Subsurface urban heat island and its effects on horizontal ground-source heat pump potential under climate change

Luo, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-3958 and Christina, A. (2015) Subsurface urban heat island and its effects on horizontal ground-source heat pump potential under climate change. Applied Thermal Engineering, 90. pp. 530-537. ISSN 1359-4311 doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.07.025

Abstract/Summary

Recent urban air temperature increase is attributable to the climate change and heat island effects due to urbanization. This combined effects of urbanization and global warming can penetrate into the underground and elevate the subsurface temperature. In the present study, over-100 years measurements of subsurface temperature at a remote rural site were analysed, and an increasing rate of 0.17⁰C per decade at soil depth of 30cm due to climate change was identified in the UK, but the subsurface warming in an urban site showed a much higher rate of 0.85⁰C per decade at a 30cm depth and 1.18⁰C per decade at 100cm. The subsurface urban heat island (SUHI) intensity obtained at the paired urban-rural stations in London showed an unique 'U-shape', i.e. lowest in summer and highest during winter. The maximum SUHII is 3.5⁰C at 6:00 AM in December, and the minimum UHII is 0.2⁰C at 18:00PM in July. Finally, the effects of SUHI on the energy efficiency of the horizontal ground source heat pump (GSHP) were determined. Provided the same heat pump used, the installation at an urban site will maintain an overall higher COP compared with that at a rural site in all seasons, but the highest COP improvement can be achieved in winter.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/40731
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.07.025
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Walker Institute Science > School of the Built Environment > Urban Living group Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Uncontrolled Keywords	Subsurface; Urban heat island; Climate change; Ground source heat pump; Urbanization
Publisher	Elsevier
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