Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Green or blue spaces? Assessment of the effectiveness and costs to mitigate the urban heat island in a Latin American city

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We measured air temperature at 14 sites with different land cover composition within the urban canopy layer of a mid-sized Brazilian city. The intensity (ΔT) of the urban heat island (UHI) was calculated using data collected above a lake and at an urban park as references. We investigated the spatio-temporal variability of ΔT during four contiguous days with varying weather. The first day was overcast and rainy, giving rise to a moderate UHI. The second day was sunny, which caused the diurnal ΔT fields to become  heterogeneous, due to larger heating rates at sites with more man-made surfaces compared to natural surfaces. A high-pressure system observed on the last days brought cloudless skies, causing smaller ΔT during the day and greater at night. We hypothesise that the effect was due to the reduction of cooling via evapotranspiration caused by closing of the stomata as the soil dried out, which reduced the daytime temperature differences among the sites. The night-time effect was caused by stronger radiative cooling due to clear skies. The temperature within the park was always lower than over the lake, confirming that urban forestry is a more effective mechanism to combat the UHI. Introducing a park would be about sevenfold cheaper than building a city pond. Hence, green spaces are not only more efficient to combat the UHI but it is also a cheaper strategy compared to blue spaces. Moreover, vegetation delivers other benefits, such as removal of air pollutants, attenuation of urban noise, improvement of city aesthetic and their use as recreational spaces.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aflaki A, Mirnezhad M, Ghaffarianhoseini A, Ghaffarianhoseini A, Omrany H, Wang Z-H, Akbari H (2017) Urban heat island mitigation strategies: a state-of-the-art review on Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong. Cities 62:131–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad S, Hashim N (2007) Effects of soil moisture on urban heat island occurrences: case of Selangor, Malaysia. Humanity and Social Sci J 2:132–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Alves EU, Andrade LA, Bruno RLA, Vieira RM, Cardoso EA (2011) Emergence and early growth of Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taubert seedlings under different substrata. Rev Ciênc Agron, https://doi.org/10.1590/S1806-66902011000200025

  • Ashie Y, Thanh VC, Asaeda T (1999) Building canopy model for the analysis of urban climate. J Wind Eng Ind Aerodynam 81:237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breitner S, Wolf K, Devlin RB, Diaz-Sanchez D, Peters A, Schneider A (2014a) Short-term effects of air temperature on mortality and effect modification by air pollution in three cities of Bavaria, Germany: a time-series analysis. Sci Total Environ 485:49–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breitner S, Wolf K, Peters A, Schneider A (2014b) Short-term effects of air temperature on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in Bavaria, Germany. Heart 100:1272–1280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ca VT, Asaeda T, Abu EM (1998) Reductions in air-conditioning energy caused by a nearby park. Energ Buildings 29:83–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camara G, Souza RCM, Freitas UM, Garrido J (1996) SPRING: integrating remote sensing and GIS by object-oriented data modelling. Comput Graph 20:395–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso RS, Dorigon LP, Teixeira DCF, Amorim MCCT (2017) Assessment of urban heat islands in small- and mid-sized cities in Brazil. Climate https://doi.org/10.3390/cli5010014

  • Crush J, Frayne B (2011) Urban food insecurity and the new international food security agenda. Dev South Afr 28:527–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duh J-D, Shandas V, Chang H, George LA (2008) Rates of urbanisation and the resiliency of air and water quality. Sci Total Environ 400:238–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira MJ, Oliveira AP, Soares J (2010) Anthropogenic heat in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Theor Appl Climatol 104:43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiore AM, Naik V, Leibensperger EM (2015) Air quality and climate connections. J Air Waste Manag 65:645-685

  • Gamarra NLR, Correa MP, Targino ACL (2014) Use of remote sensing to retrieve surface albedo and land surface temperature in Londrina (Paraná): a contribution to urban heat island studies. Rev Bras Meteorol 29:537–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunawardena KR, Wells MJ, Kershaw T (2017) Utilising green and bluespace to mitigate urban heat island intensity. Sci Total Environ 584–585:1040–1055

  • Hart MA, Sailor DJ (2009) Quantifying the influence of land use and surface characteristics on spatial variability in the urban heat island. Theor Appl Climatol 19:975–988

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu Y, Jia G (2010) Influence of land use change on urban heat island derived from multi-sensor data. Int J Climatol 30:1382–1395

  • Hung T, Uchihama D, Ochi S, Yasuoka Y (2006) Assessment with satellite data of the urban heat island effects in Asian mega cities. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 8:34–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janhäll S (2015) Review on urban vegetation and particle air pollution—deposition and dispersion. Atmos Environ 105:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandya A, Mohan M (2018) Mitigating the urban Heat Island effect through building envelope modifications. Energ Buildings 164:266–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim YH, Baik JJ (2005) Spatial and temporal structure of the urban heat island in Seoul. J Appl Meteorol 44:591–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleerekoper L, van Esch M, Salcedo TB (2012) How to make a city climate-proof, addressing the urban heat island effect. Resour Conserv Recy 64:30–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolokotroni M, Giridharan R (2008) Urban heat island intensity in London: an investigation of the impact of physical characteristics on changes in outdoor air temperature during summer. Sol Energy 82:986–998

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotthaus S, Grimmond CSB (2014) Energy exchange in a dense urban environment—part I: temporal variability of long-term observations in Central London. Urban Clim 10:261–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhns M, Rupp L (2000) Selecting and planting landscape trees. All Current Publications. Paper 1220. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/1220

