Analyses of urban pavement surface temperatures

Abstract

Heat islands are areas that have higher air temperatures than their surroundings. It has been proven that the use of certain types of pavement surface materials contributes to the occurrence of heat islands. The heat island effect is dominant in urban areas, mainly in city centres. To identify potentially favourable pavement surface materials that are suitable for the use on surfaces in urban areas, an extensive analysis of in-place material temperatures was conducted in the city centre of Rijeka (Croatia) during the summer of 2011 and 2012. The measurements included temperatures of pavement surfaces made of asphalt, concrete and stone. The analysis results identified local materials whose use help to reduce or mitigate the effect of additional heating in the urban environment caused by emission of heat from pavement surfaces. In terms of additional heating of urbanized areas, asphalt has proven to be significantly less favourable than other analysed materials. In addition to the materials selected for the use in wearing courses, their characteristics and the microclimates of the locations where they will be placed must be taken into consideration. Among the standard paving materials, in terms of heating and temperature, concrete is more favourable than asphalt because the differences between concrete surface temperatures and air temperatures are significantly smaller than between asphalt surface temperatures and air temperatures. Stone surfaces have proven to be the most favourable. The analysis results presented can be used to establish clear guidelines for using specific materials under specific conditions.

Using Recycled Glass and Zeolite in Concrete Pavement to Mitigate Heat Island and Reduce Thermal Cracks

“…Albedo of 0 means no reflecting power and albedo of 1 means perfect reflection [4]. Increasing the solar reflectivity of a pavement surface by using surfacing materials of light colour or applying light colour coating on dark surfacing materials can lower the pavement surface temperature [5][6][7][8]. Solar reflective materials can be identified as one of the most promising solutions to counteract urban heat island [9].…”

Reducing Thermal Cracks and Mitigating Heat Island by Using Glass Bead in Concrete Pavement

“…Albedo of 0 means no reflecting power and albedo of 1 means perfect reflection [4]. Increasing the solar reflectivity of a pavement surface by using surfacing materials of light color or applying light color coating on dark surfacing materials can lower the pavement surface temperature [5][6][7][8]. Solar reflective materials can be identified as one of the most promising solutions to counteract urban heat island [9].…”