Summary
Data from two automatic stations in Łódź (one urban and one rural) for the period 1997–2002 are analyzed to reveal urban–rural contrasts of such parameters as air temperature, relative humidity, water vapour pressure and wind speed. Under favourable weather conditions the highest temperature differences between the urban and rural station exceeds 8 °C. Relative humidity is lower in the town, sometimes by more than 40%. Water vapour pressure differences can be either positive (up to 5 hPa) or negative (up to −4 hPa). Wind speed at the urban station is on average lower by about 34% in night and 39% during daytime. Regression analysis shows that for rural winds lower than 1.13 m s−1 urban winds can be stronger than rural speeds. Attention has also been paid to singularities in the course of the analyzed parameters over 24 hour periods. It is shown that the typical course of the urban heat island intensity under favourable conditions is similar in all season. Four stages of this course have been distinguished. Wind speed differences also seem to change in a typical way. Case studies show that humidity contrasts, unlike temperature, can evolve in different ways under fine weather conditions. Types of relative humidity evolution are proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B Ackerman (1987) ArticleTitleClimatology of Chicago area urban–rural differences in humidity. J Climate Appl Meteor 26 427–430 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1987)026<0427:COCAUR>2.0.CO;2
YR Adebayo (1991) ArticleTitleDay-time effects of urbanization on relative humidity and vapour pressure in a tropical city. Theor Appl Climatol 43 17–30
AJ Arnfield (2003) ArticleTitleTwo decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island. Int J Climatol 23 1–26 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.859
RD Bornstein (1975) ArticleTitleTwo-dimensional, non-steady mumerical simulations of night-time flows of a stable planetary boundary layer over a rough warm city. J Appl Meteor 14 1459–1477 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1975)014<1459:TTDUUB>2.0.CO;2
RD Bornstein DS Johnson (1977) ArticleTitleUrban–rural wind velocity differences. Atmos Environ 11 597–604
Chandler TJ (1970) Selected bibliography on urban climate. Tech. note no. 155, WMO no. 276, World Meteorol Organiz, Geneva
TJ Chandler (1967) ArticleTitleAbsolute and relative humidities in towns. Bull Amer Meteor Soc 48 394–399
FT DePaul CM Sheih (1986) ArticleTitleMeasurements of wind velocities in a street canyon. Atmos Environ 20 455–459
RR Draxler (1986) ArticleTitleSimulated and observed influence of the nocturnal urban heat island on the local wind field. J Climate Appl Meteor 25 1125–1133 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1986)025<1125:SAOIOT>2.0.CO;2
Fortuniak K (2003) Miejska Wyspa ciepła. Podstawy energetyczne, studia eksperymentalne, modele numeryczne i statystyczne (in Polish). Wyd. UŁ, 233 pp
KD Hage (1975) ArticleTitleUrban–rural humidity differences. J Appl Meteor 14 1277–1283 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1975)014<1277:URHD>2.0.CO;2
B Holmer I Eliasson (1999) ArticleTitleUrban–rural vapour pressure differences and their role in the development of urban heat island. Int J Climatol 19 989–1009 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(199907)19:9<989::AID-JOC410>3.0.CO;2-1
E Jáuregui A Tejeda (1997) ArticleTitleUrban–rural humidity contrasts in Mexico City. Int J Climatol 17 187–196 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(199702)17:2<187::AID-JOC114>3.0.CO;2-P
RJ Kopec (1973) ArticleTitleDaily spatial and secular variation of atmospheric humidity in small city. J Appl Meteor 12 639–648 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(1973)012<0639:DSASVO>2.0.CO;2
K Kłysik (1996) ArticleTitleSpatial and seasonal distribution of anthropogenic heat emission in Lodz, Poland. Atmos Environ 30 3397–3404
K Kłysik K Fortuniak (1999) ArticleTitleTemporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island of Łódź, Poland. Atmos Environ 33 3885–3895
A Kratzer (1937) Das Stadtklima. Fried. Vieweg & Sohn Braunschweig 143
Landsberg HE (1981) The urban climate. Academic Press, 285 pp
DO Lee (1979) ArticleTitleThe influence of atmospheric stability and the urban heat island on urban–rural wind speed differences. Atmos Environ 13 1175–1180
DO Lee (1991) ArticleTitleUrban–rural humidity differences in London. Int J Climatol 11 577–582
Y Nakamura TR Oke (1988) ArticleTitleWind, temperature and stability conditions in east–west oriented urban canyon. Atmos Environ 22 2691–2700
TR Oke (1973) ArticleTitleCity size and the urban heat island. Atmos Environ 7 769–779
Oke TR (1974) Review of urban climatology, 1968–1973. Tech. note no. 134, WMO no. 383, World Meteorol Organiz, Geneva
Oke TR (1979) Review of urban climatology, 1973–1976. Tech. note no. 169, WMO no. 539, World Meteorol Organiz, Geneva
Oke TR (1982a) Bibliography of urban climate 1977–1980. WCP-45, World Meteorol Organiz, Geneva
TR Oke (1982b) ArticleTitleThe energetic basis of the urban heat island. Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 108 1–24 Occurrence Handle10.1256/smsqj.45501
Oke TR (1998) An algorithmic scheme to estimate hourly heat island magnitude. Proc. 2nd Symp. Urban Env., Nov. 1998, Albuquerque, pp 80–83
Siedlecki M (2003) Urban–rural wind speed differences in Lódz. Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Urban Climate, CD, 4 pp
Sorbjan Z (1978) Numerical simulation of dynamic structure of the atmospheric boundary layer in urban area. Acta Geophys Polon, pp 167–171
J Unger (1999) ArticleTitleUrban–rural air humidity differences in Szeged, Hungary. Int J Climatol 19 1509–1515 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(19991115)19:13<1509::AID-JOC453>3.0.CO;2-P
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fortuniak, K., Kłysik, K. & Wibig, J. Urban–rural contrasts of meteorological parameters in Łódź. Theor. Appl. Climatol. 84, 91–101 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-005-0147-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-005-0147-y