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Copyright of Landscape Architecture (1673-1530) is the property of Beijing Landscape Architecture Journal Periodical Office Co., Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urban water bodies play a critical role in regulating urban climate, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and enhancing ecological environments. This study focuses on five typical heat island cities in Zhejiang Province, systematically analyzing the cooling effects of urban water bodies. Specifically, the study divides urban buffer zones into basic analytical units based on the urban road network and performs land surface temperature inversion and land use classification using the Google Earth Engine platform. Six representative morphology indicators of water bodies are selected, and the contributions of these indicators to the cooling effects of urban water bodies are evaluated using a Gradient Boosting Decision Tree regression model. Additionally, optimization strategies for water bodies in different cities are proposed. The results show the following: (1) Water bodies in central urban areas generally exhibit significant cooling effects, with the average land surface temperature reduction in water bodies exceeding 5.13 °C compared to built-up areas in all cities. (2) The average land surface temperature in urban buffer zones is generally higher than that in central urban areas, with a temperature difference of at least 0.63 °C. (3) In Huzhou and Jiaxing, the high-temperature and low-temperature zones are relatively concentrated, while in Jinhua, Quzhou, and Shaoxing, a more interspersed distribution of high-temperature and low-temperature zones is observed, reflecting a higher spatial heterogeneity. (4) Among the water body morphology indicators, the water edge density, the proportion of landscape area occupied by water patches, the largest patch index of water, and the water landscape shape index exert a relatively larger impact on cooling effects. These findings provide scientific guidance for optimizing the spatial layout of water bodies in urban buffer zones and improving urban thermal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess the spatial and temporal characteristics of the urban thermal environment in Zhengzhou City to supplement climate adaptation design work, based on the Landsat 8–9 OLI/TIRS C2 L2 data for 12 periods from 2019–2023, combined with the lLocal climate zone (LCZ) classification of the urban subsurface classification, in this study, we used the statistical mono-window (SMW) algorithm to invert the land surface temperature (LST) and to classify the urban heat island (UHI) effect, to analyze the differences in the spatial distribution of thermal environments in urban areas and the aggregation characteristics, and to explore the influence of LCZ landscape distribution pattern on surface temperature. The results show that the proportions of built and natural landscape types in Zhengzhou's main metropolitan area are 79.23% and 21.77%, respectively. The most common types of landscapes are wide mid-rise (LCZ 5) structures and large-ground-floor (LCZ 8) structures, which make up 21.92% and 20.04% of the study area's total area, respectively. The main urban area's heat island varies with the seasons, pooling in the urban area during the summer and peaking in the winter, with strong or extremely strong heat islands centered in the suburbs and a distribution of hot and cold spots aggregated with observable features. As building heights increase, the UHI of common built landscapes (LCZ 1–6) increases and then reduces in spring, summer, and autumn and then decreases in winter as building heights increase. Water bodies (LCZ G) and dense woods (LCZ A) have the lowest UHI effects among natural settings. Building size is no longer the primary element affecting LST as buildings become taller; instead, building connectivity and clustering take center stage. Seasonal variations, variations in LCZ types, and variations in the spatial distribution pattern of LCZ are responsible for the spatial differences in the thermal environment in the study area. In summer, urban areas should see an increase in vegetation cover, and in winter, building gaps must be appropriately increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lviv (Ukraine), a city of about 1 million inhabitants, is classified as a Western Forest-Steppe according to the forestry zonation. The mesoclimatic anomaly in the western forest-steppe with its humid mild climate is composed of the sum of microclimates formed by the thermal regime. As in every large city, Lviv has historically developed a distinctive microclimate influenced by many natural and anthropogenic factors, including global climate change, urban development, population growth, landscape fires, etc. This contributes to the development of a heat island effect, which is characterised primarily by an increase in air temperature and a decrease in air humidity and is a negative factor for the development of vegetation in the city's green zone. It was necessary to investigate the territory of the "dry island" -- the lower tier of the "heat island" -- to determine the level of vitality of the main woody plants located within these boundaries. As it could be observed, the "dry island" is located in the dense development of the central part of the city, where the temperature of the dead underlying surface (stone, asphalt, concrete) was in the range of 57-62 °C, the air temperature was 28.5-29.1 °C, and the humidity was 50.2--51.2%. Drought conditions affect the growth, development and reproductive capacity of woody plants. It has been established that the heat island should be reduced by urban greening in the horizontal and vertical ranges, and to maintain the physiological stability of tree plantations in the hot season, it is necessary to develop recommendations for the care of vegetation in the green zone of the city, depending on microclimatic indicators, especially air and soil temperatures, air and soil humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat islands, exacerbated by climate change, have become a pressing issue as summer temperatures rise. This study uses data mining techniques to classify the thermal impact of tree shade on building façades in the urban area of a tropical city. Our objective was to develop models to assist stakeholders and policymakers in forecasting the thermal impact of solar orientation and tree shade on building façades in the urban areas of a tropical city. Minimum and maximum infrared surface temperatures were registered in health clinics' façades in Teresina, Brazil. Random forest methodology was applied to develop classifying models. This technique, known for its robust classification and prediction of categorical variables, offers a significant advantage over other modeling methods. Key input variables included façade infrared surface temperature, solar orientation, environmental temperature, relative humidity, and the extent of tree shade. Critical attributes were identified as solar orientation (North, South, East, and West), tree shade, and façade temperature (maximum and minimum). Two tree-ensemble models were selected for an accuracy rate of 88% and Kappa (κ) = 0.86. The models indicate that tree-ensemble methods can accurately classify and predict the thermal impact of tree shade on building façades. Additionally, the method effectively identified and ranked the factors influencing thermal impact, providing users with reliable predictive capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Geology is the property of Urban Geology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The objective of this study is to elucidate the principal determinants influencing the thermal comfort of campus sidewalks, and to discern the nexus between sidewalk planting configurations and thermal comfort. Initially, thermal environment simulations are conducted across various temporal intervals, predicated upon the extant sidewalk planting configuration. Subsequently, an analysis is undertaken to delineate the causative factors contributing to suboptimal thermal comfort within the prevailing milieu. Finally, an evaluation of configurations conducive to enhancing campus thermal comfort through divergent planting design solutions is undertaken, thereby engendering discourse on sidewalk planting design. The findings show that impermeable pavement, encompassing