Cooling urban heat islands with sustainable landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

E. Gregory McPherson

1994-01-01

This paper is directed to the policy-makers who are responsible for urban design and its climatological consequences. It summarizes our current knowledge on the structure, energetics, and mitigation of the urban heat island. Special attention is given to physical features of the environment that can be easily manipulated, particularly vegetation. Prototypical designs...

Utilising green and bluespace to mitigate urban heat island intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunawardena, K R; Wells, M J; Kershaw, T

2017-04-15

It has long been recognised that cities exhibit their own microclimate and are typically warmer than the surrounding rural areas. This 'mesoscale' influence is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect and results largely from modification of surface properties leading to greater absorption of solar radiation, reduced convective cooling and lower water evaporation rates. Cities typically contain less vegetation and bodies of water than rural areas, and existing green and bluespace is often under threat from increasing population densities. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the key ways in which green and bluespace affect both urban canopy- and boundary-layer temperatures, examined from the perspectives of city-planning, urban climatology and climate science. The analysis suggests that the evapotranspiration-based cooling influence of both green and bluespace is primarily relevant for urban canopy-layer conditions, and that tree-dominated greenspace offers the greatest heat stress relief when it is most needed. However, the magnitude and transport of cooling experienced depends on size, spread, and geometry of greenspaces, with some solitary large parks found to offer minimal boundary-layer cooling. Contribution to cooling at the scale of the urban boundary-layer climate is attributed mainly to greenspace increasing surface roughness and thereby improving convection efficiency rather than evaporation. Although bluespace cooling and transport during the day can be substantial, nocturnal warming is highlighted as likely when conditions are most oppressive. However, when both features are employed together they can offer many synergistic ecosystem benefits including cooling. The ways in which green and bluespace infrastructure is applied in future urban growth strategies, particularly in countries expected to experience rapid urbanisation, warrants greater consideration in urban planning policy to mitigate the adverse effects of the UHI and enhance climate

The Urban Tree as a Tool to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island in Mexico City: A Simple Phenomenological Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballinas, Mónica; Barradas, Víctor L

2016-01-01

The urban heat island (UHI) is mainly a nocturnal phenomenon, but it also appears during the day in Mexico City. The UHI may affect human thermal comfort, which can influence human productivity and morbidity in the spring/summer period. A simple phenomenological model based on the energy balance was developed to generate theoretical support of UHI mitigation in Mexico City focused on the latent heat flux change by increasing tree coverage to reduce sensible heat flux and air temperature. Half-hourly data of the urban energy balance components were generated in a typical residential/commercial neighborhood of Mexico City and then parameterized using easily measured variables (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and visibility). Canopy conductance was estimated every hour in four tree species, and transpiration was estimated using sap flow technique and parameterized by the envelope function method. Averaged values of net radiation, energy storage, and sensible and latent heat flux were around 449, 224, 153, and 72 W m, respectively. Daily tree transpiration ranged from 3.64 to 4.35 Ld. To reduce air temperature by 1°C in the studied area, 63 large would be required per hectare, whereas to reduce the air temperature by 2°C only 24 large trees would be required. This study suggests increasing tree canopy cover in the city cannot mitigate UHI adequately but requires choosing the most appropriate tree species to solve this problem. It is imperative to include these types of studies in tree selection and urban development planning to adequately mitigate UHI. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Summer in the City - Assessing and Communicating the Richmond, VA Urban Heat Island to the Public and Policymakers

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, J. S.; Maurakis, E. G.; Shandas, V.

2017-12-01

The local impacts of global climate change are generally underestimated or misunderstood by the public and policymakers as far-off, future problems. However, differential and regional surface warming trends are exacerbated in urban areas due to the radiative properties of impervious surfaces like buildings and roads relative to natural landscapes. Decades of research illustrate that this unnatural radiative imbalance in the built environment gives rise to the well-studied urban heat island effect, whereby air temperatures in urban areas are several degrees warmer than in surrounding non-urbanized areas. In this way, the urban heat island effect presents a unique opportunity to highlight the human influence on Earth systems and at the same time mobilize local community-scale action to mitigate and become resilient to climate change impacts on tangible, experiential time scales. However, public stakeholders, city planners, and policymakers may view the urban heat island effect and its mitigation strategies through varying degrees of climatological, public health, and urban development knowledge and interest. This variation in stakeholder engagement highlights the need for individualized science communication strategies for each audience in order to maximize understanding of the scientific outcomes and tactics for mitigating the urban heat island effect. The City of Richmond, Virginia is currently developing a climate action plan as part of their greenhouse gas emission reduction initiative, RVAgreen 2050, and its recently announced "Richmond 300," a 20-year city development master plan. These initiatives provide the policy backdrop for a public and stakeholder education campaign centered on communicating urban heat island effects and resilience strategies. As such, the Science Museum of Virginia led the city's first urban heat island assessment using citizen science and leveraging a network of local university, non-profit, and city government stakeholders. Here, we

