A scaling law for the Urban Heat Island phenomenon : Deductions from field measurements and comparisons with existing results from laboratory experiments

• We report results from a multi-scale field experiment conducted in Cyprus in July 2010 in order to investigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Nicosia capital city and its interaction with multiscale meteorological phenomena taking place in the broader region. Specifically, the results are analysed and interpreted in terms of a non-dimensional/scaling parameter dictating the urban heat island circulation reported from laboratory experiments (Fernando et al, 2010). We find that the field measurements obey the same scaling law during the day, in the absence of any other flow phenomena apart from the urban heating. During the night we find that the deduced non-dimensional value reduces to half (compared to that during the day); this is due to the presence of katabatic winds from Troodos mountains into the urban center of Nicosia and their cooling effect superimposed on diurnal urban heating. Based on this deduction, the impact of various proposed heat island mitigation measures in urban planning can be evaluated. Copyright

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Atmospheric temperature

Computational fluid dynamics

Environmental impact

Environmental technology

Experiments

Flow measurement

Fluid mechanics

Multiphase flow

Rockets

Thermal pollution

Transport properties

Uncertainty analysis

Wind power

Cooling effects

Field experiment

Field measurement

Laboratory experiments

Meteorological phenomena

Mitigation measures

Urban heat island

Urban heat island circulation

Urban transportation

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