URBAN HEAT ISLAND

A presentation by:
Madhumitha sekar
2014701518
9th semester batch c
 What is urban heat island?
■ An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban area or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer
than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.
■ The temperature difference usually is larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent
when winds are weak. UHI is most noticeable during the summer and winter.
■ The main cause of the urban heat island effect is from the modification of land surfaces.
■ Even smaller cities and towns will produce heat islands, though the effect often decreases as
city size decreases.
 Highest effect: Cityscape
 Lowest: Rural areas of lesser
interventions
 Parks have an effect on
decreasing overall
temperature- vegetation covers
 Types of Urban Heat Islands

■ Surface: prevalent throughout the day

because of the constant heat energy
being absorbed from the sun. eg:
Parking lot vs. grass field
■ Atmospheric: weak during the late
morning and throughout the day and
become more pronounced after
sunset due to the slow release of heat
from urban infrastructure
Causes
■ Dark surfaces absorb significantly more solar
radiation, which causes urban concentrations
of roads and buildings to heat more than
suburban and rural areas during the day
■ materials commonly used in urban areas for
pavement and roofs, such as concrete
and asphalt, have significantly different
thermal bulk properties and surface radiative
properties than the surrounding rural areas.
■ Another major reason is the lack
of evapotranspiration in urban areas.
■ geometric effects- The tall buildings within many
urban areas provide multiple surfaces for the
reflection and absorption of sunlight, increasing the
efficiency with which urban areas are heated.
■ This is called the "urban canyon effect".
■ Another effect of buildings is the blocking of wind,
which also inhibits cooling by convection and
prevents pollutants from dissipating.
■ Waste heat from automobiles, air conditioning,
industry, and other sources also contributes to the
UHI.
■ High levels of pollution in urban areas can also
increase the UHI, as many forms of pollution
change the radiative properties of the atmosphere.
Diagrammatic representation of causes of urban heat island-Traffic, High rise structures, Material
 Effects of urban heat island:
1. Increased energy consumption:
• Increased temperatures during summer in
cities amplify energy demand for air
conditioning.
• Studies reveal that electricity demand for air
conditioning or cooling increases in the ranges
of 1.5 to 2 percent for every 0.6°C increase in
air temperatures ranges of 20 to 25°C
• This means the increased demands for cooling
or air condition during summer contributes to
higher energy bills.
Electricity consumption has increased by 10 fold
over the decade
2. Elevated greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution

■ UHI raises electricity demand during summer.

■ As a result, power plants have to supply the needed
extra energy and since they rely on fossil fuel for
energy production, there is an increase in
greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants.
■ The main greenhouse gases and pollutants include
carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur
dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate
matter and Mercury (Hg).
■ Increased green house gases cause global
warming and climate change while the pollutants
negatively impact human health as well as
the decline of air quality.
■ Sometimes the UHI can also lead to the formation
of ground-level ozone and acid rain.
3. danger to aquatic systems

■ High temperatures within the urban areas mean

elevated temperatures for pavements and
rooftops.
■ Accordingly, these surface temperatures can
heat storm water runoff.
■ pavements with temperatures of 38°C can
increase initial rainwater temperately from
about 21°C to over 35°C.
■ This heated storm water is the runoff that flows
into storm drainage systems and raises water
temperatures as it is discharged into ponds,
streams, rivers, lakes and oceans resulting
in thermal pollution.
■ As a result, the increased water temperature
affects the aquatic system, especially the
reproduction and metabolism of aquatic species
and can be even fatal to aquatic life.
4. Secondary impacts on weather and climate

■ changes of local wind patterns, formation of

fog and clouds, precipitation rates and
humidity.
■ The unusual heat caused by UHI contributes
to a more intense upward wind movement
that can stimulate thunderstorm and
precipitation activity.
■ Furthermore, urban heat island (UHI) creates
a local low pressure area where cool air from
its adjacent areas converges that induces the
formation of clouds and rain.
■ This increases total rainfall rates within cities.
■ These changes may impact growing seasons
within cities, especially by prolonging the
growth of plants and crops.
5. Impacts on animals