Retroreflective façades for urban heat island mitigation: Experimental investigation and energy evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossi, Federico; Castellani, Beatrice; Presciutti, Andrea; Morini, Elena; Filipponi, Mirko; Nicolini, Andrea; Santamouris, Matheos

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Retro-reflective (RR) materials are an effective strategy for mitigating UHI. • Optical properties of RR materials are assessed by a new experimental facility. • Angular distribution of reflected radiation is assessed during daytime. • RR component is treated as a diffusely reflected radiation by a reduction factor. • An algorithm evaluates the cooling potential of RR materials in urban canyons. - Abstract: The optimization of optical properties of buildings’ envelope and urban paving represents an important research field for reducing the urban heat island effect. The overheating of a surface exposed to sunlight can be reduced by improving solar reflectance. In this sense, several studies have demonstrated the positive effect of cool materials on UHI mitigation. In addition to traditional cool materials, retroreflective (RR) materials have been recently proposed for this application. The present paper aims at the assessment of angular reflectance of RR films for several inclination angles of solar radiation. To reproduce variation of solar radiation’s inclination during the daytime, an ad hoc experimental setup was designed and used. Characterization of RR materials when hit by solar radiation with different inclinations allows to assess their behaviour on daytime if used as novel urban coatings for mitigation of the UHI phenomenon. Measurement results are used as input for an original algorithm which allows to quantify cooling potential of RR materials in terms of energy reflected and sent beyond the urban canyon. The experimental characterization and energy evaluations showed that RR materials could be effectively applied as coatings on urban paving and building envelope, in order to reduce the circulating energy into the canyon

Validation of a Fast-Response Urban Micrometeorological Model to Assess the Performance of Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeau, D.; Girard, P.; Overby, M.; Pardyjak, E.; Stoll, R., II; Willemsen, P.; Bailey, B.; Parlange, M. B.

2015-12-01

Urban heat islands (UHI) are a real threat in many cities worldwide and mitigation measures have become a central component of urban planning strategies. Even within a city, causes of UHI vary from one neighborhood to another, mostly due the spatial variability in surface thermal properties, building geometry, anthropogenic heat flux releases and vegetation cover. As a result, the performance of UHI mitigation measures also varies in space. Hence, there is a need to develop a tool to quantify the efficiency of UHI mitigation measures at the neighborhood scale. The objective of this ongoing study is to validate the fast-response micrometeorological model QUIC EnvSim (QES). This model can provide all information required for UHI studies with a fine spatial resolution (up to 0.5m) and short computation time. QES combines QUIC, a CFD-based wind solver and dispersion model, and EnvSim, composed of a radiation model, a land-surface model and a turbulent transport model. Here, high-resolution (1 m) simulations are run over a subset of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) campus including complex buildings, various surfaces properties and vegetation. For nearly five months in 2006-07, a dense network of meteorological observations (92 weather stations over 0.1 km2) was deployed over the campus and these unique data are used here as a validation dataset. We present validation results for different test cases (e.g., sunny vs cloudy days, different incoming wind speeds and directions) and explore the effect of a few UHI mitigation strategies on the spatial distribution of near-surface air temperatures. Preliminary results suggest that QES may be a valuable tool in decision-making regarding adaptation of urban planning to UHI.

Application of green blue roof to mitigate heat island phenomena and resilient to climate change in urban areas: A case study from Seoul, Korea

OpenAIRE

Shafique Muhammad; Kim Reeho

2017-01-01

Green blue roof has the potential to reduce the surface temperature of the building in the urban areas. Green blue roof is a new innovative low impact development (LID) practice that has exhibited an option to mitigate the heat island phenomena in urban area. This is the modified form of green roof that has ability to store rainwater in vegetation, soil layer and increases the evapotranspiration rate which decreases the temperature of an area. For this purpose, green blue roof is installed at...

Urban environment and vegetation: comfort and urban heat island mitigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriano Magliocco

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the outcomes of an experimental simulation on the microclimatic effects and on thermal comfort of vegetation in urban environment, conducted by means of a three-dimensional microclimate model, ENVI- met 3.1. The simulation considers a wide range of hypothetical cases of typical city areas with different characteristics related to: building density, building height, vegetation type and density. The results of the study show how different combinations of amount and type of vegetation, density and height of buildings affect the urban heat island phenomenon in Mediterranean climate.