sidewalks and driveways, emerges as the pre-eminent precipitant of diminished thermal comfort within the study locale. The implementation of a double-row staggered tree-planting approach, coupled with multi-layered shrub planting, emerges as the optimal solution for augmenting thermal comfort. Consequently, the outcomes of this study proffer discernibly superior alternatives for ameliorating the heat island effect and fostering the establishment of a sustainable campus paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, the rapid urbanization process has led to increasingly severe urban heat island effects and other urban thermal environment issues, posing significant challenges to urban planning and environmental management. This study focuses on Zhengzhou, China, utilizing Landsat remote sensing imagery data from five key years between 2000 and 2020. By applying atmospheric correction methods, we accurately retrieved the land surface temperature (LST). The study employed a gravity center migration model to track the spatial changes of heat island patches and used the geographical detector method to quantitatively analyze the combined impact of surface characteristics, meteorological conditions, and socio-economic factors on the urban heat island effect. Results show that the LST in Zhengzhou exhibits a fluctuating growth trend, closely related to the expansion of built-up areas and urban planning. High-temperature zones are mainly concentrated in built-up areas, while low-temperature zones are primarily found in areas covered by water bodies and vegetation. Notably, the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are the two most significant factors influencing the spatial distribution of land surface temperature, with explanatory power reaching 42.7% and 41.3%, respectively. As urban development enters a stable stage, government environmental management measures have played a positive role in mitigating the urban heat island effect. This study not only provides a scientific basis for understanding the spatiotemporal changes in land surface temperature in Zhengzhou but also offers new technical support for urban planning and management, helping to alleviate the urban heat island effect and improve the living environment quality for urban residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has caused increasingly severe heat island effect in cites, which also has worsened air quality in the urban areas due to a combination of factors. To reduce the impacts, several studies have proposed strategies based on different planning and design principles. Although some strategies were found to be useful for mitigating air pollution or urban heat island, the simultaneous effects were rarely discussed in the past studies. Therefore, this research tries to develop a framework that is able to evaluate the relative benefits of different mitigation methods on both urban heat island and air pollution, using a scenario-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling method. Six scenarios of different strategies were comprehensively evaluated and compared. It is found that pavement materials and rooftop greening showed more significant effects on reducing the heat island temperature and air pollutant concentration than that of changes in building volumes and water bodies in the study area. In addition, there are differences in mitigation effects on the two impacts, suggesting that careful comparative analysis should always be done before implementing the strategies. The proposed method could be very useful in the process of developing coping strategies for both heat island effect and air pollution in the urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Global‐scale studies are necessary to draw general conclusions on how trophic interactions vary with urbanization and to explore how the effects of urbanization change along latitudinal gradients. We predict that the intensity of trophic interactions decreases in response to urbanization (quantified by human population density). Since trophic interactions are more intense at lower latitudes, we also expect major impacts of urbanization at higher latitudes, where base levels are essentially lower. Location: Global (881 study sites). Time period: 2000–2021. Major taxa studied: Birds, arthropods and woody plants. Methods: We compiled global data on insect herbivory and bird predation from studies that employed similar methods and fitted generalized linear mixed models to test how these trophic interactions vary with human population density, latitude and their interactions. Results: The intensity of herbivory and predation decreased with an increase in human population density at lower latitudes. Surprisingly, it remained unaffected at intermediate latitudes and even increased at higher latitudes. Main conclusions: The observed patterns may be attributed to local climate changes in urban areas, such as the Urban Heat Island effect, which disrupts thermal stability in the tropics while increasing niche availability at polar latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science Technology & Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Technology Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pavement photovoltaic (PV) is an innovative energy-harvesting technology that seamlessly integrates into road surfaces, merging established PV power generation methods with conventional roadway infrastructure. This fusion optimally utilizes the extensive spatial assets inherent in road networks. This paper offers an exhaustive examination of the literature concerning the physical models and performance evaluation of photovoltaic pavements. This study delineates the essential three-tier structure of pavement modules and juxtaposes the advantages and drawbacks of design models across these strata, thereby facilitating the development of more suitable solutions for varying application scenarios. The importance of accommodating fluctuations in shadows and countering the heat island effect (HIE) is emphasized. Nevertheless, the technology remains in its nascent research phase, characterized by challenges associated with limited long-term durability and efficacy. Building upon these findings, this study addresses the challenges confronting pavement PV from three perspectives and outlines future prospects and recommendations for its progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the accelerated development of urbanization and industrialization, the scope of cities continues to expand. However, natural landscape such as vegetation and water in the city has been transformed into artificial impervious water. This has aggravated urban heat island effect and caused serious damage to the urban ecological environment. To explore the relevant factors that affect urban heat island effect, this study selects Tianjin, which has a high level of urbanization and a significant heat island effect, as the study area. Land satellite remote sensing images from 2013, 2018, and 2022 were selected for data acquisition. The analysis was conducted from the perspective of urban surface parameters changes. The selected urban surface parameters for this study include vegetation index, water body index, impermeable surface index, and surface temperature index. The heat island area will increase over time. In 2013, 2018, and 2022, the proportion of this area to the total area was 41.92%, 48.73%, and 49.16%, respectively. In 2022, the proportion of different regions in total area ranges from 40.21% to 54.22%. At this time, the heat island area of Dongli District is the largest and that of Jinnan District is the smallest. Surface temperature is negatively correlated with vegetation and water bodies, and positively correlated with impermeable water surfaces. Between 2013 and 2022, over 90% of impermeable water surfaces belonged to heat island area, over 80% of vegetation belonged to green island area, and over 97% of water bodies belonged to green island area. In conclusion, the method proposed in the study can well analyze urban heat island effect and urban surface parameters change’s connection. This provides solid scientific data support for alleviating the heat island effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal landscapes are crucial for the study of the urban heat island phenomena because they allow for the analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of urban thermal environments using methods and