Determination of Air Urban Heat Island Parameters with High-Precision GPS Data

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) effect can contribute to extreme heat exposure. This can be detrimental to human health. In this paper, we propose a method to estimate air temperature to evaluate the spatial distribution and to monitor the intensity of the air urban heat island (AUHI) from existing GPS infrastructure. The proposed algorithm is based on the relationship between the refractivity of the troposphere and environmental variables, as well as the relationships between the zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD), a by-product of the precise point positioning technique, and the refractivity of the troposphere. The advantage of GPS data is its high temporal resolution and the availability of embedded GPS receivers. In this paper, GPS-derived ZTD data from stations in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China and Tokyo in Japan are processed to estimate the hourly AUHI intensity. The results derived from this technique are validated using meteorological data in the same cities. Mean absolute error values of 0.79 °C in Hong Kong and 0.22 °C in Tokyo are found from data from the summer. Moreover, an overall accuracy of 0.51 °C is found.

Past and Future Impacts of Urbanisation on Land Surface Temperature in Greater Cairo Over a 45 Year Period

“…UHI negatively affects agriculture (Mendez-Astudillo et al, 2022;Lin et al, 2022). In cultivated land, the increase in LST can affect crop phenological stage, pest resistance, leading to decreases in crop quality and yield (Kafy et al, 2021).…”

A Simulation-Based Study on the Impact of Parametric Design on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Urban Overheating

“…One of the most popular methods used by other studies is calculating the UHI intensity by comparing the difference in atmospheric air temperature (Tair) or the land surface temperature (LST) between urban areas and rural areas [14,[16][17][18][19]. However, these methods rely on using meteorological data collected from local weather stations or measuring instruments on site, which means that the data may not be sufficient to provide an overview of the spatial distribution across the city [20,21]. The other common method to analyse UHI is using remote sensors from satellites to generate satellite images and then process these with any Geographic Information System (GIS) software to obtain spatial data; this method is capable of covering a large amount of area which makes it popular in city-scale studies [22,23].…”

The Evaluation of the Temperature Reduction Effects of Cool Roofs and Cool Pavements as Urban Heatwave Mitigation Strategies

“…Multiple studies have also examined the economics of the urban heat island effect and the impact of cooling pavements on climate change [32]. In some studies, the heat island effect was simulated using weather research and forecasting urban canopy models [33], or actual measurements are analyzed using highprecision GPS data [34].…”