Assessing Traffic's Impact on Urban Heat Islands: An Agent-Based Approach Using Real-World and Simulated Data
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Urban Heat Islands (UHIs), where cities are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas, are driven by urbanization and human activities, including road traffic. Understanding traffic-UHI interactions requires high-resolution spatio-temporal data to capture the local and dynamic characteristics of both systems. While urban temperature sensors are increasingly deployed, fine-scale traffic data remain difficult to obtain and are lacking in most cities. To address this gap, we propose a framework combining MATSim-based traffic simulation data and real-world open data. A synthetic population is used to generate individual vehicular trips, which are then validated against observed traffic data. The approach integrates outputs from multi-agent traffic simulation, with urban structure and land-use variables, as well as meteorological measurements, for a full spatio-temporal analysis. Results suggest diurnal and seasonal patterns in traffic-temperature relationships, highlighting the need to capture dynamic human-environment interactions in UHI research. This study shows how combining simulated and real-world data can enhance our understanding of traffic-induced heat effects.
Source: HAL
Authors: Ismayilova, Aygun, Prédhumeau, Manon
Language: English
Topic: Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166276391