Urban-rural humidity and temperature differences in the Beijing area

Abstract

In this paper, urban-rural temperature, relative humidity and vapour pressure differences at fixed hours in Beijing area were analyzed and compared. The data from one station with different observation surroundings and one rural station (0200, 0800, 1400 and 2000 hours local standard time (LST)) for the period 1971–2003 were used. The effect of urban on local temperature, relative humidity and vapour pressure were discussed. Results showed that the urban environment caused great increase in local temperature at 0200, 0800 and 2000 hours and small increase at 1400 hours. Also, the urban effect on humidity suggested that the urban environment can decrease relative humidity and vapour pressure at all fixed hours, while the urban-rural relative humidity differences are great at 2000 and 0200 hours and the urban-rural vapour pressure differences are great at 1400 and 2000 hours. The annual average temperature, relative humidity and vapour pressure difference between urban and rural are about 1.76°C, 6.3% and 1.5475 hpa during the period from 1981 to 1997, respectively. Results indicated that the urban effect on local temperature and humidity is significant in Beijing area.