Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/K008056/1
Quantifying the influence of wind advection on urban heat island for an improvement of a climate change adaptation planning tool
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr X Cai, University of Birmingham, Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Birmingham, Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- Background: Urban heat island (UHI) is a phenomenon whereby an urban area can be warmer than the surrounding rural area at night. In recent years the importance of understanding UHI associated with heatwaves (e.g. August 2003, 2006) has increased due to its impact on public services as well as on heat-related health risks (e.g. mortality). In 2008, Birmingham established the Climate Change Adaptation Partnership (now called the Green Infrastructure and Adaptation Delivery Group) in response to "National Indicator 188, adapting to climate change". The Partnership lead the approach to climate change adaptation by starting the BUCCANEER KTP project (Birmingham Urban Climate Change Adaptation with Neighbourhood Estimates of Environmental Risk) that formed a knowledge transfer partnership between the University and Birmingham City Council (BCC). The project has developed for the first time a new web-based planning tool for BCC based on the modelled UHI maps derived from the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES). The tool contains mapping on the UHI, future climate change up to 2100, transport, health, air quality, housing, population and life expectancy. BCC are using the BUCCANEER as a planning and risk management tool to understand how new developments and Council services will need to address climate change and extreme weather impacts. Despite its success, JULES assumes local equilibrium without considering wind advection effect; in other words, the predicted air temperature of a cell only depends upon the land use of the cell. Recent studies indicate that UHI pattern may be significantly influenced by wind as heat is transported downwind from a city to warm suburban areas. Thus scientific questions arise: (1) Under what weather conditions and to what extent the wind advection affect UHI pattern? (2) Can we develop a generic methodology that enables a reliable correction to the UHI pattern derived from a local-equilibrium model? Aims: The scientific aim is to develop a generic methodology of correcting the UHI pattern derived from a local-equilibrium model by considering the wind advection effect. The 'Impact' aim is to transfer the research output to the BUCCANEER planning tool for a more reliable risk assessment. Methodology: 1. For the period of the HiTemp dataset, weather conditions will be classified into 20 groups by 5 stability classes and 4 wind-speed classes using the data at a rural site. 2. WRF+BEP and JULES will be run for a selected day from each group; the modelled 2D UHIs will be evaluated against the HiTemp data. 3. An analysis of spatial-lag correlation between WRF's UHI and JULES's UHI will be conducted, i.e. to find the spatial lag (representing the wind shifting effect) and a constant adjusting the intensity of JULES's UHI, so that the above spatial correlation is maximised. 4. The new UHI pattern will be evaluated against the HiTemp dataset. 5. The scheme will be incorporated into the BUCCANEER tool and a case study of public health risk assessment will be conducted. Hypotheses: (1) Wind and air stability are the key quantities affecting UHI pattern to shift and change. (2) The 3D WRF+BEP model captures the key processes of heat transport by wind advection. (3) The new BUCCANEER planning tool is able to predict the UHI more precisely. Anticipated achievements and impacts: (1) A well trained researcher with multi-disciplinary expertise and skills in the areas of urban weather/climate modelling. (2) A generic, transferrable (to any other cities) methodology that enables a reliable correction to the UHI pattern derived from a local-equilibrium model. (3) A much improved understanding of wind advection of UHI. (4) An enhanced JULES's UHI modelling capability beneficial to the JULES user community. (5) An advanced version of the BUCCANEER tool for BCC, leading to better protection of human health and urban environment.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/K008056/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Open CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £68,671
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £13,978 | £49,194 | £5,499 |
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