Attribution and mitigation of heat wave-induced urban heat storage change

Sun, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-6146, Kotthaus, S., Li, D., Ward, H. C., Gao, Z., Ni, G.-H. and Grimmond, C. S. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3166-9415 (2017) Attribution and mitigation of heat wave-induced urban heat storage change. Environmental Research Letters, 12 (11). 114007. ISSN 1748-9326 doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aa922a

Abstract/Summary

When the urban heat island (UHI) effect coincides with a heat wave (HW), thermal comfort conditions in cities are exacerbated. Understanding the surface energy balance (SEB) responses to HWs is critical for improving predictions of the synergies between UHIs and HWs. This study evaluates observed SEB characteristics in four cities (Beijing, Łódź, London and Swindon), along with their ambient meteorological conditions, for both HW and background summer climate (BC) scenarios. Using the Analytical Objective Hysteresis Model (AnOHM), particular emphasis is on the heat storage. The results demonstrate that in London and Swindon not only the amount of daytime heat storage but also its portion relative to the net all-wave radiation increase under HWs. Results further demonstrate that such increases are strongly tied to lower wind speeds. The effects of different UHI mitigation measures on heat storage are assessed using AnOHM. Results reveal that using reflective materials and maintaining higher soil moisture availability may offset the adverse effects of increased heat storage.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/73105
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Institute of Physics
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