Surface urban heat island across 419 global big cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Shushi; Piao, Shilong; Ciais, Philippe; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Ottle, Catherine; Bréon, François-Marie; Nan, Huijuan; Zhou, Liming; Myneni, Ranga B

2012-01-17

Urban heat island is among the most evident aspects of human impacts on the earth system. Here we assess the diurnal and seasonal variation of surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) defined as the surface temperature difference between urban area and suburban area measured from the MODIS. Differences in SUHII are analyzed across 419 global big cities, and we assess several potential biophysical and socio-economic driving factors. Across the big cities, we show that the average annual daytime SUHII (1.5 ± 1.2 °C) is higher than the annual nighttime SUHII (1.1 ± 0.5 °C) (P < 0.001). But no correlation is found between daytime and nighttime SUHII across big cities (P = 0.84), suggesting different driving mechanisms between day and night. The distribution of nighttime SUHII correlates positively with the difference in albedo and nighttime light between urban area and suburban area, while the distribution of daytime SUHII correlates negatively across cities with the difference of vegetation cover and activity between urban and suburban areas. Our results emphasize the key role of vegetation feedbacks in attenuating SUHII of big cities during the day, in particular during the growing season, further highlighting that increasing urban vegetation cover could be one effective way to mitigate the urban heat island effect.

The Impact of Albedo Increase to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island in Terni (Italy Using the WRF Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Morini

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The impacts of the urban heat island (UHI phenomenon on energy consumption, air quality, and human health have been widely studied and described. Mitigation strategies have been developed to fight the UHI and its detrimental consequences. A potential countermeasure is the increase of urban albedo by using cool materials. Cool materials are highly reflective materials that can maintain lower surface temperatures and thus can present an effective solution to mitigate the UHI. Terni’s proven record of high temperatures along with related environmental and comfort issues in its urban areas have reflected the local consequences of global warming. On the other hand, it promoted integrated actions by the government and research institutes to investigate solutions to mitigate the UHI effects. In this study, the main goal is to investigate the effectiveness of albedo increase as a strategy to tackle the UHI, by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF mesoscale model to simulate the urban climate of Terni (Italy. Three different scenarios through a summer heat wave in the summer of 2015 are analyzed. The Base Scenario, which simulates the actual conditions of the urban area, is the control case. In the Albedo Scenario (ALB Scenario, the albedo of the roof, walls and road of the whole urban area is increased. In the Albedo-Industrial Scenario (ALB-IND Scenario, the albedo of the roof, walls and road of the area occupied by the main industrial site of Terni, located in close proximity to the city center, is increased. The simulation results show that the UHI is decreased up to 2 °C both at daytime and at nighttime in the ALB and in ALB-IND Scenarios. Peak temperatures in the urban area can be decreased by 1 °C at daytime, and by about 2 °C at nighttime. Albedo increase in the area of interest might thus represent an opportunity to decrease the UHI effect and its consequences.

Comprehensive assessments of measures mitigating heat island phenomena in urban areas; Heat shinku wo riyoshita daikibo reibo system no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishitani, H; Yamada, K; Yamaji, K; Matsuhashi, T; Iizuka, E; Suzuki, T; Genchi, H; Komiyama, H [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-02-01

This paper describes actual condition and measures against heat island (HI) phenomena in large urban areas with buildings. Tokyo was selected as a model. To extract typical pattern of daily change of air temperature, statistic analysis was conducted using the existing air temperature data at 100 points in and near the city of Tokyo. As a result, five patterns were obtained, i.e., central city, sea/land water affecting zone, thickly settled suburbs, garden city, and countryside. Each one point was selected in each pattern, to measure the underground temperature. It was found that the effect of HI can be easily evaluated from the underground temperature. It was suggested that the HI effect in the central city is estimated to be around 3.6 {degree}C. The measures mitigating HI were divided into the thermal balance improvement in the whole district and the temperature improvement of living space by homogenization or inhomogenization. Energy conservation was investigated for improving the thermal balance which can be practically conducted. According to the measures, it was found that the air temperature in the central city can be decreased by about 0.5 {degree}C at maximum. 3 figs., 1 tab.

The correlation of urban heat island in tropical middle-class housing

Science.gov (United States)

Wazir, Zuber Angkasa

2017-11-01

A very limited number of green and sustainable construction studies have explored factors related to Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical middle-class housing. This paper aimed to investigate the correlation of Urban Heat Island in tropical middle-class housing in three urban housing for middle-class residents of Palembang, which were Taman Sari Kenten, TOP Jakabaring, and Talang Kelapa. Samples consisted of 125 Taman Sari Kenten housing, 27 Talang Kelapa housing, and 12 TOP Jakabaring housing. Independent variables were the resident density, socioeconomic status, house location, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, air conditioner, pro-environment institution, and NEP scale. The Analytic method included correlation and regression. We identified that all housing had different UHI profiles where Taman Sari Kenten had the highest UHI (4.17 K), followed by Talang Kelapa (2.66 K) and TOP Jakabaring (0.66 K) against temperature in measuring station nearby, owned by BMKG (National Meteorological Station). UHI correlated with the resident density, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, and air conditioner. The results should add to the design of ideal housing in the tropical climate for middle-class residents, focusing on its ability to mitigate Urban Heat Island.

Modeling nexus of urban heat island mitigation strategies with electricity/power usage and consumer costs: a case study for Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Humberto; Fillpot, Baron S.

