The impact of urbanization on air temperature across China

SummaryBased on daily mean air temperature, maximum air temperature and minimum air temperature data from 1961 to 2000, the annual and seasonal evolution as well as the spatial distribution of the warming effect caused by the urbanization in China are investigated. One hundred and ninety one urban meteorological stations were categorized into three classes according to the urban population. A positive correlation between urban population and the rate of urban warming was found. Our results also suggested that the urban-rural difference in term of minimum temperature, with the strongest urban heat island (UHI) effect reaching 0.74 K in winter over large city station pairs, showed good ability to capture the UHI effect. The impact of urbanization on air temperature displayed sharp changes since the innovation and opening of China in 1978. The cities with strong UHI effects were mainly located in regions with rapid industrial and the economic development. Cities in the north of China showed a stronger UHI effect than those in the south. The UHI effects were relatively weaker in coastal cities than in inland ones in spring and summer, with the reverses found for autumn and winter. Furthermore, North China showed greater coastal-inland UHI differences than South China in a given season.

[1]  V. Barros,et al.  On the Urban Heat Island Effect Dependence on Temperature Trends , 1997 .

[2]  Zhang Ai.  Urban Heat Island Effect on Change of Regional Mean Temperature over Shandong Province, China , 2005 .

[3]  S. Regional,et al.  The Comparative Analysis of the Changes of Extreme Temperature and Extreme Diurnal Temperature Range of Large Cities and Small Towns in Eastern China , 2006 .

[4]  T. Karl,et al.  Urban heat islands in China , 1990 .

[5]  F. Vukovich.  THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF MEAN WIND AND STABILITY ON A HEAT ISLAND CIRCULATION CHARACTERISTIC OF AN URBAN COMPLEX , 1971 .

[6]  Kevin P. Gallo,et al.  A new perspective on recent global warming: asymmetric trends of daily maximum and minimum temperature , 1993 .

[7]  D. Cayan,et al.  Urban Influences on Surface Temperatures in the Southwestern United States during Recent Decades , 1984 .

[8]  Jong‐Jin Baik,et al.  Daily maximum urban heat island intensity in large cities of Korea , 2004 .

[9]  G. Können,et al.  Homogeneity of 20th century European daily temperature and precipitation series , 2003 .

[10]  Makiko Sato,et al.  A closer look at United States and global surface temperature change , 2001 .

[11]  T. Oke,et al.  DYNAMICS AND CONTROLS OF THE NEAR-SURFACE HEAT ISLAND OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA , 2000 .

[12]  D. Portman,et al.  Identifying and Correcting Urban Bias in Regional Time Series: Surface Temperature in China's Northern Plains , 1993 .

[13]  C. Tucker,et al.  Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[14]  Krzysztof Fortuniak,et al.  Temporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island of Łódź, Poland , 1999 .

[15]  E. Kalnay,et al.  Impact of urbanization and land-use change on climate , 2003, Nature.

[16]  G. Mihalakakou,et al.  Determination of places in the great Athens area where the heat island effect is observed , 2002 .

[17]  Qingxiang Li,et al.  Urban heat island effect on annual mean temperature during the last 50 years in China , 2004 .

[18]  P. Jones,et al.  The Effect of Urban Warming on the Northern Hemisphere Temperature Average , 1989 .

[19]  Liu Xue.  Change in Urban Heat Island Magnitude and Its Effect on Surface Mean Air Temperature Record in Hebei Province, China , 2005 .

[20]  F. Vukovich.  A Study of the Atmospheric Response Due to a Diurnal Heating Function Characteristic Of an Urban Complex , 1973 .

[21]  Andrew C. Comrie,et al.  Mapping a Wind–Modified Urban Heat Island in Tucson, Arizona (with Comments on Integrating Research and Undergraduate Learning) , 2000 .

[22]  Jong-Jin Baik,et al.  Maximum Urban Heat Island Intensity in Seoul , 2002 .

[23]  F. B. Wood.  Comment: On the need for validation of the Jones et al. temperature trends with respect to urban warming , 1988 .

[24]  Mark Henderson,et al.  Taking China's Temperature: Daily Range, Warming Trends, and Regional Variations, 1955–2000 , 2004 .

[25]  H. Diaz,et al.  Urbanization: Its Detection and Effect in the United States Climate Record , 1988 .

[26]  Y. Yasuoka,et al.  Assessment with satellite data of the urban heat island effects in Asian mega cities , 2006 .

[27]  Ian Simmonds,et al.  Quantification of the Influences of Wind and Cloud on the Nocturnal Urban Heat Island of a Large City , 2001 .

[28]  T. Oke.  City size and the urban heat island , 1973 .

[29]  David R. Easterling,et al.  Temperature Trends of the U.S. Historical Climatology Network Based on Satellite-Designated Land Use/Land Cover , 1999 .

[30]  Thomas C. Peterson,et al.  The influence of land use/land cover on climatological values of the diurnal temperature range , 1996 .

[31]  W. Stefanov,et al.  The Role of Rural Variability in Urban Heat Island Determination for Phoenix, Arizona , 2004 .

[32]  P. Jones,et al.  Asymmetric trends of daily maximum and minimum temperature: Empirical evidence and possible causes , 1993 .

[33]  J. Fast,et al.  Pseudovertical Temperature Profiles and the Urban Heat Island Measured by a Temperature Datalogger Network in Phoenix, Arizona. , 2005 .

[34]  M. Haylock,et al.  Change in mean temperature as a predictor of extreme temperature change in the Asia–Pacific region , 2005 .

[35]  Thomas C. Peterson,et al.  Assessment of Urban versus Rural in Situ surface temperatures in the contiguous United States: No di , 2003 .