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URBAN CLIMATE MAPPING FOR SUPPORTING URBAN-

PLANNING IN CHENNAI, INDIA
Ar.Ebin Horrison* & Ar.Lilly Rose**
*Sathyabama University, Chennai, India, Email:e_horrison@yahoo.com
**Sathyabama University, Chennai, India, Email:lillyini@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Urban climate plays an increasingly vital role in conceptualizing the growth of Metro cities
as the thermal environment is severe particularly in hot and humid climate. The local
authorities involved in planning and forecasting the future of such cities are however not
sensitized to this phenomenon as the quantifying of the quality urban environment based on
climate are minimal. The Urban Climate Map is model that helps in bridging this issue. The
Urban Climate Analysis Map also helps in identifying areas in the city which are at risk of
heat storage and it also helps in identifying possibilities to ventilate. This paper aims at
developing a urban climate map for the hot humid city of Chennai in India. The urban
climate map will be developed based on the urban environmental quality parameters such as
Land uses, plot coverage, building Density, green cover, and wind data. The Urban climate
map thus developed will be a decision support tool for planners and designers in creating a
climate sensitive Urban Environment.

KEYWORDS: surface temperatures, urban built-up, building Density

1. INTRODUCTION

The air temperature trend is a critical factor that determines comfort conditions. An analysis
of historic climatic data of the CMA from two meteorological stations in Chennai
(nugambakkam & meenambakkam) a significant increase in the surface temperatures from
1991 to 2006. While the mean maximum surface temperatures in 1991 were 33 oC, it has
risen to 46oC in 2006. This is due to the rapid urbanization and growth of the city in
addition to the impact of global warming. Also, the hotspots seen only in the city core in the
thermal imagery of 1991 have spread out to the surrounding suburban areas in 2006. This
increase in the hotspots is proportional to the urban built-up density. Hence the urban built-
up influences the surface temperatures which in turn, affect the ambient air temperatures
(Wong and Chen 2006). This ambient temperature determines the thermal comfort at the
canyon level.

At the micro level, building geometry shows an intimate relationship with air temperature.
The height-to-width ratio and the street orientation with respect to solar radiation, was found
to have a great influence on the timing and magnitude of the energy regime of the individual
urban surfaces (Nunez and Oke 1977).

2. AREA OF STUDY

Chennai-Madras, a metropolitan city of India, is located on the Coromandel Coast of the

Bay of Bengal. Chennai located at 13.04° N latitude and 80.17° E longitude, has a flat
coastal plain with an average elevation of 6m.

3. METHODOLOGY

The measurement locations representing the different residential neighbourhoods, ranging

from dispersed low-rise suburban areas to the densely populated city core, were identified
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for the micro level study. The other parameters that were also considered in the site selection
include the amount of vegetation, percentage of urban built-up in terms of buildings, roads
and pavements, and canyon geometry (H/W ratio). Considering the above, Purasawakkam,
George Town, T-Nagar, Besant Nagar and Ambattur neighbourhoods were chosen.

The Anna University location, an institutional zone characterized by dense vegetation was
also selected, with the intention of illustrating the advantages of the vegetation cover in an
urban area. The thermal properties of the urban surfaces were similar in all locations.

Figure 3.1 The location of the residential neighbourhoods in the CMA

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Figure 3.2 200m x 200m grid of the residential neighbourhoods (a) George Town (b)
Purasawakkam (c) Besant Nagar (d) T-Nagar (e) Ambattur (f) Anna University
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 (a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 3.3 (a) to (c) The urban built form of the street canyons showing the position of the instrument used in the field
measurements
 (d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 3.3 (d) to (f) The urban built form of the street canyons showing the position of the instrument used in the field
measurements
 Table 3.1 Characteristics of the residential neighbourhoods

Ground cover (%)

Nature of
Site Description Land use SVF H/W Built- Roads/
buildings Green cover
up paving
Old city core located in the continuous
building area (Wall to wall construction) with Medium rise
George Town Mixed Residential 0.28 1.1 90.4 9.1 0.5
high density urban built-up and narrow (2-3 storeys)
streets
High density urban built-up with few trees Medium rise
Purasawakkam Mixed Residential 0.19 1.8 84.9 12.7 2.4
and heavy traffic (3-4 storeys)
Medium density urban built-up in the south Medium rise
Besant Nagar Residential 0.35 0.7 29.8 11.1 59.1
of the city in close proximity to the coast (3-4 storeys)
Medium density residential with considerable Medium rise
T-Nagar Residential 0.31 0.6 28.4 17.8 53.8
amount of greenery in the center of the city (3-4 storeys)
Low-rise residential neighbourhood in the Low- rise
Ambattur Residential 0.28 0.5 26.7 10.3 63.0
southern suburbs (2 storeys)
Low-rise Institutional zone with dense
Anna University Institutional Low-rise 0.35 0.3 11.8 22.4 65.8
vegetation
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4. INTRA URBAN AIR TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS

The hourly air temperature data obtained from the field measurements of the selected street canyons
during summer and winter are analyzed, in relation to the characteristics of the measurement sites.