2018-01-01

A reduction in both power and electricity usage was determined using a previously validated zero-dimensional energy balance model that implements mitigation strategies used to reduce the urban heat island (UHI) effect. The established model has been applied to show the change in urban characteristic temperature when executing four common mitigation strategies: increasing the overall (1) emissivity, (2) vegetated area, (3) thermal conductivity, and (4) albedo of the urban environment in a series of increases by 5, 10, 15, and 20% from baseline values. Separately, a correlation analysis was performed involving meteorological data and total daily energy (TDE) consumption where the 24-h average temperature was shown to have the greatest correlation to electricity service data in the Phoenix, Arizona, USA, metropolitan region. A methodology was then developed for using the model to predict TDE consumption reduction and corresponding cost-saving analysis when implementing the four mitigation strategies. The four modeled UHI mitigation strategies, taken in combination, would lead to the largest percent reduction in annual energy usage, where increasing the thermal conductivity is the single most effective mitigation strategy. The single least effective mitigation strategy, increasing the emissivity by 5% from the baseline value, resulted in an average calculated reduction of about 1570 GWh in yearly energy usage with a corresponding 157 million dollar cost savings. When the four parameters were increased in unison by 20% from baseline values, an average calculated reduction of about 2050 GWh in yearly energy usage was predicted with a corresponding 205 million dollar cost savings.

Characterization of Urban Heat and Exacerbation: Development of a Heat Island Index for California

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haider Taha

2017-08-01

Full Text Available To further evaluate the factors influencing public heat and air-quality health, a characterization of how urban areas affect the thermal environment, particularly in terms of the air temperature, is necessary. To assist public health agencies in ranking urban areas in terms of heat stress and developing mitigation plans or allocating various resources, this study characterized urban heat in California and quantified an urban heat island index (UHII at the census-tract level (~1 km2. Multi-scale atmospheric modeling was carried out and a practical UHII definition was developed. The UHII was diagnosed with different metrics and its spatial patterns were characterized for small, large, urban-climate archipelago, inland, and coastal areas. It was found that within each region, wide ranges of urban heat and UHII exist. At the lower end of the scale (in smaller urban areas, the UHII reaches up to 20 degree-hours per day (DH/day; °C.hr/day, whereas at the higher end (in larger areas, it reaches up to 125 DH/day or greater. The average largest temperature difference (urban heat island within each region ranges from 0.5–1.0 °C in smaller areas to up to 5 °C or more at the higher end, such as in urban-climate archipelagos. Furthermore, urban heat is exacerbated during warmer weather and that, in turn, can worsen the health impacts of heat events presently and in the future, for which it is expected that both the frequency and duration of heat waves will increase.

The other side of the coin: urban heat islands as shields from extreme cold

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J.; Bou-Zeid, E.

2017-12-01

Extensive studies focusing on urban heat islands (UHIs) during hot periods create a perception that UHIs are invariably hazardous to human health and the sustainability of cities. Consequently, cities have invested substantial resources to try to mitigate UHIs. These urban policies can have serious repercussions since the health risks associated with cold weather are in fact higher than for heat episodes, yet wintertime UHIs have hardly been explored. We combine ground observations from 12 U.S. cities and high-resolution simulations to show that UHIs not only warm urban areas in the winter, but also further intensify during cold waves by up to 1.32 ± 0.78 oC (mean ± standard deviation) at night. Urban heat islands serve as shelters against extreme colds and provide invaluable benefits of reducing health risks and heating demand. More importantly, our simulations indicate that standard UHI mitigation measures such as green or cool roofs reduce these cold time amenities to different extents. Cities, particularly in cool and cold temperate climates, should hence revisit policies and efforts that are only desgined for hot periods. A paradigm shift is urgently needed to give an equal weight to the wintertime benefits of UHIs in the sustainability and resilience blueprints of cities.

The use of reflective and permeable pavements as a potential practice for heat island mitigation and stormwater management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, H; Harvey, J T; Holland, T J; Kayhanian, M

2013-01-01

To help address the built environmental issues of both heat island and stormwater runoff, strategies that make pavements cooler and permeable have been investigated through measurements and modeling of a set of pavement test sections. The investigation included the hydraulic and thermal performance of the pavements. The permeability results showed that permeable interlocking concrete pavers have the highest permeability (or infiltration rate, ∼0.5 cm s −1 ). The two permeable asphalt pavements showed the lowest permeability, but still had an infiltration rate of ∼0.1 cm s −1 , which is adequate to drain rainwater without generating surface runoff during most typical rain events in central California. An increase in albedo can significantly reduce the daytime high surface temperature in summer. Permeable pavements under wet conditions could give lower surface temperatures than impermeable pavements. The cooling effect highly depends on the availability of moisture near the surface layer and the evaporation rate. The peak cooling effect of watering for the test sections was approximately 15–35 °C on the pavement surface temperature in the early afternoon during summer in central California. The evaporative cooling effect on the pavement surface temperature at 4:00 pm on the third day (25 h after watering) was still 2–7 °C lower compared to that on the second day, without considering the higher air temperature on the third day. A separate and related simulation study performed by UCPRC showed that full depth permeable pavements, if designed properly, can carry both light-duty traffic and certain heavy-duty vehicles while retaining the runoff volume captured from an average California storm event. These preliminarily results indicated the technical feasibility of combined reflective and permeable pavements for addressing the built environment issues related to both heat island mitigation and stormwater runoff management. (letter)

