Temporal analysis of summertime weather stress levels in Phoenix, Arizona

Balling, Robert C.; Brazel, Sandra W.

doi:10.1007/bf02263137

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

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confidence: 90%

“…The average minimum temperatures were 4.4 and 2.4°C higher during the urban period for June and January, respectively (Table 2). These results are remarkably similar to the findings of Balling & Brazel (1986), who noted a 4.5°C increase in summertime nocturnal temperatures from 1948 to 1984. Brazel et al (2000) analyzed urban-rural temperature differences during the month of May and found an urban heat sink in maximum temperatures for the 26 Fig.…”

Section: Displayed Insupporting

confidence: 90%

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Urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle in Phoenix, Arizona

Svoma

Brazel²

2010

Clim. Res.

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Empirical estimations of urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle were carried out for Phoenix, Arizona, through a framework capable of estimating the mean urban effect on air temperature. The analysis of pre-urban and urban differences in hourly temperature data at Sky Harbor International Airport during dry tropical conditions in June and January revealed a significant urban influence. Minimum temperature was most influenced by urbanization with the mean minimum temperature during the urban period exceeding that of the pre-urban period by 4.4°C (2.4°C) in June (January). A significant urban heat sink in January maximum temperatures was evident as the mean maximum temperature during the pre-urban period exceeded that of the urban period by 1.5°C. The greater thermal inertia due to urban growth around the airport and the growth of the airport itself has also had an effect on nocturnal cooling rates. Pre-urban January minimum temperatures typically occurred between 06:00 and 07:00 local standard time (LST) in the pre-urban period and between 07:00 and 08:00 LST in the urban period. Similarly, in June, the minimum temperature occurred on average around 05:00 LST during the pre-urban period and between 05:00 and 06:00 LST during the urban period. This apparent decrease in cooling rates was modeled well by the first harmonic fit to the average hourly temperature data. KEY WORDS: Urban climate · Phoenix · Diurnal · Air temperature Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherClim Res 41: [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] 2010 (UHI) in the Phoenix metropolitan area has been studied extensively by previous investigators (Cayan & Douglas 1984, Balling & Cerveny 1987, Balling et al. 1990, Brazel et al. 2000, Hawkins et al. 2004, Fast et al. 2005.Many previous investigations of the UHI in Phoenix did not apply the model proposed by Lowry (1977). Fast et al. (2005) and Hawkins et al. (2004) focused on the daily maximum UHI through urban and rural differences. Brazel et al. (2000) focused on trends in urban-rural differences in maximum and minimum temperatures for the month of May. Balling et al. (1990) focused on trends in mean, minimum and maximum temperatures at an urban station and Balling & Cerveny (1987) focused on urban-rural temperature differences for each month from 1948 to 1985. Lastly, Cayan & Douglas (1984 compared temperature trends at urban and rural sites. Considering the framework outlined by Lowry (1977), the results from all of these studies should not be seen as exact estimations of the true magnitude of the UHI at the urban sites considered because the methods employed require numerous controls to account for the numerous latent variables. These studies are important, however, because the existence and nature of urban effects are presented. The general nature of the Phoenix UHI documented in these studies includes characteristics such as a stronger nocturnal UHI and a daytime urban heat sink (Cayan & Douglas 1984, Balling et al. 1990, Brazel et al....

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Section: Displayed Insupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Displayed Insupporting

confidence: 90%

Urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle in Phoenix, Arizona

Svoma

Brazel²

2010

Clim. Res.

