Modeling the Urban Heat Island in Gothenburg, Sweden: an analysis of the Urban Weather Generator Louise
Abstract
Urban Heat Islands is a well-known phenomenon that has been observed in most cities
around the globe. It is a night-time phenomenon occurring on calm and clear nights and is
defined as the temperature difference between an urban area and its rural surroundings. As
air temperatures are getting higher due to climate change, along with a global trend of
urbanization, there is a need to identify the risks of urban heat to implement heat-mitigating
measures. One method for modeling Urban Heat Islands is the Urban Weather Generator
(UWG). This study aims to investigate the characteristics of the UWG and evaluate how well
it performs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. A sensitivity analysis of the different input
parameters was performed, as well as a model evaluation where modeled data was
compared to observed air temperatures from five different sites around Gothenburg.
Building density is the parameter that most influenced the modeled air temperatures, while
vegetation had a low effect on the modeled results. The results of the model evaluation
showed that the model estimates urban air temperatures well in built-up dense areas, while
areas with a high fraction of vegetation were not captured efficiently by the model. In these
areas, the modeled air temperature was higher than the observed. Therefore, one can
conclude that the model performs well in estimating air temperatures in typical urban
environments, while it needs improvements in capturing the mitigating effects of urban
vegetation.
Degree
Student essay
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2023-05-10Author
Lindén, Louise
Keywords
urban climate
urban heat island
Urban Weather Generator
urban planning
Series/Report no.
B1209
Language
eng
Metadata
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