Observational evidence of the urban heat island of Manaus City, Brazil

Abstract

This work examined observationally the Urban Heat Island (UHI) of Manaus city, Brazil. For this, data collected from two different sites, in an urban area and from a region of forest about 30 km from city, for the period of 2000-2008, were used. The results show that the urban environment creates a local increase in temperature and a decrease in relative humidity. The annual average observed between the urban and forest sites can reach differences of temperatures around 3°C and relative humidity close to 1.7%. An interesting feature of the UHI of Manaus is associated with a diurnal cycle that differs from other studies for different locations in the world, with two peaks of highest intensity, one at 0800 LST and one between the 1500 and 1700 LST. It also highlighted that the urban area tends to heat first and more slowly and cool down later and faster than the forest, which explains the distinct behaviour of the diurnal cycle of the UHI. The obtained knowledge of the Manaus UHI allows the implementation of policies and methodologies that aim to improve the quality of life and comfort of large urban cities, such as those studied.

Lightning Enhancement in the Amazon Region Due to Urban Activity

“…In the last three decades the surface air temperature in Manaus increased by 0.7˚C while in the tropics it increased by approximately 0.4˚C. In addition, the maximum daily temperature in the urban area of Manaus is 3˚C higher than the temperature in the forest around the city [18]. In the same period the population increased from 400,000 to 170,000 inhabitants.…”

Overview: Precipitation characteristics and sensitivities to environmental conditions during GoAmazon2014/5 and ACRIDICON-CHUVA

“…However, during the dry season, rainfall events largely depend on local forcing and surface latent heat flux. Manaus, as an urban centre, is characterized by a strong heat island effect (Souza and Alvalá, 2014) that creates a convergence fed by moisture from the surrounding forest. The non-forested area has less available latent heating than the forest, which may contribute to lower RRs.…”

Characteristics and Diurnal Cycle of GPM Rainfall Estimates over the Central Amazon Region

“…The first factor is local convection, triggered by forest-pasture, river breeze, topography and the urban heat island affect [27][28][29]. Secondly, mesoscale factors, such as squall lines [30,31], although most frequent in the eastern portion of the Amazon basin, penetrate and propagate from the northeastern region to the center of the basin and produce synoptic convective events, which are most common and intense during wet-to-dry and dry-to-wet transitions.…”