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Modeling the Warming Impact of Urban Land Expansion on Hot Weather Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model: A Case Study of Beijing, China

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Abstract

The impacts of three periods of urban land expansion during 1990–2010 on near-surface air temperature in summer in Beijing were simulated in this study, and then the interrelation between heat waves and urban warming was assessed. We ran the sensitivity tests using the mesoscaleWeather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a single urban canopy model, as well as high-resolution land cover data. The warming area expanded approximately at the same scale as the urban land expansion. The average regional warming induced by urban expansion increased but the warming speed declined slightly during 2000–2010. The smallest warming occurred at noon and then increased gradually in the afternoon before peaking at around 2000 LST—the time of sunset. In the daytime, urban warming was primarily caused by the decrease in latent heat flux at the urban surface. Urbanization led to more ground heat flux during the day and then more release at night, which resulted in nocturnal warming. Urban warming at night was higher than that in the day, although the nighttime increment in sensible heat flux was smaller. This was because the shallower planetary boundary layer at night reduced the release efficiency of near-surface heat. The simulated results also suggested that heat waves or high temperature weather enhanced urban warming intensity at night. Heat waves caused more heat to be stored in the surface during the day, greater heat released at night, and thus higher nighttime warming. Our results demonstrate a positive feedback effect between urban warming and heat waves in urban areas.

摘 要

城市化是改变区域气候特征的最为典型的人为活动之一. 本文模拟研究了1990-2010年北京城市用地扩展(3期土地利用数据)对夏季近地表气温的影响, 并评估了热浪与城市增温效应之间的相互关系. 方法是利用耦合了单层城市冠层模式的中尺度天气预报模型WRF模型, 以及高分辨率土地利用/覆被数据进行了敏感性试验. 结果表明, 城市扩展引起了近地表气温的升高, 这种增温的分布特征与城市土地扩张的分布格局基本相同, 但2000-2010年城市用地扩张引起的区域气温的平均升高强度比1990-2000年略有减少, 说明2000-2010年城市化区域增温效应的速度有所下降. 从城市化增温效应的日变化特征来看, 增温的最低值发生在中午, 之后增温强度逐渐增加, 并在日落时刻达到最高峰值. 在白天, 城市化增温效应主要是由城市地表潜热通量的减少引起的. 而夜间城市化增温效应的原因主要是城市在白天获得更多的地表储热, 使得夜间释放更多的热量. 夜间的大气边界层高度较小, 这使得虽然夜间感热通量的增量较小, 但夜间的城市平均增温强度大于白天. 热浪或高温天气增加了夜间的城市增温强度, 这是因为在热浪或高温天气期间, 城市地表储热在白天增加, 使得城市地表在夜晚释放更多的热量, 从而导致夜间城市化增温强度增加. 本文揭示了城市化增温效应与城市热浪(高温天气)之间的正反馈效应.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2015CB953602) and the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 17BGL256).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Xiaojuan Liu, Guangjin Tian, Bingran Ma & Lingqiang Kong

  2. School of Government, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Guangjin Tian

  3. CAS Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jinming Feng & Jun Wang

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  1. Xiaojuan Liu
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  2. Guangjin Tian
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Correspondence to Guangjin Tian.

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Liu, X., Tian, G., Feng, J. et al. Modeling the Warming Impact of Urban Land Expansion on Hot Weather Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model: A Case Study of Beijing, China. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 35, 723–736 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-017-7137-8

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