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CLIMATE PRACTICAL

Introduction

As the population of cities increase, so does the concern about anthropogenic climate

modification on urban settlements. One of the best documented of these human impacts on

urban climate is the urban heat island (UHI) effect (Arnfield, 2003). The UHI refers to the

relative warmth of a city compared with the surrounding countryside. The occurrence of this

phenomenon is the result of a complex interaction between climate, urban design, and structure

and population related factors (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Generation of Urban Heat Island (modified from Rizman et al., 2008).

From thermal sensing remote evaluations to field measures, there are a wide

range of methodological approaches in order to determine the UHI effect of a specific city. This

study is based on the comparison of diverse micrometeorological parameters of two automatic

weather stations (AWS) within the campus of the University of Reading (Fig. 2). In the first

part of the paper, we examine the differences of SS and GH stations in diurnal cycles of air

temperature average and incoming solar radiation. Second, we select individual days with

largest differences to perform the same analysis. Additional meteorological parameters such as

wind speed, albedo and atmospheric pressure, and environmental variables such as vegetation

and urban geometry are used to gauge their influence in UHI.

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Site description and methodology

One of the AWS is installed on the sidewalk of the Soil Science building and the other

within in grounds of the greenhouses (Fig. 2). Whilst the first one is characterized by an urban

milieu, the latter is distinguished by more rural surroundings. The two AWS have temperature

and humidity probes, anemometer and vane, and two pyranometers. In addition, the greenhouse

station has soil moisture sensor, atmospheric pressure sensor and a raingauge.

Fig. 2. Location of the study area and satellite photo of the University of Reading campus where the

AWS are situated (1: Soil Science; 2: greenhouses).

The Soil Science station (SS) is placed on the sidewalk between the Soil Science

building and its annexed building (Fig. 3 (a)), configuring the classic urban canyon. Both the

sidewalk and the road are covered with tarmac. The walls are made by brown bricks and the

roof of the Soil Science building is fabricated of aluminum. On the other hand, the greenhouse

station (GH) is settled within an open space between the greenhouses and the crops of the

university, very closed to Harris Garden (Fig. 3 (b)). This implies that is a vegetated

environment. Finally, the soil surface is a mosaic of patches of bare ground and grass (see

Table 1 for further explanations).

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Fig. 3. Pictures of the environment of the AWS: Soil Science (a) and greenhouse (b) stations.

The dataset were collected from the February the 2nd to March the 16th of the present

year (Fig. 4 represent the pressure evolution during this time). The Table 2 shows the list of

parameters we have used during the experiment. According to the University of Reading

Atmospheric Observatory (http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/weatherdata/), the average temperature of

February and March is 4,6º and 6,7º C respectively (for the period of 1971-2001), the mean

pressure. On the other hand is 1016,3 and 1015, 7 mbs.

Fig. 4. Pressure evolution of the months of February (a) and March of 2009 (b) (University of Reading

Atmospheric Observatory; http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/weatherdata/); the two anticyclones are

highlighted with a circle. The analysis charts of February the 21st (c) and March the 15th (d) are

represented (German Weather Service; http://www.wetterzentrale.de/).

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Results and discussion

Studying the diurnal cycle of GH and SS air temperature average (Fig. 5 (a)); we found

that the SS thermal wave amplitude is significantly smaller. Although there is almost no

difference during daytime, just before the sunrise, the divergence of air temperatures starts to

increase, thus reaching the maximum value of UHI at nighttime. These same results were found

in quite different places such as Granada (Spain) and Fairbanks (Alaska, US) (Montávez et al.,

2000; Magee et al., 1999).

During the day solar heating overrides the rest of the meteorological and urban

configuration factors (Oke, 1982), thereby buffering the differences between GH and SS air

temperatures and hence reducing the UHI effect. In contrast, the largely dissimilarities during

the night are due to the rapid GH cooling rate (Oke, 1982). There are three major factors that

may contribute to explain this effect: thermal properties of the surrounding area, nocturnal

conditions and urban geometry. Giridharan et al. (2005) argues that nocturnal UHI is a product

of the daytime urban heat storage. This energy accumulated by the walls, road and roof of the

SS building is released at night in form of heat, thereby holding up the SS cooling rate. One of

the origins of this energy accumulation might be the considerably amount of incoming radia tion

absorbed by the human made materials of the SS built environment. As the incoming solar

radiation is very similar for both locations (Fig. 5 (b)), even greater in the GH site, possibly,

because the Soil Science building shadows the AWS from early morning to midday (Fig. 3 (a));

the cause of the heat storage heterogeneity may be a result of differences of surface reflectivity.

In our study, we found that SS albedo averaged was 0,10 larger than the GH, 0,24 and 0,14,

respectively (see Fig. 6 to observe its evolution during the experiment; the anomaly of the first

days were due to several snowfall events, Shahgedanova, personal communication). The high

value found in the SS station may well be caused by the dark color and roughness of the tarmac

road and sidewalk (Fig. 3 (a)) (Hamdi and Schayes, 2008). On the other hand, the lower GH

albedo value is probably owing to the vegetation cover (Taha, 1997).

