Observational evidence of the urban heat island of Manaus City, Brazil

摘要

This work examined observationally the Urban Heat Island (UHI) of Manaus city, Brazil. For this, data collected from two different sites, in an urban area and from a region of forest about 30 km from city, for the period of 2000-2008, were used. The results show that the urban environment creates a local increase in temperature and a decrease in relative humidity. The annual average observed between the urban and forest sites can reach differences of temperatures around 3 °C and relative humidity close to 1.7%. An interesting feature of the UHI of Manaus is associated with a diurnal cycle that differs from other studies for different locations in the world, with two peaks of highest intensity, one at 0800 LST and one between the 1500 and 1700 LST. It also highlighted that the urban area tends to heat first and more slowly and cool down later and faster than the forest, which explains the distinct behaviour of the diurnal cycle of the UHI. The obtained knowledge of the Manaus UHI allows the implementation of policies and methodologies that aim to improve the quality of life and comfort of large urban cities, such as those studied.