  • Kyriakodis G-E, Santamouris M (2018) Using reflective pavements to mitigate urban heat island in warm climates—results from a large scale urban mitigation project. Urban Clim 24:326–339

  • Lakshmi V, Zehrfuhs D, Jackson TJ (2003) Soil moisture–temperature relationships: results from two field experiments. Hydrol Process 17:3041–3057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucena AJ, Rotunno Filho OC, França JRA, Peres LF, Xavier LNR (2013) Urban climate and clues of heat island events in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. Theor Appl Climatol 111:497–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manteghi G, bin Limit, H and Remaz, D (2015) Water bodies an urban microclimate: a review. Mod App Sci. doi: https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v9n6p1

  • McPherson EG, Simpson JR, Peper PJ, Maco SE, Xiao Q (2005) Municipal forest benefits and costs in five US cities. J Forest 103:411–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris KI, Chan A, Ooi MC, Oozeer MY, Abakr YA, Morris KJK (2016) Effect of vegetation and waterbody on the garden city concept: an evaluation study using a newly developed city, Putrajaya, Malaysia. Comput Environ Urban 58:39–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nastos PT, Matzarakis A (2012) The effect of air temperature and human thermal indices on mortality in Athens. Theor Appl Climatol 108:591–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oke TR (1988) The urban energy-balance. Prog Phys Geogr 12:471–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oke TR, Mills G, Chirsten A, and Voogt JA (2017) Urban climates. Cambridge University Press, p. 525

  • Peng S, Piao S, Ciais P, Friedlingstein P, Ottle C, Bréon F-M, Nan H, Zhou L, Myneni RB (2011) Surface urban heat island across 419 global big cities. Environ Sci Technol 46:696–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pires MF, Pereira MP, Castro, EM, Barbosa S, Pereira, FJ (2015) Leaf micromorphometry of Schinus molle L. (Anacadiaceae) in different canopy heights. Cerne https://doi.org/10.1590/01047760201521011530

  • Polidoro M, Lollo J, Barros M (2011) Environmental impacts of urban sprawl in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. J Urban Environ Eng 5:73–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramamurthy P, Bou-Zeid E (2016) Heatwaves and urban heat islands: a comparative analysis of multiple cities. J Geophys Res https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025357

  • Rosenfeld AH, Akbari H, Romm JJ (1998) Cool communities: strategies for heat island mitigation and smog reduction. Energ Buildings 28:51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryu Y-H, Baik J-J (2011) Quantitative analysis of factors contributing to urban heat island intensity. J Applied Met Clim 51:842-854

  • Shashua-Bar L, Hoffman ME (2000) Vegetation as a climatic component in the design of an urban street: an empirical model for predicting the cooling effect of urban green areas with trees. Energ Buildings 31:221–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shiklomanov IA, Rodda JC (2003) World water resources at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil Conservation Service (1982) Ponds—planning, design and construction agricultural handbook 590, US Department of Agriculture

  • Steeneveld GJ, Koopmans S, Heusinkveld BG, van Hove LWA, Holtslag AAM (2011) Quantifying urban heat island effects and human comfort for cities of variable size and urban morphology in the Netherlands. J Geophys Res https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD015988

  • Sugawara H, Narita K, Kim MS (2009) Cooling effect by urban river. The 7th International Conference on Urban Climate; 29 June–3 July 3, Yokohama, Japan

  • Sun R, Chen L (2012) How can urban water bodies be designed for climate adaptation? Landscape Urban Plan 105:27–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki C (1999) A climatological study of the cooling effect of urban rivers on heat island phenomena. Tokyo Metropolitan University, Dissertation

  • Targino AC, Krecl P, Coraiola GC (2014) Effects of the large-scale atmospheric circulation on the onset and strength of urban heat islands: a case study. Theor Appl Climatol 117:73–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tempesta T (2015) Benefits and costs of urban parks: a review. Aestimum 67:127–143

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2014) World urbanization prospects: the 2014 Revision United Nations Population Division

  • Upmanis H, Eliasson I, Lindqvist S (1998) The influence of green areas on nocturnal temperatures in a high latitude city (Göteborg, Sweden). Int J Climatol 18:681–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walcek CJ, Yuan H-H (1995) Calculated influence of temperature-related factors on ozone formation rates in the lower troposphere. J Appl Meteorol 34:1056–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu C, Li S, Ji P, Ren B, Li X (2011) Effects of the different width of urban green belts on the temperature and humidity. Acta Ecol Sin 31:383–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to those individuals and companies that hosted the temperature sensors during the measurement campaign and the Fire Brigade of Londrina who helped install the air temperature sensors.

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação Araucária of Paraná (grant number 470/2010).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Av. Pioneiros 3131, Londrina, 86036-370, Brazil

    Admir Créso Targino & Patricia Krecl

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Av. Pioneiros 3131, Londrina, 86036-370, Brazil

    Guilherme Conor Coraiola

Authors
  1. Admir Créso Targino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guilherme Conor Coraiola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Patricia Krecl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Admir Créso Targino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Targino, A.C., Coraiola, G.C. & Krecl, P. Green or blue spaces? Assessment of the effectiveness and costs to mitigate the urban heat island in a Latin American city. Theor Appl Climatol 136, 971–984 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2534-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2534-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation