Significant Urban Heat Island Research Articles

The diurnal and seasonal characteristics of urban heat island variation in Beijing city and surrounding areas and impact factors based on remote sensing satellite data

Based on the land surface temperature (LST), the land cover classification map, vegetation coverage, and surface evapotranspiration derived from EOS-MODIS satellite data, and by the use of GIS spatial analytic technique and multivariate statistical analysis method, the urban heat island (UHI) spatial distribution of the diurnal and seasonal variabilities and its driving forces are studied in Beijing city and surrounding areas in 2001. The relationships among UHI distribution and landcover categories, topographic factor, vegetation greenness, and surface evapotranspiration are analyzed. The results indicate that: (i) The significant UHI occur in Beijing city areas in the four seasons due to high heat capacity and multi-reflection of compression building, as well as with special topographic features of its three sides surrounded by mountains, especially in the summer. The UHI spatial distribution is corresponding with the urban geometry structure profile. The LST difference is approximately 4-6℃between Beijing city and suburb areas, comparatively is 8- 10℃between Beijing city area and outer suburb area in northwestern regions. (ii) The UHI distribution and intensity in daytime are different from nighttime in Beijing city area, the nighttime UHI is obvious. However, in the daytime, the significant UHI mainly appears in the summer, the autumn takes second place, and the UHI in the winter and the spring seem not obvious. The surface evapotranspiration in suburb areas is larger than that in urban areas in the summer, and high latent heat exchange is evident, which leads to LST difference between city area and suburb area. (iii) The reflection of surface landcover categories is sensitive to the UHI, the correlation between vegetation greenness and UHI shows obviously negative. The scatterplot shows that there is the negative correlation between NDVI and LST (R2 = 0.6481). The results demonstrate that the vegetation greenness is an important factor for reducing the UHI, and large-scale construction of greenbelts can considerably reduce the UHI effect.

Historical Analysis of Long-term Climatic Data to Study Urban Heat Island in Singapore

Urban Heat Island is a phenomenon where the temperatures in the urban space are higher than those of the suburban rural areas. The purpose of this study is to examine regional climate change and identify the urban effects on climates of various regions in Singapore. Dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity records of four meteorological stations are analyzed to study regional climate change. Statistically significant upward trends are found in the mean, maximum and minimum temperatures of one station (Changi), whose predominant land use for the past two decades (1982–2001) has been the Port and Airport. Correlation is found between the mean temperatures and the air traffic volume at Changi Airport. A significant upward trend in minimum temperatures is detected at another station (Sembawang) during the period 1991–2001, a period when Sembawang underwent development to become a new town with large numbers of highrise housing. The other two stations (Seletar and Tengah) show no significant warming or cooling trend. A comparison of Changi and Tengah in terms of temperatures and physical development reveals a significant urban heat island that is becoming increasingly effective in Changi. The mean, maximum and minimum temperature differences between Changi (urban) and Tengah (rural) are found to be highly correlated to the air traffic volume at the airport- an indication that heavy anthropogenic activities at the Changi airport is likely to be the major cause of the historical increases in mean, maximum and minimum temperatures at Changi.

Land-Use and Land-Cover Change, Urban Heat Island Phenomenon, and Health Implications

Land use and land cover maps of Atlanta Metropolitan Area in Georgia were produced from Landsat MSS and TM images for 1973,1979,1983,1987,1992, and 1997, spanning a period of 25 years. Dramatic changes in land use and land cover have occurred with loss of forest and cropland to urban use. In particular, low-density urban use, which includes largely residential use, has increased by over 119% between 1973 and 1997. These land use and land cover changes have drastically altered the land surface characteristics. An analysis of Landsat images revealed an increase in surface temperature and a decline in NDVI from 1973 to 1997. These changes have forced the development of a significant urban heat island effect and an increase in ground level ozone production to such an extent, that Atlanta has violated EPA's ozone level standard in recent years. The urban heat island initiated precipitation events that were identified between 1996 and 2000 tended to occur near high-density urban areas but outside the I-285 loop that traverses around the Central Business District, i.e. not in the inner city area, but some in close proximity to the highways. The health implications were investigated by comparing the spatial patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, the two ingredients that form ozone by reacting with sunlight, with those of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. A clear core-periphery pattern was revealed for both VOC and NOx emissions, but the spatial pattern was more random in the cases of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Clearly, factors other than ozone pollution were involved in explaining the rates of these diseases. Further research is therefore needed to understand the health geography and its relationship to land use and land cover change as well as urban heat island effect. This paper illustrates the usefulness of a remote sensing approach for this purpose.

Spatial distribution and microscale characteristics of the urban heat island in Tel-Aviv, Israel

A significant urban heat island (UHI) was identified in Tel-Aviv on a stable winter day. The UHI detection was performed using air temperatures at both the roof and the street levels (using fixed-station and car-traverse measurements) and at the surface level (using an airborne thermal video radiometer [TVR]). Whereas the complex microscale characteristics of the UHI studied by the TVR at the surface level showed variations of up to 10°C, at the street level, air temperature variations of 3–5°C were identified between the city center and the surrounding areas. It was found that during the nighttime, the warm Mediterranean Sea has a moderating effect on the roof-level temperatures, whereas, at the street level, the urban heat island is more pronounced. The combined method of monitoring the UHI from different levels and on different scales for the first time enabled a spatial assessment of the city’s UHI and its diverse thermal coverage characteristics. The thermal differences of neighborhoods, urban activity and urban components were compared. It was demonstrated that the city cover plays an important role in the thermal activity of Tel-Aviv. A similar UHI spatial pattern was obtained using isotherm maps, generated from the air temperatures at street level, and thermal images, generated by the TVR at the surface level. It was concluded that there are differences in the magnitude of the UHI at different levels of the canopy layer and at different times, but the UHI pattern has similar trends.

Effects of urbanization on climate of İstanbul and Ankara

The purpose of this work is to study regional climate change and investigate the effects of urbanization on climates of two largest cities in Turkey: İstanbul and Ankara. Air temperature (mean, maximum and minimum) data of İstanbul and Ankara are analyzed to study regional climate change and to understand the possible effects of urbanization on the climate of these regions owing to industrialization and large flux of migration from rural parts of the country. For the trend analysis, linear regression and the sequential version of the Mann-Kendall test is used. A significant upward trend is found in the urban temperatures of southern İstanbul, which is the most highly populated and industrialized part of the city compared to its rural parts. Northern stations do not show any warming trend; instead, they have a cooling trend. Urbanization and industrialization in the southern part of İstanbul has a negative effect on regional cooling. In spite of Ankara's urban geometry and air pollution problem, the urban station in Ankara does not show any warming trend. A significant urban heat island intensity ( urban-rural) is not observed in Ankara.

Urban Influences on Surface Temperatures in the Southwestern United States during Recent Decades

Trends of surface temperature at rapidly growing urban sites during the last three to five decades are compared to those at non-urban sites, temperatures at 70 kPa, and sea surface temperature at a coastal Pacific station. Significant urban heat island effects have apparently taken hold, with urban-affected temperature increases of 1 to 2°C common over this period. In contrast, the trend of the non-urban records has been distinctly smaller over this period. The urban warming appears to be predominantly a nighttime phenomenon, with minimum temperatures displaying considerably more increase than maximum temperatures. No uniform seasonal preference for this increase emerged from these stations. Because of this increase, the distribution of observed temperatures shows a marked warm bias at several of the urban sites during recent years.