The Urban Heat Island Intensity of Paris: A Case Study Based on a Simple Urban Surface Parametrization

Abstract

We explore the ability of a simple urban surface parametrization, embedded in a mesoscale meteorological model, to correctly reproduce observed values of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity, which is defined as the urban-rural surface air temperature difference. To do so, a simple urban scheme was incorporated into the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS). Subsequently, a simulation was performed with the coupled model over the wider area of Paris, for a 12-day period in June 2006 that was characterised by conditions prone to UHI development. Simulated 2-m air temperature was compared with observed values for urban and rural stations, yielding mean errors of 1.4 and 1.5 K, respectively. More importantly, it was found that the model also displayed an overall good capability of reproducing the observed temperature differences. In particular, the magnitude (up to 6K) and timing of the diurnal cycle of the UHI intensity was simulated well, the model exhibiting a mean error of 1.15 K. As a result, our conclusion is that the ARPS model, extended with simple urban surface physics, is able to capture observed urban-rural air temperature differences well, at least for the domain and period studied.

Response of London’s Urban Heat Island to a Marine Air Intrusion in an Easterly Wind Regime

“…Times series of observed and predicted UHI intensity are presented in Fig. 3, where the maximum observed UHI intensity is in the range 3-5 K. This range of values is similar to that reported for similar conditions and time of the year in London (Bohnenstengel et al 2011) and other megacities, such as Paris, France (Sarkar and De Ridder 2011). The predicted UHI intensity has a similar temporal variability for all the model simulations (S1-S7).…”

An improved non-iterative surface layer flux scheme for atmospheric stable stratification conditions

“…Following Sarkar and De Ridder (2010) and WRL12, z * /z 0 = 16.7 is adopted in this study. CB05 gives the form of φ m,h and ψ m,h :…”

Evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecast/Urban Model Over Greater Paris

“…However it is difficult to estimate representative values for urban areas. The effect of the anthropogenic heat release has been studied by Dupont et al (2004); Sailor and Lu (2004) and Fan and Sailor (2005) over the U.S.A. and by Sarrat et al (2006); Pigeon et al (2007) and Sarkar and De Ridder (2011) over France. Allen et al (2011) developed a model to estimate anthropogenic heat flux from global to individual city scales.…”