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Temporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China

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Abstract

Based on meteorological data from 1978 to 2007, we investigated the annual, seasonal, and fixed hourly variations of Shanghai urban heat island (UHI) in urban and suburban areas and spatial distribution of UHI. The results demonstrated a remarkable interannual increase of UHI intensity in Shanghai. The UHI was the strongest in autumn and the weakest in summer, as a consequence of the prevailing weather conditions. Similar to previous studies of other cities, the UHI in Shanghai was stronger in the nighttime than in the daytime. The SW–NE cross section followed the general cross section of the typical UHI described by Oke (1987) who defines its characteristic parts as “cliff”, “plateau”, and “peak”. Analysis of the association of UHI and urbanization indicated that the UHI increased with the expansion of population and rapid increase of gross domestic product. The continuous increase of power consumption and area of paved road and decrease of area of cropland caused the growth of UHI intensity. Green land had a positive effect on mitigation of heat island based on an inversed U-shaped curve with UHI intensity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, East China Normal University, No. 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Kaixuan Zhang, Rui Wang, Chenchen Shen & Liangjun Da

  2. Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Research Station, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Liangjun Da

  3. Shanghai Key Laboratory for Ecology of Urbanization Process and Eco-restoration, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Liangjun Da

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  1. Kaixuan Zhang
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  2. Rui Wang
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  3. Chenchen Shen
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  4. Liangjun Da
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Correspondence to Liangjun Da.

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Zhang, K., Wang, R., Shen, C. et al. Temporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China. Environ Monit Assess 169, 101–112 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1154-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1154-8

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