Urban heat island effects of the Pearl River Delta city clusters-their interactions and seasonal variation

摘要

Previous studies have shown that urbanization in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern China can have significant effect on the land-sea breeze circulation in the region. In this study, some characteristics of this urban heat island (UHI) effect are further investigated by some idealized numerical experiments. This study focuses on three aspects of the UHI effects. Firstly, the interaction of UHI effects associated with different city clusters in the PRD region. Secondly, the UHI effect and the strength of the background wind field. Thirdly, seasonal variation of the UHI effect. Experiment results suggest that the interaction of the UHI effects due to the closely distributed city clusters in the PRD region is not significant, while the UHI effect in the region may depend on the strength of the background wind. The seasonal-mean UHI effect in the region shows a significant variation associated with the change of seasons.