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Large-Eddy Simulation of Mesoscale Circulations Forced by Inhomogeneous Urban Heat Island

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Abstract

The large-eddy simulation mode of the Weather Research and Forecasting model is employed to simulate the planetary boundary-layer characteristics and mesoscale circulations forced by an ideal urban heat island (UHI). In our simulations, the horizontal heterogeneity of the UHI intensity distribution in urban areas is considered and idealized as a cosine function. Results indicate that the UHI heating rate and the UHI intensity heterogeneity affect directly the spatial distribution of the wind field; a stronger UHI intensity produces a maximum horizontal wind speed closer to the urban centre. The strong advection of warm air from the urban area to the rural area in the upper part of the planetary boundary-layer causes a more stable atmospheric stratification over both the urban and rural areas. The mesoscale sensible heat flux caused by the UHI circulation increases with UHI intensity but vanishes when the background wind speed is sufficiently high \((>\)3.0 \(\mathrm{{m\,s}}^{-1})\).

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41005008) and the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB952002). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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  1. School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing , 210093, China

    Ning Zhang, Xueyuan Wang & Zhen Peng

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  1. Ning Zhang
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  2. Xueyuan Wang
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  3. Zhen Peng
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Correspondence to Ning Zhang.

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Zhang, N., Wang, X. & Peng, Z. Large-Eddy Simulation of Mesoscale Circulations Forced by Inhomogeneous Urban Heat Island. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 151, 179–194 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-013-9879-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-013-9879-x

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