Application of a Semi-Empirical Approach to Map Maximum Urban Heat Island Intensity in Singapore

Beatriz Sanchez (), Matthias Roth, Pratiman Patel and Andrés Simón-Moral
Additional contact information
Beatriz Sanchez: Research Center for Energy, Environment and Technology, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Matthias Roth: Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Pratiman Patel: Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Andrés Simón-Moral: TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Differences in land surface characteristics across a city produce great spatial and temporal variability in air temperature. This fact is particularly pronounced between urban and surrounding rural areas giving rise to the canopy-layer urban heat island (CL-UHI) phenomenon. In the present study, we apply the dimensional analysis technique to develop a simple semi-empirical equation to map daily maximum CL-UHI (UHI max ) intensities during nighttime over the city of Singapore for specific weather conditions. By adopting the methodology proposed by Theeuwes et al., but selecting meteorological and morphological parameters that affect UHI max intensity most for Singapore, evaluation of the developed equation shows good agreement with observations (RMSE = 1.13 K and IOA = 0.76). Model performance depends strongly on wind conditions and is best during weak winds when ‘ideal’ conditions for UHI development are approached (RMSE = 0.65 K and IOA = 0.85). Results using the simple equation developed to map UHI max intensities in Singapore under dry weather conditions are comparable to those obtained from more sophisticated numerical models, which demand significant computational resources, and the complex parameterizations involved require expertise to carry out the simulations. The resulting maps of the present study can be used to investigate less favorable thermal conditions and assess population vulnerability to a certain temperature excess, as well as provide insights for urban planning strategies of mitigation measures according to the land cover and morphology of a location.

Keywords: daily maximum UHI maps; dimensional analysis; simple theoretical equation; intra-urban air temperature variability; local climate zones; tropical city (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12834/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12834/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:12834-:d:1224494

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().