theories from landscape ecology. Recent research has primarily examined the effects of land surface composition and landscape pattern on heat islands, neglecting to examine the thermal landscape's connectivity from a holistic standpoint. We have opted to examine the spatial and temporal development of thermal landscape connectivity on a regional scale in this article. In view of this, the spatial pattern of heat islands in 2030 was predicted using artificial neural network and Cellular Automaton and Markov (ANN-CA-Markov) model based on the heat island evolution characteristics from 2014 to 2022 in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, China. The structural characteristics of heat islands were analyzed utilizing the Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis model, and thermal landscape connectivity was quantified using Conefor 2.6 software, and its spatial and temporal evolution patterns were analyzed. The analysis showed that, first, the ANN-CA-Markov model simulated a KAPPA coefficient of 0.78, which has a high degree of accuracy and can simulate the distribution of thermal landscapes during various time periods. Second, analysis of heat island connection trends showed that connectivity expanded quicker between 2014 and 2022 than between 2022 and 2030. Although the largest patches were also the most connected, areas with a concentrated distribution of small patches also produced patches with extremely high connectivity metrics and are likely to develop into larger, more threatening patches. This study can quantify the importance of heat islands based on thermal landscape connectivity metrics and identify clusters of important patches, which are important for mitigating and preventing the worsening of the heat island effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal environment deterioration has seriously threatened urban habitat quality and urban sustainable development. The evolution of the urban built environment (UBE) is an important cause for urban thermal environment variation. However, the dynamic effect of the UBE on the land surface temperature (LST) is rarely studied by combining the local climate zone (LCZ) theory and spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Based on a case study of Beilin District in Xi'an, China, this paper identified LCZ types of Beilin District in 2010, 2015, and 2020 using the GIS method. It also analyzed the spatial–temporal characteristics of the LST in summer based on the remote sensing retrieval method and explored the effects of the built environment on the LST by Geodetector and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results showed the following: (1) The area share of dense building zones in Beilin District was greater than that of open building zones and natural surface zones, while the share of mid- and high-rise dense building zones continued to increase and the share of low-rise dense building zones continued to decrease during the study period. (2) The LST of different LCZ types in Beilin District was obviously different, and the LST of dense building zones was generally higher than that of open building zones and natural surface zones. Meanwhile, the LST of mid- and low-rise dense building zones increased gradually, and the LST of high-rise open building zones decreased gradually, but the overall warming area was obviously more than the cooling area. (3) The effects of the UBE factors on the LST varied greatly, with their interaction having an enhancement effect. The direct and interactive influence of the two-dimensional (2D) UBE indicators on the LST were greater than those of the three-dimensional (3D) indicators, but there was a gradual decrease in the force of the 2D indicators and a simultaneous diminution, enhancement, and invariance of the force of the 3D indicators. (4) Vegetation cover (VC) and floor area ratio (FAR) acted negatively, and the building height (BH) was changing from a positive to a negative role, with the average action intensity of VC changing from −0.27 to −0.15, FAR from −0.20 to −0.16, and BH from 0.05 to −0.04. The impervious surface area (ISA), building area (BA), and space congestion (SC) acted positively, with the average action intensity of the ISA changing from 0.12 to 0.20, BA from 0.12 to 0.19, and SC was stable at 0.04. The framework enables a deeper portrayal of LST changes in different LCZs, reflecting the direct and interactive effects of different UBE indicators on LST, as well as local variations in the impact effects and provides a basis for urban managers or planners to improve urban heat resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, urban regions are experiencing prolonged heat exposure due to climate change and increased population expansion. Physiological, psychological and behavioural measures improve residents' thermal comfort to solve the overheating issues generated by the scenario. However, adaptive strategies have not been clearly categorized based on the building construction process. This paper systematically reviews 101 documents published from 2013 to 2023, across 22 countries, with a focus on Nigeria. Using descriptive statistics and content analysis, we identify and categorize 52 adaptive strategies into four groups: urban design, effective building design, insulation, and occupants' behaviour. These strategies are further classified according to their application in the building process stages: pre-design, design, construction, and post-construction. The study provides a full response to overheating in the building sector with efforts to reduce energy consumption rate and greenhouse gas emissions. The findings of the study contribute, significantly to improvement in occupants' health care and well-being, as well as high productivity levels and socioeconomic benefits. Future research is therefore recommended in the efficiency of its implementation to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions in the construction industry towards sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with economic development, urbanization has been accelerating. In the past 100 years, the global average temperature has increased by 0.5°C, and according to the predictions of most global climate models, the temperature will continue to increase by 1.5°C to 3.0°C in the next 100 years. Under the influence of global warming, the urban heat island effect problem is becoming more and more serious, bringing much harm. Studying the thermal effect and its influencing factors is of great significance for sustainable urban development. In this study, the seasonal and interannual surface temperature changes of the study area are inverted based on the SW-TES algorithm, and the LST inversion of the algorithm is simply verified. At the same time, a cell dichotomous model was established to explore the influencing factors of the urban heat island effect and the influence of different land use types and normalized vegetation indices in the Hangzhou metropolitan area was analyzed. The results showed that the overall heating trend of the study area showed a heating trend, the expansion rate of regional construction land was relatively fast, and the scale of urban land was increasing. Based on the results of surface temperature changes of areas with different land types, we obtained the temperature trends of each land type [from 2005 to 2018] and found that there was a negative correlation between surface temperature and normalized vegetation index. This study provides a theoretical basis to evaluate the urban heat island effect and analyze factors that impact it and would promote sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the acceleration of urbanization, urban heat waves have become a major problem affecting the lives of citizens. In this context, the accurate identification of the key patches and nodes of urban heat islands is important for improving the urban environment. This study examined the Landsat image data from Xiamen city in 2001, 2011, and 2021 to analyze the construction of the urban heat island (UHI) network. A morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity model were utilized to identify the central thermal landscape patches and key nodes of UHI and their spatial and temporal evolution characteristics in the urban development process. