbanization is a population shift from rural to urban areas, and covers the ways in which society adapts to this change. It predominantly results in land use and land cover changes and increased building density, both horizontally and vertically, in urban areas. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with an Urban Canopy Model (UCM), was developed as a community tool for studying urban environmental issues [4,5]. The coupled WRF/UCM modeling system has been applied to many regions, such as Houston, USA [6], Nanjing, China [7], and New York, USA [8], and its performance has been evaluated against observations
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