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Aside from modifying surface albedo, plant cover also might affect other properties of

the ground surface, such as evapotranspiration, soil density and specific heat capacity (Hamdi

and Schayes, 2008). The Fig. 7 (a), which represents the daily trend of SS and GH relative

humidity (RH), shows that in the greenhouse grounds (Fig. 3 (b)) are more levels of RH during

nighttime. Because the air temperature of this site is cooler than the air in the grounds of Soil

Science, the genesis of this circumstance may be attributed to the moisture obtained from plant

and soil through evapotranspiration.

The second key factor that may be a major cause to enhance the UHI magnitude during

the night is the street geometry of the SS location. The two main parameters used in order to

determine the relationship between urban geometry and UHI are the sky-view factor (SVF) and

the high-to-width-ratio (H/W) (Oke, 1981). In our study we measured the latter, obtaining a

relative high value of 3,2 for the street canyon of the Soil Science station. In consequence, it is

possible to affirm then that the SS location is a relative narrow street canyon, where a large

percent of the cold sky is displaced by the relatively warm sides of buildings (Oke, 1981). In

short words, urban geometry may work as a trap for long-wave radiation, thus delaying cooling

rates during nighttime (Oke, 1981).

Nocturnal conditions are the last major aspect to consider. Nights often have clear skies

and less wind. Morris et al. (2001) states that cloud cover and wind speed have an important

effect in insolation and ventilation. The authors demonstrate that cloudless conditions are

associated with the most developed UHI effect. They go on to say that the amount of cloud

cover diminish the nocturnal radiative cooling, thereby lessening the difference between the

urban and rural air temperature. The other key determinant of the strong UHI at night is its

lower intensity of wind speed. In the Fig. 7 (b), which illustrates the SS and GH daily wind

speed evolution, we observed that the lowest levels of wind speed occur during the night in both

sites. According to Magee et al. (1999), low magnitudes of wind speed allow heat to store close

to the surface without extensive mixing, thus strengthening the differences of air temperature

between the urban and rural environments.

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Aside from the well known tendency of temperature increase due to the seasonal

progress, we can observe in Fig. 8 the opposite trend concerning the UHI. Although it is not

very neat, the amount of negative values is congregate during the last days of the experiment

(see the red circle in Fig. 8), thus reaching the lowest value of UHI (-1,9º C) March the 2nd at

11:00. This dynamics was found by other researchers like Magee et al. (1999) and Montávez et

al. (2000). According to the first, whilst solar radiation loses nearly its influence due to the

reduction of the length of day time, anthropogenic heat lost becomes more important. They go

onto argue that winter UHI is considerably amplified by strong surface inversions during the

winter. Two anomalies interrupt notably the cited trend (see black circles in Fig. 8); one is

situated at the central area of the plot (around February the 21st ) and the other at the right hand

side of the figure (15th and 16th of March). We found that the daily UHI average of these three

days were the largest of our dataset (1,3º, 1,7º and 1,8º C, respectively), although the maximum

value was reached on March the 3rd at 01:00. These deviations coincide with the days with

anticyclonic conditions (Fig. 4). Generally, anticyclones are related to calm clear nights

(Shahgedanova et al., 1997) and hence they are ideal situations to reach the greatest magnitude

of UHI effect. The data from March 15th may be a good example of this. Cloudless and low

wind conditions can be interpreted from Fig. 9 (b) and (c) -the high quantity of incoming solar

radiation might be a good indirect measured of cloudless. Finally, Fig. 9 (a) suggests that the

UHI on this specific day was present even during daytime.

Conclusions

The present survey demonstrates that two sites, within the university campus of Reading

and separated for only few hundreds of meters, can have two completely different

microc limates. These differences are based on the landscape configuration of the closest

surroundings and amplify by seasonal and diurnal conditions, and meteorological factors.

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On the one hand, the SS built materials absorb, store and release high quantities of

heating, thereby increasing the air temperature of the surroundings. Moreover, this warming is

trapped because the peculiar urban geometry, not allowing the mixing with adjacent zones. On

the other hand, in the GH environment, the reflection of lots of radiant energy and the process of

evapotranspiration realized by plants and soil permit a quickly air temperature cooling during

nighttime. These differences of temperature, called urban heat island effect (UHI), can be

heightened by anticyclonic conditions , which are associated with calm clear skies.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Richard Tegg for help me in measuring the heig ht of the Soil Science Building

and Michael Roy Stroud to send me the monthly and annual average temperatures of Reading.

References

Arnfield, A.J. (2003) Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy
and water, and the urban heat island. International Journal of Climatology, 23: 1–26.

German Weather Service (http://www.wetterzentrale.de/)

Giridharan, R., Lau, S.S.Y. and Ganesan, S. (2005) Nocturnal heat island effect in urban residential
developments of Hong Kong. Energy and Building, 37: 964– 971.