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide valuable insights that can contribute to the enhancement of the urban environment. The results showed that (1) there was a significant increase in the heat island area (HIA) of Xiamen from 2001 to 2021, and the heat island patches show a concentrated trend. The temperature contrast between the urban area and the surrounding countryside was more distinct, indicating the urban construction land has a tendency to gather and spread. (2) The core area of the heat island accounted for the largest proportion of the thermal landscape area during the study period, and its proportion increased significantly. And the rate of increase was first rapid and then slow. The areas of the edge, branch, islet, bridge, loop, and perforation classes all showed different degrees of a decreasing trend. This indicates an increasing degree of aggregation between heat island patches. (3) The top 20 thermal landscape patches with high landscape connectivity importance values were identified. Among them, the importance value and area of the first four patches are relatively large, and belong to the three importance classes of extremely important, important, and generally important heat island core patches, which deserve focused attention and optimization. (4) Cooling measures can be prioritized for core areas of heat islands with high importance values. Connections between hot and cold islands can be interrupted or connected to mitigate the heat island effect throughout the region. The results of this study have important practical guidance for urban planning and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat islands (UHIs) caused by urbanization have become a major issue affecting the sustainable development of the ecological environment. The distribution of UHIs is mainly affected by the reflection and transmission of heat radiation caused by differences in urban spaces, and the anthropogenic heat emissions caused by social activities. At present, the research on the urban thermal environment involves two spatial classification systems: local climate zone (LCZ), based on urban morphology and spatial patterns; and urban functional zone (UFZ), based on socio-economic activities. It is not clear whether there are association rules between these two systems in different cities. Against this background, this study explores the association rules between the UFZ and LCZ classification systems using the selected Chinese cities in different regions as typical examples. Our results confirm that there are common association rules from UFZ to LCZ, as the form of buildings is greatly influenced by the types of functional areas in urban construction. Specifically, the medical zone corresponds to the compact mid-rise zone (LCZ2); the business service area and the office area also correspond to the compact zone (LCZ1-LCZ3); and the industrial area corresponds to the compact low-rise zone (LCZ3). These functional zones have the same association rules in different cities. The cross-regional mining of the relationship between different urban functional systems will help to coordinate different planning departments and carry out the integration of multiple spatial plans. Furthermore, we found that LCZ has a better differentiation effect on the surface temperature through our comparison research, which makes it more suitable as a reference for research on the thermal environment and the heat island effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and rapid urbanization have jointly altered the climate characteristics of cities, including rainfall, humidity, and temperature, and have resulted in an increase of extreme precipitation. In this study, to identify the hydrothermal driving factors responsible for extreme precipitation in urban areas, sensitivity experiments were carried out on two extreme precipitation events in Shanghai, China, using the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the artificial water dissipation urban canopy model (AWDUCM). The simulation results from the WRF model and observations from 35 weather stations across Shanghai were compared. The results showed that WRF could simulate the spatial distribution and precipitation intensity of extreme rainfall more accurately when integrated with the AWDUCM. With the AWDUCM incorporated, the root‐mean‐square errors of the two simulated precipitation events were 9.1 and 9.9 mm respectively (accounting for approximately 20% of the total rainfall). The near‐surface temperature and specific humidity in the AWDUCM simulation were approximately 0.5°C and 1 g·kg−1 higher than in the NON simulation (that did not invoke the AWDUCM) respectively. Urbanization factors increase the near‐surface temperature and specific humidity in urban and built‐up land, and the results of this study indicate that these are two of the driving forces affecting precipitation. Increased water vapor and urban heat island effects caused by urbanization are enhancing the intensity of extreme precipitation in Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate data used for dynamic energy simulation of buildings located in urban regions are usually collected in meteorological stations situated in rural areas, which do not accurately represent the urban microclimate (e.g., urban heat island effect), and this might affect the simulation accuracy. This paper aims at quantitatively evaluating the effects of heat island on a high-rise building's energy performance based on the microclimate simulation tool ENVI-met and the building energy simulation tool COMFIE. However, the computation of microclimate models is time consuming; it is not possible to simulate every day of a year in a reasonable time. This paper proposes a method that generates hourly "site-specific climate data" to avoid long microclimate simulation times. A coupling method of ENVI-met and COMFIE was developed for more precise building energy simulation, accounting for the heat island effect. It was applied to a high-rise building in Wuhan, China. The results showed that the yearly average urban heat island effect intensity at the height of 3 m was estimated to be 0.55 °C and decreased with height. Compared to the simulation considering the outdoor temperature variation with the height and orientation, using the original climate data collected in rural areas led to an overestimation of the heating load by around 5.8% and an underestimation of the cooling load by around 8.7%. Compared to the weather file at the height of 3 m near the north facade neglecting the temperature variation along the height, the heating load was overestimated by 8.2% and the cooling load was underestimated by 10.8%. The methods proposed in this paper can be used for the more precise application of urban building energy simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban heat island effect caused by rapid urbanization has had a great impact on human health and ecological environment. The evolution of landscape patterns often affects regional thermal characteristics at the local scale. How to rationally allocate land cover types from the perspective of urban planning is a huge challenge. This paper takes Nanjing, a typical "stove city" in China, as an example to study the impact of landscape pattern changes on the urban thermal environment. Firstly, based on the "source" landscape "/sink" landscape identified by the "source-sink" landscape index, on this basis, the contributions of the "source-sink" landscape and its effects are calculated, and the temporal and spatial evolution laws are analyzed. Second, we study the cooling effect of different characteristic landscapes. The results show that the change of landscape pattern is closely related to the urban thermal environment, and the expansion of built-up areas is the main reason for the urban thermal environment. With the development of urbanization, the "source-sink" landscape structure in most districts and counties has aggravated the heat island effect, and the ratios of "sink" and "source" landscape contribution ratios with strong levels are concentrated in the suburban areas. The results of cooling efficiency research show that the cooling range of forest land is larger than that of water bodies. At the same time, we found that the cooling efficiency of the sink landscape is the highest when the area of the sink landscape is 0.18–0.9 hm2 and the shape index is between 1 and 4. The research results can provide feasible and practical scientific suggestions for the planning and ecological construction of Nanjing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to