Urban heat island effect: A systematic review of spatio-temporal factors, data, methods, and mitigation measures

Science.gov (United States)

Deilami, Kaveh; Kamruzzaman, Md.; Liu, Yan

2018-05-01

Despite research on urban heat island (UHI) effect has increased exponentially over the last few decades, a systematic review of factors contributing to UHI effect has scarcely been reported in the literature. This paper provides a systematic and overarching review of different spatial and temporal factors affecting the UHI effect. UHI is a phenomenon when urban areas experience a higher temperature than their surrounding non-urban areas and is considered as a critical factor contributing to global warming, heat related mortalities, and unpredictable climatic changes. Therefore, there is a pressing need to identify the spatio-temporal factors that contribute to (or mitigate) the UHI effect in order to develop a thorough understanding of their causal mechanism so that these are addressed through urban planning policies. This paper systematically identified 75 eligible studies on UHI effect and reviews the nature and type of satellite images used, the techniques applied to classify land cover/use changes, the models to assess the link between spatio-temporal factors and UHI effect, and the effects of these factors on UHI. The review results show that: a) 54% of the studies used Landsat TM images for modelling the UHI effect followed by Landsat ETM (34%), and MODIS (28%); b) land cover indices (46%), followed by supervised classification (17%) were the dominant methods to derive land cover/use changes associated with UHI effect; c) ordinary least square regression is the most commonly applied method (68%) to investigate the link between different spatio-temporal factors and the UHI effect followed by comparative analysis (33%); and d) the most common factors affecting the UHI effect as reported in the reviewed studies, include vegetation cover (44%), season (33%), built-up area (28%), day/night (25%), population density (14%), water body (12%) together with others. This research discusses the findings in policy terms and provides directions for future research.

The urban heat island in Akron, Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

Frank P. Martin; Grace L. Powell

1977-01-01

Data gathered by automobile traverse were used to describe the urban heat of Akron, Ohio. Observations were made at 2100 or 2200 EST on four nights-17 April, 11 July, 10 October, and 2 January. Weather conditions not conducive to heat-island development were avoided. Temperatures in the center of the heat island were 6 to 14?F warmer than rural areas outside the city....

Urban heat island 1

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bühler, Oliver; Jensen, Marina Bergen; Petersen, Karen Sejr

2010-01-01

Urban Heat Island beskriver det forhold, at temperaturen i byområder er højere end temperaturen i tilgrænsede landområder. Årsagen hertil ligger i den urbane arealanvendelse, hvor en mindre andel af arealerne er dækket af vegetation, og en større andel består af forseglede arealer.......Urban Heat Island beskriver det forhold, at temperaturen i byområder er højere end temperaturen i tilgrænsede landområder. Årsagen hertil ligger i den urbane arealanvendelse, hvor en mindre andel af arealerne er dækket af vegetation, og en større andel består af forseglede arealer....

Contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to heat waves explain synergies between urban heat islands and heat waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dan; Sun, Ting; Liu, Maofeng; Yang, Long; Wang, Linlin; Gao, Zhiqiu

2015-01-01

Heat waves (HWs) are projected to become more frequent and last longer over most land areas in the late 21st century, which raises serious public health concerns. Urban residents face higher health risks due to synergies between HWs and urban heat islands (UHIs) (i.e., UHIs are higher under HW conditions). However, the responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are still largely unknown. This study analyzes observations from two flux towers in Beijing, China and reveals significant differences between the responses of urban and rural (cropland) ecosystems to HWs. It is found that UHIs increase significantly during HWs, especially during the nighttime, implying synergies between HWs and UHIs. Results indicate that the urban site receives more incoming shortwave radiation and longwave radiation due to HWs as compared to the rural site, resulting in a larger radiative energy input into the urban surface energy budget. Changes in turbulent heat fluxes also diverge strongly for the urban site and the rural site: latent heat fluxes increase more significantly at the rural site due to abundant available water, while sensible heat fluxes and possibly heat storage increase more at the urban site. These comparisons suggest that the contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are responsible for the synergies between HWs and UHIs. As a result, urban mitigation and adaption strategies such as the use of green roofs and white roofs are needed in order to mitigate the impact of these synergies. (letter)