■ Most species need optimum temperatures to

colonize, utilize and thrive in their ecosystems.
■ When there is the existence of high temperatures
due to urban heat island (UHI), harsh and cruel
ecological surrounding is created which limits the
essential activities of the organisms such as
metabolism, breading and reproduction.
■ Adverse heat can also significantly reduce the
availability of food, shelter, and water.
■ The temperature changes may also make the
cities more suitable for survival compared to the
wilderness, which may attract wild animals into
the cities.
■ Besides, urban heat island (UHI) can equally alter
the natural selection process, causing a
counterbalance of new set of selective forces.
Solutions to Urban Heat Island
1. Use of light-colored concrete and white roofs
■ The use of light-colored concrete and white roofs
has been found to be effective in reflecting up to
50% more light and in cutting down the ambient
temperature.
■ These strategies have been shown to offer great
solutions in reducing the urban health island
effect.
■ Black and dull colors absorb copious amounts of
solar heat resulting in warmer surfaces.
■ The use of light-colored concrete and white roofs
can as well reduce the overall air conditioning
demands.
 Green roofs and vegetation cover
■ Green roofs present a great method of
lessening the impacts of urban heat island.
■ Green roofing is the practice of planting
vegetation's on a roof, just like they are planted
on a garden.
■ Plants on the roof are excellent insulators
during summer and decrease the overall urban
heat island effect.
■ Plants also cool the surrounding environments
thereby reducing air conditioning demands.
■ Furthermore, air quality is improved as the
plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce fresh
air.
■ Other practices that can be used include open
space planting, street trees and curbside
planting.
■ All these practices produce cooling effect within
the urban areas and lower the costs of
temperature reduction.
2. Planting trees in cities
■ the practice of tree planting within and around
cities is an incredible way of reflecting solar
radiation while at the same time decreasing the
urban heat island effect.
■ Trees provide shade absorb carbon dioxide,
release oxygen and fresh air, and provide a
cooling effect.
■ Deciduous trees are the best for urban areas
because they provide cooling effect in summer
and they don’t block warmth during winter.
3. Green parking lots
■ Green parking spaces utilize green
infrastructure strategies to limit the impacts of
urban heat island effect.
■ In precise, it cushions against the elevation of
pavement temperatures which can
considerably prevent thermal pollution resulting
from storm water runoff.
■ With this in place, the danger posed to aquatic
systems is reduced.
4. Implementation and sensitization of heat reduction policies and rules

■ The state implementation of environmental policies such as:

- Clean Air Act
- Low carbon fuel standards
- uses of renewable energy
- and clean car rule standards can impressively regulated the anthropogenic inducers
of urban heat island effect.
■ With fewer emissions, level of green house gases in the atmosphere can be reduced
thus decreasing the effects of climate change and global warming.
■ Education and outreach can also be done to ensure communities are aware of the
economic and social benefits of planting trees and eco-roofing.
Delhi- a case study
• Delhi, the capital city witnessed a consistent decennial population growth at the rate of over
45% for last 6 decades
• The corresponding urban infrastructure development is also increasing the resource
dependency and anthropogenic heat emissions.
• 1980- initial UHI test were conducted
• Land cover changes of 1997-2007 are shown below
• Overall increase of 251.18 sq. km seen
• Decrease in agriculture land by 146.75 sq. km
• Decrease in wasteland by 80.62 sq.km
• Decrease in waterbody-from 58.26 to 27.43 sq. km
temperature

■ An increasing trend shows impact of urbanization by increase of built up area

■ Increasing warming trends in night time temperature reflect the contribution of changing land use patterns
and additional anthropogenic heat
■ Difference in annual minimum temperature
■ Study was conducted to summarize the extent of impact of UHI on the capital city of India.
 • Average temperature difference between
Study analysis Safdarjung and NPL area near Pusa road
between 2010 and 2013 to compute UHI and
found that Safdarjung experienced an UHI
ranging from 0.2 to 3 degrees.

• High UHI was observed in morning time as

compared to day and night times, with the
highest magnitude ranging from 2.8 to 3 degrees
Celsius

• “The analysis revealed that UHI effect exists in

the Safdarjung area (see graphic) due to
presence of more built-up surface and relative
lack of vegetation areas as compared to NPL
area,“ the study stated.

• The study added that a UHI of magnitude 0.2 -3

degrees is capable of rising electricity demand by
of 37.87 GWh to 1,856 GWh over the base
electricity supply of the city and corresponding
rise in CO2 emissions would be 0.031-1.52
million tonnes.
 The energy demand could rise by as much
as 6% if the UHI is 3 degrees.
 Similarly , Connaught Place in central Delhi
is among the hottest parts of the city.
 The authors pointed out that the UHI effect
is linked to land use.
 Satellite pictures show NPL has much
larger area of vegetated land (66.6%) as
compared to Safdarjung Bhikaji Cama
Place(32.8%) while the built up area in
Safdrajung is much large, 67.2%,
compared to 33.4% in NPL.
■ IIT-Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences
has done a number of studies on UHI
trends in Delhi.
■ In their 2012 study IIT-Delhi had found
very high UHI in certain areas in the range
of 8.6 to 10.7 degrees.
■ The green and riverside areas had a low
UHI(3.1to 6.9 degrees).
■ Another trend scientists are noticing is an increase in
night-time temperature.
■ “We are noticing that the difference between day
time and night time temperature is reducing.
■ During the day the solar heat is absorbed and then it
takes very long to escape at night.
■ This is because of more built up area which is
trapping the heat.
■ AC exhausts also have a major role to play.
■ On average, the difference in temperature in a heat
island compared to the coolest part of the city can be
4 to 5 degrees Celsius.
■ Solutions lie in better urban planning and some
immediate interventions.
■ Greenery to reduce anthropogenic heat, more
reflective surfaces, enough space between buildings,
greenery on buildings are some of the possible
solutions
Conclusion

■ Urban heat islands occur due to the ways cities are built, as well as an area’s
climatic conditions.
■ The effects are wide ranging, from higher energy costs to impacts on the quality of
life.
■ Reducing heat island effects requires substantial changes to urban surfaces,
including the amount and type of tree cover, roofing, and paved surfaces.
Thank you