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“…In addition, we focus on the summer season because it is during this time of the year that the surface exerts its greatest control on precipitation, as opposed to the atmospheric, synoptic‐scale, control associated with the winter precipitation season. Furthermore, it is during the summer season when the region's climate claims its greatest influence on the stress levels of Greater Phoenix' residents, a distinguishing feature resulting from excessive summertime heat [ Balling and Brazel , 1986] and flood‐producing rainfall.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic effects of 30 years of landscape change over the Greater Phoenix, Arizona, region: 1. Surface energy budget changes

et al. 2009

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[1] This paper is part 1 of a two-part study that evaluates the climatic effects of recent landscape change for one of the nation's most rapidly expanding metropolitan complexes, the Greater Phoenix, Arizona, region. The region's landscape evolution over an approximate 30-year period since the early 1970s is documented on the basis of analyses of Landsat images and land use/land cover (LULC) data sets derived from aerial photography (1973) and Landsat (1992 and2001). High-resolution, Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), simulations (2-km grid spacing) are used in conjunction with consistently defined land cover data sets and associated biophysical parameters for the circa 1973, circa 1992, and circa 2001 time periods to quantify the impacts of intensive land use changes on the July surface temperatures and the surface radiation and energy budgets for the Greater Phoenix region. The main findings are as follows: since the early 1970s the region's landscape has been altered by a significant increase in urban/suburban land area, primarily at the expense of decreasing plots of irrigated agriculture and secondarily by the conversion of seminatural shrubland. Mean regional temperatures for the circa 2001 landscape were 0.12°C warmer than the circa 1973 landscape, with maximum temperature differences, located over regions of greatest urbanization, in excess of 1°C. The significant reduction in irrigated agriculture, for the circa 2001 relative to the circa 1973 landscape, resulted in dew point temperature decreases in excess of 1°C. The effect of distinct land use conversion themes (e.g., conversion from irrigated agriculture to urban land) was also examined to evaluate how the most important conversion themes have each contributed to the region's changing climate. The two urbanization themes studied (from an initial landscape of irrigated agriculture and seminatural shrubland) have the greatest positive effect on near-surface temperature, increasing maximum daily temperatures by 1°C. Overall, sensible heat flux differences between the circa 2001 and circa 1973 landscapes result in a 1 W m À2 increase in domainwide sensible heating, and a similar order of magnitude decrease in latent heating, highlighting the importance of surface repartitioning in establishing near-surface temperature trends. In part 2 of this study, we address the role of the surface budget changes on the mesoscale dynamics/thermodynamics, in context of the large-scale environment.

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“…Phoenix's UHI formations have been the subject of numerous studies since the early 1980s (Cayan and Douglas 1984;Balling and Brazel 1986a, 1986b, 1987Hawkins et al 2004;Brazel et al 2007). Temperature records from twelve Phoenix weather stations between 1949 and 1985 showed rapid increases in low temperatures in the central portions of the city and expansion of areas affected by UHI (Balling and Brazel 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential Land Use, the Urban Heat Island, and Water Use in Phoenix: A Path Analysis

Guhathakurta

Gober

2010

Journal of Planning Education and Research

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While previous studies have shown that urban heat islands (UHI) tend to increase residential water use, they have not yet analyzed the feedbacks among vegetation intensity, diurnal temperature variation, water use, and characteristics of the built environment. This study examines these feedback relationships with the help of a path model applied to spatially disaggregated data from Phoenix, Arizona. The empirical evidence from the observations in Phoenix suggests the following: (1) impervious surfaces contribute to increased residential water use by exacerbating UHI; (2) larger lots containing pools and mesic vegetation increase water demand by reducing diurnal temperature difference; and (3) smart design of urban environments needs to go beyond simplistic water body-and vegetation-based solutions for mitigating uncomfortably high temperatures and consider interactions between surface materials, land use, UHI, and water use.

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Temporal analysis of summertime weather stress levels in Phoenix, Arizona

Cited by 18 publications

References 10 publications

Urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle in Phoenix, Arizona

Urban effects on the diurnal temperature cycle in Phoenix, Arizona

Climatic effects of 30 years of landscape change over the Greater Phoenix, Arizona, region: 1. Surface energy budget changes

Residential Land Use, the Urban Heat Island, and Water Use in Phoenix: A Path Analysis

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