82 research outputs found
The International Urban Energy Balance Models Comparison Project: First Results from Phase 1
A large number of urban surface energy balance models now exist with different assumptions about the
important features of the surface and exchange processes that need to be incorporated. To date, no com-
parison of these models has been conducted; in contrast, models for natural surfaces have been compared
extensively as part of the Project for Intercomparison of Land-surface Parameterization Schemes. Here, the
methods and ïŹrst results from an extensive international comparison of 33 models are presented. The aim of
the comparison overall is to understand the complexity required to model energy and water exchanges in
urban areas. The degree of complexity included in the models is outlined and impacts on model performance
are discussed. During the comparison there have been signiïŹcant developments in the models with resulting
improvements in performance (root-mean-square error falling by up to two-thirds). Evaluation is based on a
dataset containing net all-wave radiation, sensible heat, and latent heat ïŹux observations for an industrial area in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The aim of the comparison is twofold: to identify those modeling ap-
proaches that minimize the errors in the simulated ïŹuxes of the urban energy balance and to determine the
degree of model complexity required for accurate simulations. There is evidence that some classes of models
perform better for individual ïŹuxes but no model performs best or worst for all ïŹuxes. In general, the simpler
models perform as well as the more complex models based on all statistical measures. Generally the schemes
have best overall capability to model net all-wave radiation and least capability to model latent heat ïŹux
The SURFEXv7.2 land and ocean surface platform for coupled or offline simulation of Earth surface variables and fluxes
CC Attribution 3.0 License.Final revised paper also available at http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/6/929/2013/gmd-6-929-2013.pdfInternational audienceSURFEX is a new externalized land and ocean surface platform that describes the surface fluxes and the evolution of four types of surface: nature, town, inland water and ocean. It can be run either coupled or in offline mode. It is mostly based on pre-existing, well validated scientific models. It can be used in offline mode (from point scale to global runs) or fully coupled with an atmospheric model. SURFEX is able to simulate fluxes of carbon dioxide, chemical species, continental aerosols, sea salt and snow particles. It also includes a data assimilation module. The main principles of the organization of the surface are described first. Then, a survey is made of the scientific module (including the coupling strategy). Finally the main applications of the code are summarized. The current applications are extremely diverse, ranging from surface monitoring and hydrology to numerical weather prediction and global climate simulations. The validation work undertaken shows that replacing the pre-existing surface models by SURFEX in these applications is usually associated with improved skill, as the numerous scientific developments contained in this community code are used to good advantage
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Multi-scale sensible heat fluxes in the urban environment from large aperture scintillometry and eddy covariance
Sensible heat fluxes (QH) are determined using scintillometry and eddy covariance over a suburban area. Two large aperture scintillometers provide spatially integrated fluxes across path lengths of 2.8 km and 5.5 km over Swindon, UK. The shorter scintillometer path spans newly built residential areas and has an approximate source area of 2-4 km2, whilst the long path extends from the rural outskirts to the town centre and has a source area of around 5-10 km2. These large-scale heat fluxes are compared with local-scale eddy covariance measurements. Clear seasonal trends are revealed by the long duration of this dataset and variability in monthly QH is related to the meteorological conditions. At shorter time scales the response of QH to solar radiation often gives rise to close agreement between the measurements, but during times of rapidly changing cloud cover spatial differences in the net radiation (Q*) coincide with greater differences between heat fluxes. For clear days QH lags Q*, thus the ratio of QH to Q* increases throughout the day. In summer the observed energy partitioning is related to the vegetation fraction through use of a footprint model. The results demonstrate the value of scintillometry for integrating surface heterogeneity and offer improved understanding of the influence of anthropogenic materials on surface-atmosphere interactions
Developing a research strategy to better understand, observe, and simulate urban atmospheric processes at kilometer to subkilometer scales
A Met Office/Natural Environment Research Council Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme workshop brought together 50 key international scientists from the UK and international community to formulate the key requirements for an Urban Meteorological Research strategy. The workshop was jointly organised by University of Reading and the Met Office
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U.K. climate projections: Summer daytime and nighttime urban heat island changes in Englandâs major cities
In the United Kingdom, where 90% of residents are projected to live in urban areas by 2050, projecting changes in urban heat islands (UHIs) is essential to municipal adaptation. Increased summer temperatures are linked to increased mortality. Using the new regional U.K. Climate Projections, UKCP18-regional, we estimate the 1981â2079 trends in summer urban and rural near-surface air temperatures and in UHI intensities during day and at night in the 10 most populous built-up areas in England. Summer temperatures increase by 0.45°â0.81°C per decade under RCP8.5, depending on the time of day and location. Nighttime temperatures increase more in urban than rural areas, enhancing the nighttime UHI by 0.01°â0.05°C per decade in all cities. When these upward UHI signals emerge from 2008â18 variability, positive summer nighttime UHI intensities of up to 1.8°C are projected in most cities. However, we can prevent most of these upward nighttime UHI signals from emerging by stabilizing climate to the Paris Agreement target of 2°C above preindustrial levels. In contrast, daytime UHI intensities decrease in nine cities, at rates between â0.004° and â0.05°C per decade, indicating a trend toward a reduced daytime UHI effect. These changes reflect different feedbacks over urban and rural areas and are specific to UKCP18-regional. Future research is important to better understand the drivers of these UHI intensity changes
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