Hamdi, R. and Schayes, G. (2008) Sensitivity study of the urban heat island intensity to urban
characteristics. International Journal of Climatology, 28: 973– 982.

Magee, N., Curtis, J. & Wendler, G. (1999) The urban heat island effect at Fairbanks, Alaska. Theoretical
and Applied Climatology, 64: 39–47.

Montávez, J.P., Rodriguez, A. and Jimenez, J.I. (2000) A study of the urban heat island of Granada.
International Journal of Climatology, 20: 899– 911.

Morris, C.J.G., Simmonds, I., and Plummer, N. (2001) Quantification of the Influences of Wind and
Cloud on the Nocturnal Urban Heat Island of a Large City. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 40: 169– 182.

Oke, T.R. (1981) Canyon geometry and the nocturnal urban heat island: Comparison of scale model and
field observations. International Journal of Climatology, 108: 237–254.

Oke, T.R. (1982) The energetic basis of the urban heat island. Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society, 108: 1–24.

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Rizwan, A.M, Dennis, Y.C.L. and Liu, C. (2008) A review on the generation, determination and
mitigation of Urban Heat Island. Journal of Environmental Sciences 20, 120–128.

Shahgedanova, M., Burt T.P. and Davies, T.D. (1997) Some aspects of the three-dimensional heat island
in Moscow. International Journal of Climatology, 17: 1451– 1465.

Taha, H. (1997) Urban climates and heat islands: albedo, evapotranspiration, and anthropogenic heat.
Energy and Buildings, 25: 99–103.

University of Reading Atmospheric Observatory (http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/weatherdata/)

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Annex

Table 1. Field observations and site description.

Site Time Site and weather description Cloudiness

1 01:15 PM • The urban geometry consists in a street 6 - stratocumulus


canyon.

• Because this convergent structure, it


could be a windy location.

• The AWS is situated over a dark tarmac


sidewalk.

• A black tarmac road covers the whole


length of the short street.

• Both the sidewalk and the road are


impervious surfaces.

• A tall brown brick building (Soil


Science) was located just behind the
AWS.

• The roof of this building is made by


aluminum and has a salient that projects
shadow.

• The small traffic around the area might


be a factor to consider.

2 01:45 PM • The AWS was situated in open space in 6 - stratocumulus


the middle of the greenhouses.

• Besides the crops and plants of the


greenhouses, there is plenty of
vegetation in the surroundings.

• The soil over the AWS consists in grass


and bare ground.

• There is a tall eucalyptus really close to


the AWS.

• The Harris Garden is situated near the


location of the GH AWS.

Table 2. List of parameters used in the analysis.

Parameter Unit Observations


Rain mm
Wind speed m/s
Direction º
Gust speed m/s
DewPt ºC
Relative Humidity %
Water Content m3/m3
Incoming Solar Radiation W/m3 ISR
Solar Radiation Reflected W/m3 SRR
Albedo % SRR / ISR at 12:00

9
(a) (b)
10,0 1,0 300,00
9,0
0,8 250,00
8,0
Temperature (ºC)

7,0 0,6
200,00 ISRgh

ISR (W/m2)
UHI (ºC)
6,0 0,4
5,0 150,00 ISRss
4,0 0,2
Tss 100,00
3,0 0,0
2,0 Tgh 50,00
-0,2
1,0 ?Tss-gh
0,0 -0,4 0,00

Hour Hour

Fig. 5. SS and GH daily temperature, and daily UHI intensity evolution (a); and daily incoming solar
radiation (ISR) evolution (b).

1
0,9
0,8 Rgh
Reflectivity

0,7
0,6 Rss
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0

Days

Fig. 6. Reflectivity evolution during the 42 days of experiment.

(a) (b)
95,00 1,4

1,2 WSg
90,00 h
1
Wind Speed (m/s)

85,00
RH (%)

0,8

80,00 0,6

RHgh 0,4
75,00
RHss 0,2

70,00 0

Days Hour

Fig. 7. SS and GH daily wind speed (a); and daily relative humidity (RH) (b).

10
20 4
Tgh

15 Tss 3

?Tss-gh
2
Temperature (ºC)

10

UHI (ºC)
1
5
0

0
-1

-5 -2

-10 -3

Fig. 8. SS and GH temperature and UHI intensity evolution during the 42 days of experiment. Black
circles represent days with anticyclonic conditions and red circles, days with negative UHI.

(a) (b)
18 3 700
16
2,5 600
14 ISRgh
Temperature (ºC)

500
12 2
ISR (W/m2)

ISRss
UHI (ºC)

10 400
1,5
8 300
6 Tgh 1
200
4
Tss 0,5 100
2
?Tss-gh
0 0 0

Hour Hour

(c)
1,8
1,6
1,4 WSgh
Wind Speed (m/s)

1,2 WSss
1
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0

Hour

Fig. 9. SS and GH temperature, and UHI intensity evolution (a); incoming solar radiation (ISR) evolution
(b); and wind speed evolution (c) of March 15th of 2009.

Ramiro A znar Ballarín

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