Modifications of the urban heat island characteristics under exceptionally hot weather - A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Founda, Dimitra; Pierros, Fragiskos; Santamouris, Mathew

2016-04-01

Considerable recent research suggests that heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer in the future. Heat waves are characterised by the dominance of prolonged abnormally hot conditions related to synoptic scale anomalies, thus they affect extensive geographical areas. Heat waves (HW) have a profound impact on humans and they have been proven to increase mortality. Urban areas are known to be hotter than the surrounding rural areas due to the well documented urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Urban areas face increased risk under heat waves, due to the added heat from the urban heat island and increased population density. Given that urban populations keep increasing, citizens are exposed to significant heat related risk. Mitigation and adaptation strategies require a deep understanding of the response of the urban heat islands under extremely hot conditions. The response of the urban heat island under selected episodes of heat waves is examined in the city of Athens, from the comparison between stations of different characteristics (urban, suburban, coastal and rural). Two distinct episodes of heat waves occurring during summer 2000 were selected. Daily maximum air temperature at the urban station of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) exceeded 40 0C for at least three consecutive days for both episodes. The intensity of UHI during heat waves was compared to the intensity under 'normal' conditions, represented from a period 'before' and 'after' the heat wave. Striking differences of UHI features between HW and no HW cases were observed, depending on the time of the day and the type of station. The comparison between the urban and the coastal station showed an increase of the order of 3 0C in the intensity of UHI during the HW days, as regards both daytime and nighttime conditions. The comparison between urban and a suburban (inland) station, revealed some different behaviour during HWs, with increases of the order of 3 0C in the nocturnal

The Urban Heat Island Behavior of a Large Northern Latitude Metropolitan Area

Science.gov (United States)

Twine, T. E.; Snyder, P. K.; Hertel, W.; Mykleby, P.

2012-12-01

Urban heat islands (UHIs) occur when urban and suburban areas experience elevated temperatures relative to their rural surroundings because of differences in vegetation cover, buildings and other development, and infrastructure. Most cities in the United States are warming at twice the rate of the outlying rural areas and the planet as a whole. Temperatures in the urban center can be 2-5°C warmer during the daytime and as much as 10°C at night. Urban warming is responsible for excessive energy consumption, heat-related health effects, an increase in urban pollution, degradation of urban ecosystems, changes in the local meteorology, and an increase in thermal pollution into urban water bodies. One mitigation strategy involves manipulating the surface energy budget to either reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed at the surface or offset absorbed energy through latent cooling. Options include using building materials with different properties of reflectivity and emissivity, increasing the reflectivity of parking lots, covering roofs with vegetation, and increasing the amount of vegetation overall through tree planting or increasing green space. The goal of the Islands in the Sun project is to understand the formation and behavior of urban heat islands and to mitigate their effects through sensible city engineering and design practices. As part of this project, we have been characterizing the UHI of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA), a 16,000 square kilometer urban and suburban region located in east central Minnesota that includes the two cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and evaluating mitigation strategies for reducing urban warming. Annually, the TCMA has a modest 2-3°C UHI that is especially apparent in winter when the urban core can be up to 5-6°C warmer than the surrounding countryside. We present an analysis of regional temperature variations from a dense network of sensors located throughout the TCMA. We focus on the diurnal and seasonal

FY1995 comprehensive assessments of measures mitigating heat island phenomena in urban areas; 1995 nendo heat shinku wo riyoshita daikibo reibo system no kaihatsu (daitoshi ni okeru kaki koonka taisaku gijutsu no hyoka shuho)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

The urban heat-island phenomenon is one of the man-made changes of local climate. The objectives of this research are to develop a heat-island model to cover the building scale to mesoscale and to assess the countermeasures to heat- island effects. The analysis of Tokyo by remote-sensing, field observation and estimates of anthropogenically exhausted heat using energy consumption data were conducted. And, techniques to assess the most effective countermeasure against the urban warming were developed. (NEDO)

Estimation of heat rejection based on the air conditioner use time and its mitigation from buildings in Taipei City

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hsieh, Chun-Ming; Aramaki, Toshiya; Hanaki, Keisuke [The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo (Japan). Department of Urban Engineering

2007-09-15

The main work in the research focuses on the analysis and mitigation of the anthropogenic heat discharged from buildings, which is one of the main reasons leading to the heat island effect. The residential and commercial buildings, divided into 10 categories, with HVAC systems were analyzed by the building energy program, EnergyPlus. With the help of GIS, the heat rejection of all the residential and commercial buildings in DaAn Ward of Taipei City were evaluated, in which the spatial data and diurnal variation of the heat rejection were described by 3-h time periods. Furthermore, the effect of mitigation strategies was discussed. The first strategy was to change the wall/roof material of building envelope. The second and third strategies, from the viewpoint of energy saving, were to change the temperature setting of air conditioners and to turn off the lighting and equipment when not in use. The fourth strategy was to use a better efficiency of the cooling systems. Finally, the evaluation of installing the water-cooled cooling system, which discharges heat in the form of sensible and latent heat, was also included. (author)

