Localized Climate and Surface Energy Flux Alterations across an Urban Gradient in the Central U.S.

Long-term urban and rural climate data spanning January 1995 through October 2013 were analyzed to investigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in a representative mid-sized city of the central US. Locally distributed climate data were also collected at nested low density urban, recently developed, and high density urban monitoring sites from June through September 2013 to improve mechanistic understanding of spatial variability of the UHI effect based upon urban land use intensity. Long-term analyses (1995–2013) indicate significant differences ( p < 0.001) between average air temperature (13.47 and 12.89 °C, at the urban and rural site respectively), relative humidity (69.11% and 72.51%, urban and rural respectively), and average wind speed (2.05 and 3.15 m/s urban and rural respectively). Significant differences ( p < 0.001) between urban monitoring sites indicate an urban microclimate gradient for all climate variables except precipitation. Results of analysis of net radiation and soil heat flux data suggest distinct localized alterations in urban energy budgets due to land use intensity. Study results hold important implications for urban planners and land managers seeking to improve and implement better urban management practices. Results also reinforce the need for distributed urban energy balance investigations.

[1]  T. Oke.  The energetic basis of the urban heat island , 1982 .

[2]  S. Kuester.  The Nature and Properties of Soils , 1953, Soil Science Society of America Journal.

[3]  M. Jin,et al.  Developing an Index to Measure Urban Heat Island Effect Using Satellite Land Skin Temperature and Land Cover Observations , 2012 .

[4]  A. Lupo,et al.  Further studies of the heat island associated with a small midwestern city , 2008 .

[5]  H. Frumkin,et al.  Urban Form and Extreme Heat Events: Are Sprawling Cities More Vulnerable to Climate Change Than Compact Cities? , 2010, Environmental health perspectives.

[6]  M. Taniguchi,et al.  Shallow subsurface thermal regimes in major plains in Japan with reference to recent surface warming , 2003 .

[7]  Debra P. C. Peters,et al.  The changing landscape : ecosystem responses to urbanization and pollution across climatic and societal gradients , 2008 .

[8]  Kathrin Menberg,et al.  Long-term evolution of anthropogenic heat fluxes into a subsurface urban heat island. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[9]  Bin Shi,et al.  Urbanization effect on soil temperature in Nanjing, China , 2011 .

[10]  Jason A. Hubbart,et al.  Interdisciplinary linkages of biophysical processes and resilience theory: Pursuing predictability , 2013 .

[11]  Luke Howard,et al.  The Climate of London: Deduced from Meteorological Observations , 2012 .

[12]  D. Rosenfeld,et al.  Evidence of Orographic Precipitation Suppression by Air Pollution–Induced Aerosols in the Western United States , 2006 .

[13]  Craig A. Taylor,et al.  Shallow groundwater temperature response to climate change and urbanization , 2009 .

[14]  M. Hart,et al.  Quantifying the influence of land-use and surface characteristics on spatial variability in the urban heat island , 2009 .

[15]  Allan D. Woodbury,et al.  Urban heat island in the subsurface , 2007 .

[16]  R. Bornstein,et al.  Urban heat islands and summertime convective thunderstorms in Atlanta: three case studies , 2000 .

[17]  Jong-Jin Baik,et al.  Quantitative Analysis of Factors Contributing to Urban Heat Island Intensity , 2012 .

[18]  Juan Pedro Montávez,et al.  A study of the urban heat island of Granada , 2000 .

[19]  K. Shadan,et al.  Available online: , 2012 .

[20]  H. Landsberg.  Urban Climate , 2011, Urban Ecology for Citizens and Planners.

[21]  C. Morris,et al.  Urban heat island features of southeast Australian towns , 2009 .

[22]  J. M. Shepherd,et al.  A Review of Current Investigations of Urban-Induced Rainfall and Recommendations for the Future , 2005 .

[23]  Constantinos Kittas,et al.  Maximum urban heat island intensity in a medium-sized coastal Mediterranean city , 2012, Theoretical and Applied Climatology.

[24]  E. A. Hathway,et al.  The interaction of rivers and urban form in mitigating the Urban Heat Island effect: A UK case study , 2012 .

[25]  A. Arnfield.  Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island , 2003 .

[26]  Ágnes Gulyás,et al.  Land‐use and meteorological aspects of the urban heat island , 2001 .

[27]  L. Bounoua,et al.  Remote sensing of the urban heat island effect across biomes in the continental USA , 2010 .

[28]  Robert A. Smith,et al.  The effect of unequal group size on Tukey's HSD procedure , 1971 .

[29]  F. Haghighat,et al.  Approaches to study Urban Heat Island – Abilities and limitations , 2010 .

[30]  R. Stull,et al.  Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers , 1999 .

[31]  Rafiq Hamdi,et al.  Sensitivity study of the urban heat island intensity to urban characteristics , 2008 .

[32]  A. Pokrovsky,et al.  Factors Determining the Impact of Aerosols on Surface Precipitation from Clouds: An Attempt at Classification , 2008 .

[33]  M. Taniguchi,et al.  Combined Effects of Urbanization and Global Warming on Subsurface Temperature in Four Asian Cities , 2007 .