determine the level of demand for thermal environment regulation and the availability of blue–green spaces for thermal environment regulation to alleviate the effects of urban heat islands. Taking Shandong Province, China, as the study area, combined multi–source remote sensing data are used in this study to construct the index system of cold island supply capacity (CIS) and the cold island demand level (CID). We use the methods of spatial regression, quadrant division, and coupling coordination degree to analyze the correlation, matching status, and the level of coordinated development between the supply capacity and demand for the cooling effect. We also explore the change law and spatial characteristics of the blue–green spaces' cooling effects supply and demand matching. Results show that: (1) The CIS and the CID are significantly negatively correlated and spatially heterogeneous in distribution, with a significant spatial spillover effect. (2) The dominant type of supply and demand is one of low supply and high demand, which means that the supply and demand for cool islands' cooling effect are unbalanced, with significant problems of spatial mismatch and quantitative imbalance. (3) The coupling between supply capacity and demand level is on the verge of becoming dysfunctional because the uneven distribution of urban buildings, population, and blue–green spaces reduce the coupling between supply and demand levels. This research can provide a new perspective and scientific basis for the study of the cooling effects of blue and green spaces and the mitigation of the heat island effect in densely populated urban centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science Technology & Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Technology Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rapid urban development has changed urban substrate conditions, greatly affecting urban ecology and heating urban environment. Mitigating urban temperature rises by optimizing urban morphology is considered a promising approach; most studies ignore spatial and temporal heterogeneity. This study analyzes how plot spatial form influences urban thermal environment in the main Nanjing area from 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021, based on geographically weighted regression models (spatio-temporal- and multi-scale). Results show that: 1. The formation of geothermal heat islands matches the direction of urban expansion, mainly due to changes in land substrate; 2. the spatio-temporal model performs best, indicating that urban morphology and surface thermal environment have obvious spatio-temporal heterogeneity; obvious scale differences exist in each index influencing the heat island effect; and 3. floor area ratio (FAR) and building density (BD) negatively and positively correlate with surface thermal conditions, with gradually increasing effect, respectively. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and distance from the nearest water body (Dis_W) negatively and positively correlate with surface thermal conditions separately; good ecological infrastructure reduces surface temperatures but shows a gradually weakening effect. Proximity to roads is associated with warmer thermal environment. This study elucidates how urban form influences surface thermal environments and suggests measures to reduce surface temperatures in the main urban Nanjing area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation is a critical factor affecting regional water cycles, water ecology, and socioeconomic development. Monthly precipitation, water vapor pressure, and temperature datasets from 613 meteorological stations across China were used to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of urban rain island effects at the national scale during periods of slow (1960–1969) and accelerated (2010–2019) urbanization. The combined effects of artificial water dissipation and heat islands on urban precipitation were a key focus of this study. The results showed that rain island effects (0–31.6 mm/month) were primarily distributed along the southeast coast (dominated by the heat island effect) and northwest inland region (dominated by artificial water dissipation). During winter, the relative contribution of artificial water dissipation was higher in urban areas, and the rain island effect was more apparent than in the summer. Comparisons of precipitation prior to and following large-scale urbanization showed that precipitation and rain island intensity along the southeast coast and northwest inland region increased by 0–28 and 0–28.6 mm/month, respectively. These findings indicate that artificial water dissipation is an important water vapor source for urban precipitation, particularly during winter months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science Technology & Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Technology Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To alleviate the urban heat island effect and reduce the consumption of electricity and expenditure caused by active cooling devices on hot days, many cities in tropical and subtropical areas emphasize the utilization of urban greening areas in current and future urban planning. We utilized the weather research and forecasting model (WRF) to simulate and study the impact of different greening area rates on the urban microclimate in business, residential, and industrial areas in Wuhan city. Meanwhile, we proposed two efficiency coefficients to evaluate the variable cooling benefit of the improvement of the greening area. The results show that greening areas and water bodies are the cooling sources of cities and that industrial areas benefit the most from improvements in the greening rate, with the average temperature declining by 1.06 °C with a 20% increase in the greening rate, while the corresponding values of residential and industrial areas were 0.98 °C and 0.92 °C, respectively. This research provides a reference for the future planning of tropical and subtropical areas to help improve the urban microclimate, thermal environment, and environmental comfort on hot days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Timber construction is on the rise and its contribution to climate change mitigation has been widely discussed by scientists and practitioners alike. As midrise building with wood in cities spreads, it will lead to fundamental and systemic change in forests, the manufacturing of construction materials, and the character and performance of the built environment. In this paper, we discuss the multifaceted implications of the transition to building with timber in cities for climate, which include greenhouse gas emissions but also go beyond those potential benefits. We demonstrate that while a transition to timber cities can have a balancing effect on the global carbon cycle, the other accompanying effects may enhance, reduce, or diminish that effect on climate. A collaboration of practitioners with scientists will be required to steer this transition in a climate-friendly direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 60 years of climate data from three national-level stations in Ziyang City, the characteristics of interdecadal variations of temperature, humidity, precipitation and sunshine that were closely related to heat island effect were analyzed. The data of township regional stations were used for comparison. The results show that the heat island effect value of Ziyang was between 0.3 and 4.3 °C. It was the highest in 2015, up to 4. 3 °C; the minimum 0.3 °C appeared in 2011. The average heat island strength in the past 10 years was 1.2 °C, and the average heating rate was 0. 12 ',C/a. Among the four seasons, the highest value of heat island effect was 3. 