Work

Nonlinear changes in urban heat island intensity, urban breeze intensity, and urban air pollutant concentration with roof albedo

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: This study systematically examines how the urban heat island (UHI) and urban breeze circulation (UBC) respond to an increase in roof albedo ( α r ) and its influence on urban air pollutant dispersion. For this, idealized ensemble simulations are performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The increase in α r from 0.20 to 0.65 decreases the UHI intensity, UBC intensity, and urban planetary boundary layer (PBL) height in the daytime (from 1200 to 1700 LST) by 47%, 36%, and 6%, respectively. As both UBC intensity and urban PBL height decrease, the daytime urban near-surface passive tracer concentration increases by 115%. The daytime UHI intensity, UBC intensity, and urban tracer concentration nonlinearly change with α r : For 0.10 ≤ α r < 0.80, the rates of changes in the UHI intensity, UBC intensity, and urban tracer concentration with α r overall increase as α r increases. For α r ≥ 0.80, the daytime roof surface temperature is notably lower than the daytime urban near-surface air temperature, the UHI intensity, UBC intensity, and urban tracer concentration very slightly changing with α r . This study provides insights into the associations between changes in roof surface temperature and roof surface energy fluxes with α r and those in UHI intensity.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-76935-4

Authors: Kyeongjoo Park, Jong-Jin Baik

Institution: Seoul National University

Language: English

Topic: Urban Heat Island Mitigation

Subfield: Environmental Engineering

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,590