Urban heat island intensity and spatial variability by synoptic weather type in the northeast U.S.

Hardin, Aaron W.; Liu, Y.; Cao, Guofeng; Vanos, Jennifer

doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2017.09.001

Cited by 62 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 92 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Other urban heat variability studies have utilized similar mesonets across cities (e.g., Oklahoma City [77]; Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore mesonets [78]) to demonstrate fundamental spatiotemporal variations in intra-urban heat variability, information which aids in precipitation and storm predictions (as completed for the PA15 Games in Toronto [2]), as well energy efficiency, public safety, security, transportation and many other critical functions in society [79]. Without the mesonet station on site, spectator and athlete thermal comfort analysis would not have been possible.…”

Section: Geospatial Station Summertime Averagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor Thermal Comfort during Anomalous Heat at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mass sporting events in the summertime are influenced by underlying weather patterns, with high temperatures posing a risk for spectators and athletes alike. To better understand weather variations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during the Pan American Games in 2015 (PA15 Games), Environment and Climate Change Canada deployed a mesoscale monitoring network system of 53 weather stations. Spatial maps across the GTA demonstrate large variations by heat metric (e.g., maximum temperature, humidex, and wet bulb globe temperature), identifying Hamilton, Ontario as an area of elevated heat and humidity, and hence risk for heat-related illness. A case study of the Hamilton Soccer Center examined on-site thermal comfort during a heat event and PA15 Soccer Games, demonstrating that athletes and spectators were faced with thermal discomfort and a heightened risk of heat-related illness. Results are corroborated by First Aid and emergency response data during the events, as well as insight from personal experiences and Twitter feed. Integrating these results provides new information on potential benefits to society from utilizing mesonet systems during large-scale sporting events. Results further improve our understanding of intra-urban heat variability and heat-health burden. The benefits of utilizing more comprehensive modeling approaches for human heat stress that coincide with fine-scale weather information are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Geospatial Station Summertime Averagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor Thermal Comfort during Anomalous Heat at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While one standard methodology has been applied in various WTCs (the Temporal Synoptic Index, Kalkstein and Corrigan, ), WTC‐based research most often relies on a specific, readily available dataset —the redeveloped Spatial Synoptic Classification (SSC; Sheridan, ). The SSC has proven particularly helpful in human‐health based climate applications (Hondula et al ., ; Lee, ), urban heat island research (Brazel et al ., ; Hardin et al ., ), cryospheric applications (Ballinger and Sheridan, ; Budikova et al ., ) and many other lines of applied climatological inquiry. The SSC, however, originated in the US, and while it has since expanded to include much of Canada, Europe and a few dozen locations elsewhere, it is still far from global, and is largely limited to populated cities, as it uses airport weather station data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gridded weather typing classification version 2: A global‐scale expansion

Lee

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Synoptic climatology uses classifications of atmospheric data to relate the larger‐scale atmosphere to surface‐based responses. One of the two primary modes of classification is the weather typing classification, whereby the multivariate surface‐based meteorological conditions at an individual location are categorized into a daily weather type (WT), and this methodology is then iterated at numerous locations within the domain in order to identify synoptic‐scale air masses. One such classification that was recently developed is the gridded weather typing classification (GWTC) for North America. The current research describes the extension of this GWTC methodology, and dataset, to the global scale, along with a number of other key updates. Using data from the Climate Forecast System, the global GWTC (GWTC‐2) classifies every day from 1979 to present into one of 11 intuitive weather types. With half‐degree spatial resolution, this results in over 259,000 global locations and more than 3.7 billion location/days currently classified, with another 7–8 million added each month. Updates to the GWTC methodology also allow for the identification and visualization of more extreme weather types compared to the previous version, and the extension of the classification over the global ocean will allow for new oceanographic applications.

show abstract

“…There are some insights from studies that might be useful for this purpose. Firstly, the UHI is not related to administrative borders and it may spread to the surrounding areas [48]. Secondly, a very important aspect of the spatial structure is the location of bodies of water, which help to transport fresh air [49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each scenario was assessed according to the possibility of UHI appearance in specific parts of the area. The study area includes suburban zones in order to analyze the impact of different land uses to thermal comfort conditions [48]. The final effect of the analyses was the indicator-based assessment of built-up areas that are exposed to the UHI impact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of a Decision Support System for Sustainable Urbanization and Thermal Comfort in Adaptation to Climate Change Actions—The Case of the Wrocław Larger Urban Zone (Poland)

Kazak

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The increasing level of antropopression has a negative impact on environmental resources and has reached the level of our planetary boundaries. One limitation is land use change caused by urbanization. Global policies prove the need to undertake action in order to develop more sustainable human settlements, which would be adapted better to potential future climate change effects. Among such changes are the increase of average temperatures and extreme events like heat waves. Those changes are more severe in urban areas due to land use development, and result in the urban heat island effect (UHI), which has a negative impact on the thermal comfort of citizens. The paper presents a decision support system that can be used for the assessment of areas to the potential exposure to the UHI effect. The system integrates scenario analysis, land use modelling in cellular automata (Metronamica), and an indicator-based assessment in a geographic information system (ArcGIS). The applicability of the model is illustrated through developing scenarios for the future land use allocation of the Wrocław Larger Urban Zone (Poland). The results of the calculations show which scenario is the least vulnerable to UHI effects. Moreover, for each scenario, cores of urban areas were identified, in which certain urban design patterns accounting for adaptation to climate change could be implemented. The study provides a guideline for local authorities on where to focus actions in order to create more sustainable urban structures and to better adapt to climate change and environmental extremes.

show abstract

Urban heat island intensity and spatial variability by synoptic weather type in the northeast U.S.

Cited by 62 publications

References 92 publications

Outdoor Thermal Comfort during Anomalous Heat at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada

Outdoor Thermal Comfort during Anomalous Heat at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada

The gridded weather typing classification version 2: A global‐scale expansion

The Use of a Decision Support System for Sustainable Urbanization and Thermal Comfort in Adaptation to Climate Change Actions—The Case of the Wrocław Larger Urban Zone (Poland)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About