Urban Heat Island and Park Cool Island Intensities in the Coastal City of Aracaju, North-Eastern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Anjos

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, an evaluation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI and Park Cool Island (PCI intensities in Aracaju, North-Eastern Brazil, was performed. The basis of our evaluation is a 2-year dataset from the urban climatological network installed with the principles and concepts defined for urban areas related to climatic scales, sitting and exposure, urban morphology, and metadata. The current findings update UHI intensities in Aracaju refuting the trend registered in previous studies. On average, the UHI was more intense in the cool season (1.3 °C than in hot season (0.5 °C, which was caused by wind speed decrease. In relation to the PCI, mitigation of high air temperatures of 1.5–2 °C on average was registered in the city. However, the urban park is not always cooler than the surrounding built environment. Consistent long-term monitoring in the cities is very important to provide more accurate climatic information about the UHI and PCI to be applied in urban planning properly, e.g., to provide pleasant thermal comfort in urban spaces.

Urban Heat Island Effect Actions - Neighborhood Data

Data.gov (United States)

Louisville Metro Government — The urban heat island effect — defined as the difference in temperature between the core of Louisville and its suburbs — contributes to heat-related illnesses and...

Dominant control of agriculture and irrigation on urban heat island in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Rahul; Mishra, Vimal; Buzan, Jonathan; Kumar, Rohini; Shindell, Drew; Huber, Matthew

2017-10-25

As is true in many regions, India experiences surface Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect that is well understood, but the causes of the more recently discovered Urban Cool Island (UCI) effect remain poorly constrained. This raises questions about our fundamental understanding of the drivers of rural-urban environmental gradients and hinders development of effective strategies for mitigation and adaptation to projected heat stress increases in rapidly urbanizing India. Here we show that more than 60% of Indian urban areas are observed to experience a day-time UCI. We use satellite observations and the Community Land Model (CLM) to identify the impact of irrigation and prove for the first time that UCI is caused by lack of vegetation and moisture in non-urban areas relative to cities. In contrast, urban areas in extensively irrigated landscapes generally experience the expected positive UHI effect. At night, UHI warming intensifies, occurring across a majority (90%) of India's urban areas. The magnitude of rural-urban temperature contrasts is largely controlled by agriculture and moisture availability from irrigation, but further analysis of model results indicate an important role for atmospheric aerosols. Thus both land-use decisions and aerosols are important factors governing, modulating, and even reversing the expected urban-rural temperature gradients.

Efficiency of parks in mitigating urban heat island effect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feyisa, Gudina Legese; Dons, Klaus; Meilby, Henrik

2014-01-01

Urban green infrastructure can to a certain extent mitigate urban warming. However, the cooling effect of plants varies with space, time and plant-specific properties. To contribute to our understanding of the cooling effect of vegetation on urban surface and air temperature, 21 parks in Addis...... and spatial design of green spaces in cooling the environment....

Reduced Urban Heat Island intensity under warmer conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Anna A.; Waugh, Darryn W.; Zaitchik, Ben F.

2018-06-01

The Urban Heat Island (UHI), the tendency for urban areas to be hotter than rural regions, represents a significant health concern in summer as urban populations are exposed to elevated temperatures. A number of studies suggest that the UHI increases during warmer conditions, however there has been no investigation of this for a large ensemble of cities. Here we compare urban and rural temperatures in 54 US cities for 2000–2015 and show that the intensity of the Urban Heat Island, measured here as the differences in daily-minimum or daily-maximum temperatures between urban and rural stations or ΔT, in fact tends to decrease with increasing temperature in most cities (38/54). This holds when investigating daily variability, heat extremes, and variability across climate zones and is primarily driven by changes in rural areas. We relate this change to large-scale or synoptic weather conditions, and find that the lowest ΔT nights occur during moist weather conditions. We also find that warming cities have not experienced an increasing Urban Heat Island effect.

Urban heat island research from 1991 to 2015: a bibliometric analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Qunfang; Lu, Yuqi

2018-02-01

A bibliometric analysis based on the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-Expanded) database from the Web of Science was performed to review urban heat island (UHI) research from 1991 to 2015 and statistically assess its developments, trends, and directions. In total, 1822 papers published in 352 journals over the past 25 years were analyzed for scientific output; citations; subject categories; major journals; outstanding keywords; and leading countries, institutions, authors, and research collaborations. The number of UHI-related publications has continuously increased since 1991. Meteorology atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, and construction building technology were the three most frequent subject categories. Building and Environment, International Journal of Climatology, and Theoretical and Applied Climatology were the three most popular publishing journals. The USA and China were the two leading countries in UHI research, contributing 49.56% of the total articles. Chinese Academy of Science, Arizona State University, and China Meteorological Administration published the most UHI articles. Weng QH and Santamouris M were the two most prolific authors. Author keywords were classified into four major groups: (1) research methods and indicators, e.g., remote sensing, field measurement, and models; (2) generation factors, e.g., impervious urban surfaces, urban geometry, waste heat, vegetation, and pollutants; (3) environmental effects, e.g., urban climate, heat wave, ecology, and pollution; and (4) mitigation and adaption strategies, e.g., roof technology cooling, reflective cooling, vegetation cooling, and urban geometry cooling. A comparative analysis of popular issues revealed that UHI determination (intensity, heat source, supporting techniques) remains the central topic, whereas UHI impacts and mitigation strategies are becoming the popular issues that will receive increasing scientific attention in the future. Modeling will continue to be the