2 °C in summer, while the lowest value was 1.2 °C in winter. The order of heat island value in various seasons is as follows; summer > autumn > spring > winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the process of urbanization, various urban problems have become increasingly prominent, and the heat island effect is one of them. The expansion of urban land, the increase in construction intensity and the increase in population make the urban heat island effect even worse. The construction of park cities improves the ecological environment of the city and is considered to have a positive effect on alleviating the heat island effect, but it is not clear whether it has such an effect or not. This article explores whether the construction of Park City can help to improve the urban thermal environment effectively, and also, seek solutions for how to improve the construction of park cities so that the heat island effect can be better mitigated. Landsat8 remote sensing images in 2014 and 2019 were used to estimate the fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and land surface temperature (LST) in the Third Ring Road of Chengdu. Land use data were also introduced into the study to analyze LST changes in different surfaces and FVC.The results indicate that: (1) the area of the heat island zone in the Third Ring Road of Chengdu decreased by 0.91% from 2014 to 2019, and the area of the cold island zone increased by 17.89%; (2) the urban blue-green space is conductive to mitigating the urban heat island effect, in which the water provides the best mitigation, while impervious surface and bare land may aggravate the urban heat island effect; (3) the FVC in the area of the Third Ring Road in Chengdu is on the rise as a whole, and there is a significant negative correlation between FVC and LST (p < 0.01). Based on the above results, this paper shows that Park City construction is beneficial to alleviate the urban heat island effect, and more attention should be paid to blue-green space layout and quality, along with urban ventilation and FVC control. Our results provide useful input for green space planning and the construction of Park City in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A least-square solver is presented for groundwater flux estimation using the one-dimensional conduction–advection equation, which was numerically solved using the MacCormack scheme. This approach was utilized to estimate groundwater fluxes from observed borehole temperatures under conditions of surface warming in both rural and urban areas in Leizhou Peninsula, China. The estimated groundwater recharge rate is 0.423 m/year, while the discharge rate is 0.269 m/year. The groundwater recharge rates were obtained in the north part of the study area, and the discharge locations were on Nansan, Donghai and Luzhou Islands, which fit favorably with the regional groundwater flow pattern. Relatively high correlations and low root mean square errors were detected between observed and computed borehole temperature–depth profiles, indicating the estimation is reasonable. The misfit between the observed and computed data might be associated with the uneven distribution of ground surface temperature (GST) and vertical soil heterogeneity. The urban heat island effect contributes an increment of 0.006 °C per year to the GST in the study area, which induces a 0.96 °C higher subsurface temperature in both recharge and discharge areas. The utilization of surface air temperature (SAT) as the upper boundary might underestimate groundwater fluxes, which might lead to inaccurate information for regional groundwater resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cool-roof coatings have received considerable attention worldwide as a solution for the "heat island" effect in urban areas. The solar reflectance of roofs coated with high-reflectance paint is reduced by dirt. We continuously measured the solar reflectance of a roof coated with high-reflectance paint with and without a self-cleaning function for more than two years. The solar reflectance of self-cleaning paint decreased by 0.5% per month over two years, due to the effect of dirt. The solar reflectance of conventional paint decreased by 4% per month over four months after coating and then reached a value similar to that for the self-cleaning paint for two years due to deterioration. With a slight decrease in solar reflectance, the self-cleaning function is effective in mitigating the heat island effect and obtaining continuous energy-savings. We applied the alkyl silicate system as self-cleaning for high-reflectance paint, the solar reflectance was measured continuously at 1 minute intervals, and the actual state of the fluctuation in reflectance over the short and long terms was analyzed with the influence of the altitude of the sun. The deterioration of the coating was also investigated by gloss retention and chalking test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycled aggregates based on waste concrete, waste bricks and waste mortar are light in weight, high in void rate and high in water absorption. They can be used in the construction of sponge cities. By comparing the water storage rate and the temperature influence of the recycled aggregate and the natural aggregate, it is shown that the water storage rate of the recycled aggregate is significantly larger than that of the natural aggregate, and the recycled aggregate can reduce the ambient temperature more effectively, which can further alleviate the urban heat island effect. By comparing the pH value of the effluent of recycled aggregate and natural aggregate, it is shown that the effluent pH of the recycled aggregate is not much different from the natural aggregate, and it is getting closer to the pH value of the influent with the extension of time. However, as extension of time, the pH value of the immersion water of the waste concrete recycled aggregates increases significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of rapid development of urbanization, how to make rational use of land resources is the main content of urban planning design. The unreasonable distribution of urban land intensifies the influence range and intensity of urban heat island effect, and the cooling and humidification of urban vegetation can effectively alleviate the surface temperature of cities and towns. Under this trend, based on the study of urban heat island effect and in view of the ecological benefit of forest cities, this paper makes systematic planning for the green space pattern of Shijiazhuang City, and puts forward the optimization strategy to realize the sustainable development of the urban ecological environment. The results show that the urban heat island effect increases with the increase of the urban planning forest coverage, and the urban forest has a certain threshold to alleviate the urban heat island effect, so the patch arrangement of the forest should be controlled. The forest planning pattern in urban planning can be adjusted and optimized to increase the urban forest patch shape index, thereby increasing the coupling degree between forest vegetation and environment, and maximizing the reduction of heat island effect. This study provides a theoretical basis for minimizing the heat island effect in the process of urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas are expanding worldwide due to increasing population, standard of living, and migration from rural areas. This study uses satellite and road data to quantify the urbanization of two megacities, New Delhi and Los Angeles, between 2000 and 2009. It then estimates, with a three‐dimensional nested global‐through‐urban climate, weather, and air pollution model, Gas, Aerosol, Transport, Radiation, General Circulation, Mesoscale, and Ocean Model, the short‐term atmospheric impacts of such urbanization alone. The simulations account for changes in meteorologically driven natural emissions, but not anthropogenic emissions, between 2000 and 2009. New Delhi's urban extent, defined based on the physical existence of its built structures and the transitional gradient from buildings to rural areas rather than on abrupt administrative borders, increased by ~80% and Los Angeles's by ~22.5% between 2000 and 2009. New Delhi experienced a larger increase in its urban extent relative to its population during this period than did Los Angeles. In both megacities, urbanization increased surface roughness, increasing shearing stress and vertical turbulent kinetic energy, decreasing near‐surface and boundary layer wind speed, contributing to higher column pollution levels. Urbanization may also have increased downward solar plus thermal infrared radiation fluxes to the ground and consequently upward latent and sensible heat fluxes from the ground to the air, increasing near‐surface air temperatures. As such, urbanization alone may have had notable impacts on both meteorology and air quality. Plain Language Summary: This study quantifies, with satellite and road data, the changes in urban extent of two megacities between 2000 and 2009. During that period, the urban extent of New Delhi was found to