Author(s)

I.R. Imamura

Abstract

Role of soil moisture in the determination of urban heat island intensity in different climate regimes I.R. Imamura Institute of Geoscience, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan and Department of Atmospheric Science, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, Brazil ABSTRACT A precipitation pattern scheme was combined with Koppen climate classes to form a five-class Global Climate Scheme for Urban Climate Studies (GCS/UCS) that explains observed diurnal variations of urban heat island (UHI) magnitude in different climatic zones. The validity of this scheme was demonstrated using urban/rural micrometeorological field measurements obtained during summer and winter in four cities. Nighttime UHI magnitude was found to increase monotomicly with increasing population, independent of season, climate type, or causal mechanism. Daytime UHI magnitude versus population values, however, showed an interesting dichotomy between results for dry and wet rural

Keywords