URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO OBSERVED TEMPERATURE INCREASE AT WUHAN STATION, CENTRAL CHINA

Abstract:

Based on an in-homogeneity adjusted dataset of the monthly mean temperature, minimum and maximum temperature, this paper analyzes the temporal characteristics of Urban Heat Island (UHI) intensity at Wuhan Station, and its impact on the long-term trend of surface air temperature change recorded during 1961–C2015 by using an urban-rural method. Results show that UHI effect is obvious near Wuhan Station in the past 55 years, especially for minimum temperature. The strongest UHI intensity occurs in summer and the weakest in winter. For the period 1961–C2004, UHI intensity undergoes a significant increase near the urban station, with the increase especially large for the period 1988–C2004, but the last 10 years witness a significant decrease, with the decrease in minimum temperature being more significant than that of maximum temperature. The annual mean urban warming and its contribution to overall warming are 0.18?C/10yr and 48.8% respectively for the period 1961–C2015, with a more significant and larger urbanization effect seen in Tmin than Tmax. Thus, a large proportion warming, about half of the overall increase in annual mean temperature, as observed at the urban station, can be attributed to the rapid urbanization in the past half a century.