have increased by ~80%, and that of Los Angeles's, by ~22.5%. The study then estimates, with a three‐dimensional model nesting from the globe to each urban area, the short‐term impacts of such urbanization alone. In both megacities, urbanization increased near‐surface air temperatures and decreased wind speeds while increasing vertical turbulence and the column abundance of several pollutants due to the wind stagnation. As such, urbanization may impact both meteorology and air quality notably. Key Points: A new method of quantifying urban extent from satellite data is derivedNew Delhi and Los Angeles urban extents increased ~80% and ~22.5% from 2000 to 2009Such changes alone had substantial modeled impacts on short‐term weather and pollution [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes Xi'an, which is a western city in China, experiencing the rapid urbanization, as the research object. It uses 2000 Landsat7 ETM+, 2010 Landsat5 TM and 2016 Landsat8 OLI images as data sources to inverse and normalize surface temperature. Thermal field intensity index (HFI) and urban heat island proportion index (UHPI) were introduced to quantitatively assess the temporal and spatial variation of heat island in Xi'an. Research results demonstrate: (1) From 2000 to 2016, the average temperature in urban areas increased from 32.34 °C in 2006 to 42.45 °C in 2016, with an increase of 10.11 °C in 16 years. (2) From 2000 to 2016, the urban heat island area continuously increased, from 40.59 km² in 2000 to 81.52 km² in 2016, with an increase of about 100.87%. UHPI increased from 0.036 in 2000 to 0.078 in 2016, which indicates the scientific rationality of the index to a certain extent. (3) According to the distribution law, the heat island scope and urban expansion reflect strong time-space consistency. In the 16 years, the distribution pattern of thermal environment changed from "central urban area distribution mode" to "built-up area distribution mode". (4) From the perspective of the distribution in administrative region, heat island effect was mainly distributed in the old areas such as Lianhu District and Xincheng District in 2000. Due to urban expansion, the phenomenon of "hollow heat island" appeared in 2010. In 2016, heat island effect was distributed in all six areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation of spatial variation in land surface temperature with building height and density in Zhongshan District, Dalian, China, is investigated over the period 2003–2013. We utilize remote sensing data and multisource land-use data, which we evaluate using a combination of a single-window algorithm and correlation analysis. The results show that: 1) during 2003–2013, the number of high surface temperature regions increased by 4339 grid cells (out of a total of 53 601), with most of the high-temperature grid cells distributed along Jiefang Road and Zhongnan Road in the northern part of Zhongshan District. Ninety-eight percent of grid cells had temperature ranges of 293–309 K in July 2003, 296–310 K in August 2003, 295–308 K in July 2008, 296–311 K in August 2008, 305–314 K in July 2013, and 303–318 K in August 2013; 2) during 2003–2008, the number of low-rise buildings increased by 140%, and the number of multistory buildings increased by 100%. During 2008–2013, the number of buildings in all height categories remained relatively unchanged, with the exception of an 11% decrease in the number of low-rise buildings; 3) surface temperature showed weak correlation with building height (0.314, 0.346, and 0.361 in 2003, 2008, and 2013, respectively) but moderate correlation with building density (0.511, 0.533, and 0.563, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the campus population and the buildings of Jiangsu University have increased and the pattern of the micro-city has preliminarily formed. The data of outdoor thermal environment of campus based on Geographic Information System (GIS) has found that the average temperature difference of outdoor temperature in space distribution in Jiangsu University is about 1°C Five different underlying surfaces have a great influence on the outdoor thermal environment of campus, and the daily variation of temperature showed an inverted "V" single peak curve. The daily variation of temperature on the concrete road (direct sunlight) is approximately 4°C above that of the grassland at the time of 14:00. The temperature of the concrete road (direct sunlight) is higher than that of the concrete road (shadows), and the temperature difference between them is about 1°C. At the same time, five suggestions have been proposed for the improvement of outdoor thermal environment in Jiangsu University according to the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal anomalies in built environments, known as Urban Heat Islands (UHI), are studied with satellite-derived data. However, this information is insufficient to examine regions such as the Aburra Valley, where the city of Medellin is located. In this valley, atmospheric interferences are common and the rugged terrain influences the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface, which hinders the analysis of the UHI. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used to obtain the Land Surface Temperature (LST) at a time and location that is more convenient. In this project, a UAV was equipped with a thermal sensor to collect data on natural (ground vegetation and trees) and artificial (concrete, asphalt, and clay roof tiles) land cover types in Medellin, Colombia. The thermal information provided by the drone overcame the limitations of the satellite-derived data in terms of spatial, temporal, and radiometric resolution. This data enabled the study of specific land-cover types in different urban contexts, especially the influence of vegetation on LST. The findings suggested that the distribution of trees is crucial for UHI mitigation. Tree shading reduced the surface temperature of asphalt in average by 12°C and by 5.7°C for concrete. In addition, the presence of trees alongside streets reduced the maximum surface temperature of asphalt by 22.4°C in the same neighborhood. These results contributed to the understanding of the influence of urban development on Medellin's temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of water masses on the surface temperature with direct impact on the surrounding area. Three systems were used for the study: a fully vegetated system (subsurface flow constructed wetland (CW)), a lake with no vegetation and a lake partially vegetated with Lemna minor. Infrared thermography was applied for the different systems analysis, allowing the determination of the surface temperature spatial distribution. In general, the presence of plants and water in the analyzed systems contributed to lowering the surface temperatures when comparing to its surroundings. Differences up to about 22 °C were observed in the temperature between the CW canopy and the surrounding soil, and up to about 19 °C between the lake and the surrounding border. Different plant species (Canna flaccida, Canna indica and Zantedeschia aethiopica) inhabiting the CW were also compared and slightly higher average surface temperatures were observed for C. indica. The above mentioned results are relevant in terms of supporting a strategy for water systems inclusion, for example a lake or a CW, in a site as means of having influence in the surface temperature and to some extent in the heat island effect supporting a sustainable environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green roofs and similar anthropogenic soil-plant systems in conurbations have a high relevance for society, especially in a changing climate. Understanding the hydrological performance of green roof substrates is a significant task in the framework of sustainable urban planning and water/energy management in urban areas. Potential retention and detention capabilities of anthropogenic, light weight, highly permeable soil systems and their continued performance over time are of major importance. A green roof test segment was designed to investigate the benefits of such anthropogenic systems. This adaptable low-cost system allows for long-term monitoring of preferred characteristics. Temperature and water balance measurements complemented with meteorological observations and studies of physical properties of substrates provide a basis for a detailed analysis of thermal and hydrological regime in