4.1. Air Temperature Variations In Summer

43

41

39
Temperature in oC

37

35

33

31

29

27

25
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Time
Purasawakkam George Town Besant Nagar Ambattur T-Nagar Anna University

Figure 4.1 The intra urban air temperature variations during summer

The intra urban air temperature variations at the six residential neighbourhoods during summer are
shown in Figure 4.1. The weather on the measurement day has been grouped into two types, based
on the cloud cover observations. Clear weather was observed between 0:00hrs and 18:00hrs, and
cloudy weather between 18:00hrs and 0:00hrs.

 Between 0:00hrs and 6:00hrs, the intra urban air temperature variation ranged from 1.7oC to
2.7oC, and the maximum variation occurred at 6:00hrs. Between 6:00hrs and 18:00hrs, the
presence of intense solar radiation increased the intra urban variations, and it ranged between
3.1oC and 7.0oC. Between 18:00 hrs and 0:00 hrs, when the sky was mostly cloudy, the intra
urban variation ranged from 3.1oC to 3.5oC. The re-emission of the absorbed radiation in
the evenings was extremely reduced by the overcast sky, resulting in the higher intra urban
differences compared to early mornings (0:00 hrs to 6:00hrs).
 During the clear nights (0:00hrs to 6:00hrs), the lowest temperatures were recorded in the
Anna University and Besant Nagar sites, due to the presence of a high degree of vegetation
and the increased sky view factor (refer figures 7.2, 7.3 and table 7.1), the exception being
the warming at Besant Nagar that started just before 6:00hrs, due to its proximity to the coast
in the east and the early sunrise (5:43am) in summer (refer appendix 3). The Purasawakkam
and George Town sites were the warmest pockets during nights, attributed to the dense urban
built-up and higher H/W ratio.
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 During the day, the Purasawakkam site experienced maximum temperatures irrespective of
its higher H/W ratio, attributed to the increased vehicular traffic. Although, the
Purasawakkam and George Town sites with higher H/W ratio are exposed to direct solar
radiation only for a short duration (10:00hrs to 13:00hrs), the impact on the air temperatures
is high due to the absence of vegetation shading (Refer table 7.1 and figure 7.2). The George
Town site remained cooler in the afternoons due to the shading of buildings.
 The Purasawakkam and George Town sites experienced the maximum nocturnal heat islands
during the minimum temperature epoch (6:00hrs).
 During the maximum temperature epoch (14:00hrs), the higher H/W ratio in the George
Town (35.1oC) site resulted in a cool island when compared to the shallow site (39.8oC) of
Ambattur, with an intra-urban air temperature difference of about 4.7oC.

4.2. Air Temperature Variations in Winter

33

31

29
Temperature in C
o

27

25

23

21

19

17
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Time
Purasawakkam George Town Besant Nagar Ambattur T-Nagar Anna University

Figure 4.2 The intra urban air temperature variations during winter

The intra urban temperature variations at the six residential neighbourhoods during winter are shown
in Figure 4.2. The weather condition during the winter measurement period was clear with a less
cloud cover.

 Between 18:00hrs and 6:00hrs, the intra urban variations in air temperatures ranged from
2.0oC to 4.7oC, and between 6:00hrs and 18:00hrs, they ranged from 1.4oC to 3.3oC, with a
few exceptions. Similar to the summer observations, the Purasawakkam site was warm all
through the day and resulted in higher variations at 10:00hrs and 11:00hrs (5.1oC and
5.0oC). In general, the intra urban air temperature variation in winter was higher during
nights when compared to that of the day.
 During the nights, the maximum temperatures were experienced in the sites with a higher
H/W ratio (George Town and Purasawakkam), and the intra urban variation increased
towards early mornings and reached a maximum of 4.7oC at 6:00hrs. This confirms the
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earlier UHI studies (Johansson 2006). The Anna University site recorded the minimum
temperatures during nights due to the presence of dense vegetation.
 During the day, the shallow street geometry at the Ambattur site resulted in higher
temperatures in the afternoons, when compared to the George Town site of higher H/W ratio.
The Anna University site remained cooler during the day except for a few hours in the
measurement period. Although the daytime measurements in winter show a few implications
of urban morphology, they are not significant.
 During the minimum temperature epoch (6:00hrs) in winter, the maximum nocturnal heat
island was experienced at the George Town site (4.7oC).
 The intra urban air temperature variations during the maximum temperature epoch
(14:00hrs) are not as significant as those of the summer period, but the existence of a cool
island at George Town is still evident.