green roof systems. The very first results obtained from the test segment have confirmed the green roof systems benefits. Reduced temperature fluctuations as well as rainfall runoff were attained compared to the traditional roof systems. Depending on numerous factors including the substrate material or vegetation cover, in the green roof tested the temperature amplitude for a selected period of nonfreezing days (with minimum ambient air temperature of 2.8°C) was suppressed by about 6.5°C on average. The ability to completely prevent (light rainfall events) or reduce and delay (medium and heavy rainfall events) the peak runoff was demonstrated, too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cold-island effect of urban wetlands has received increasing attention in recent years due to its important role in the alleviation of urban heat islands. Hangzhou, a representative rapidly urbanizing city with rich wetlands in China, was selected as a case study for researching the changes that the urban wetlands have undergone and their impact on the urban thermal environment. Land surface temperature (LST) was acquired from the thermal infrared data of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2006, and 2010, using the single-channel method. The results are as follows: 1) considering the changes in land use, the urban wetlands located to the west of Hangzhou have decreased significantly during 1990-2010 because of rapid urbanization. In the Xixi Wetland, the change in land use was relatively small and most of the water body and vegetation were preserved. However, to the east of the Xixi Wetland, large areas of water body and vegetation have been replaced by built-up land as a result of the urbanization process; 2) considering the change in LST, it was found from land surface temperature retrieval that the changing spatial pattern of the thermal field was highly correlated with land use changes. Low temperature regions of the eastern Xixi Wetland were gradually eroded by high temperature regions, and the centroid of the heat island in East Xixi was found to be constantly shifting westward. In addition, the difference in LST between the Xixi Wetland and East Xixi has increased; 3) considering the impact factors for this area, land use structure and patch shape were found to have a significant impact on LST, shown by the results of multiple linear stepwise regressions. Increasing the size of the wetlands in urban planning is considered to be the most effective measure in alleviating the urban heat island effect. Moreover, reducing the spatial complexity of landscape patches also contributes to the alleviation of the urban heat island effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an approach to mitigate the harmful effects of urban heat islands (UHI), the use of glass cullet in the production of asphalt roof shingles has the potential to be employed as a cool roof strategy. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the use of recycled glass cullet increases the solar reflectance index (SRI) without affecting the performance of asphalt roof shingles. In order to evaluate the feasibility of using recycled glass cullet in this new application, the engineering properties of glass cullet were measured and compared to conventional aggregates used in the production of asphalt roof shingles. Laboratory shingle specimens were then prepared in order to measure solar reflectance properties and strength characteristics of conventional and recycled glass roof shingles. Results show that while the use of recycled glass cullet as a replacement to standard ceramic coated black roofing granules on the top surface of asphalt shingles increased the SRI, the addition of white pigment powder (anatase ultrafine titanium dioxide [TiO2] particles passing mesh #320) to the surface granules greatly improves the reflectance properties of the roof to a level that meets the cool roof threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat island (HI) effect in metropolitan Jakarta was studied using air temperature measurements at 9 meteorological stations in Jakarta, Tanjung Priok, Serang, Halim, Cengkareng, Pondok Betung, Curug, Bogor, Citeko during 1986-2008 and Serpong during 2008-2011 and 2013; land use for forest, industry, water, settlement, open/cleared land in 1997, 2004, 2009, 2012; and total number of industries and total number of vehicles during 1986-2011. Harmonic analysis was used to remove the seasonal component from the temperature time series data, which was filtered with the 30-day moving average technique to capture trends whose significance was tested with the Mann- Kendall method. The results show that industry was a major factor in land use change over Jakarta with an increasing growth/year of 502 ha (9.76%) concentrated in the eastern part of Jakarta from 1997 to 2012. Industry had a spatial cover change similar to deforestation and open/cleared land expansion, especially in Jakarta from 2009 to 2012: 38.8%/year (industry), 8.3%/year (deforestation), and 13.8%/year (open/cleared land). The HI effect increased the temperature trend rate/year in Jakarta, Tanjung Priok, Serang, Halim, Pondok Betung, Cengkareng, Curug, and Bogor about 0.051°C, 0.021°C, 0.018°C, 0.012°C, 0.006°C, 0.006°C, 0.005°C, and 0.004°C from 1986 to 2008, respectively, equivalent to average warming in the city, suburban, and mountainous areas of around 2.5°C, 0.6°C, and 0.4°C, respectively within 100 years from 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Belgrade is a highly urbanized commercial and residential district of Belgrade lying on the alluvial plane of the Sava and the Danube rivers. The groundwater of the area is a geothermal resource that is usable through geothermal heat pumps. The research has shown that the "heat island effect" affects part of the alluvial groundwater with the average groundwater temperature of about 15.5 °C, i. e. 2 °C higher than the one in less urbanized surroundings. Based on the measured groundwater temperatures as well as the appraisal of the sustainable aquifer yield, the available thermal power of the resource is estimated to about 29 MWt. The increasing urbanization trend of the New Belgrade district implies the growing energy demands that may partly be met by the available groundwater thermal power. Taking into consideration the average apartment consumption of 80W/m2, it is possible to heat about 360,000 m2 and with the consumption efficiency of 50 W/m2, it would be possible to heat over 570,000m2. Environmental and financial aspects were considered through the substitution of conventional fuels and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission as well as through the optimization of the resource use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local flow properties and regional weather or climate are strongly affected by land-atmosphere interactions of momentum and scalars within the daytime convective boundary layer (CBL). In this study, we investigate the impact of green space scale on the daytime atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over a synthetic urban domain using a recently developed large-eddy simulation-land surface model (LES-LSM) framework. With the use of realistic soundings as initial conditions, a series of numerical experiments over synthetic urban surfaces with varied scale of vegetated area is performed. Simulated micrometeorological properties, surface fluxes, basic CBL characteristics, and cloud distribution are analysed. The results show reference-level air potential temperature and specific humidity as well as surface fluxes over green space are significantly affected by the scale of green space in the urban domain. The surface organization due to vegetated area scale also has impacts on horizontally averaged scalar and momentum profiles; however, the magnitude in this study is smaller than the results of a previous study using a set of offline surface fluxes as the lower boundary condition for LES. In addition, even though this study only performs a daytime diurnal cycle, the impact of green space scale on cloud distribution in simulations is significant. The cases with more organized green space yield lower-elevated cumulus cloud and larger-cloud cover fraction, which impacts the energy budget at the top of boundary layer and, in turn, could lead to additional surface cooling with respect to longer-term weather and climate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]