Coupling Analysis of Heat Island Effects, Vegetation Coverage and Urban Flood in Wuhan

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y.; Liu, Q.; Fan, W.; Wang, G.

2018-04-01

In this paper, satellite image, remote sensing technique and geographic information system technique are main technical bases. Spectral and other factors comprehensive analysis and visual interpretation are main methods. We use GF-1 and Landsat8 remote sensing satellite image of Wuhan as data source, and from which we extract vegetation distribution, urban heat island relative intensity distribution map and urban flood submergence range. Based on the extracted information, through spatial analysis and regression analysis, we find correlations among heat island effect, vegetation coverage and urban flood. The results show that there is a high degree of overlap between of urban heat island and urban flood. The area of urban heat island has buildings with little vegetation cover, which may be one of the reasons for the local heavy rainstorms. Furthermore, the urban heat island has a negative correlation with vegetation coverage, and the heat island effect can be alleviated by the vegetation to a certain extent. So it is easy to understand that the new industrial zones and commercial areas which under constructions distribute in the city, these land surfaces becoming bare or have low vegetation coverage, can form new heat islands easily.

Satellite air temperature estimation for monitoring the canopy layer heat island of Milan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pichierri, Manuele; Bonafoni, Stefania; Biondi, Riccardo

2012-01-01

across the city center from June to September confirming that, in Milan, urban heating is not an occasional phenomenon. Furthermore, this study shows the utility of space missions to monitor the metropolis heat islands if they are able to provide nighttime observations when CLHI peaks are generally......In this work, satellite maps of the urban heat island of Milan are produced using satellite-based infrared sensor data. For this aim, we developed suitable algorithms employing satellite brightness temperatures for the direct air temperature estimation 2 m above the surface (canopy layer), showing...... 2007 and 2010 were processed. Analysis of the canopy layer heat island (CLHI) maps during summer months reveals an average heat island effect of 3–4K during nighttime (with some peaks around 5K) and a weak CLHI intensity during daytime. In addition, the satellite maps reveal a well defined island shape...

The urban heat island and its impact on heat waves and human health in Shanghai.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jianguo; Zheng, Youfei; Tang, Xu; Guo, Changyi; Li, Liping; Song, Guixiang; Zhen, Xinrong; Yuan, Dong; Kalkstein, Adam J; Li, Furong

2010-01-01

With global warming forecast to continue into the foreseeable future, heat waves are very likely to increase in both frequency and intensity. In urban regions, these future heat waves will be exacerbated by the urban heat island effect, and will have the potential to negatively influence the health and welfare of urban residents. In order to investigate the health effects of the urban heat island (UHI) in Shanghai, China, 30 years of meteorological records (1975-2004) were examined for 11 first- and second-order weather stations in and around Shanghai. Additionally, automatic weather observation data recorded in recent years as well as daily all-cause summer mortality counts in 11 urban, suburban, and exurban regions (1998-2004) in Shanghai have been used. The results show that different sites (city center or surroundings) have experienced different degrees of warming as a result of increasing urbanization. In turn, this has resulted in a more extensive urban heat island effect, causing additional hot days and heat waves in urban regions compared to rural locales. An examination of summer mortality rates in and around Shanghai yields heightened heat-related mortality in urban regions, and we conclude that the UHI is directly responsible, acting to worsen the adverse health effects from exposure to extreme thermal conditions.

Wintertime urban heat island modified by global climate change over Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Hara, M.

2015-12-01

Urban thermal environment change, especially, surface air temperature (SAT) rise in metropolitan areas, is one of the major recent issues in urban areas. The urban thermal environmental change affects not only human health such as heat stroke, but also increasing infectious disease due to spreading out virus vectors habitat and increase of industry and house energy consumption. The SAT rise is mostly caused by global climate change and urban heat island (hereafter UHI) by urbanization. The population in Tokyo metropolitan area is over 30 millions and the Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the biggest megacities in the world. The temperature rise due to urbanization seems comparable to the global climate change in the major megacities. It is important to project how the urbanization and the global climate change affect to the future change of urban thermal environment to plan the adaptation and mitigation policy. To predict future SAT change in urban scale, we should estimate future UHI modified by the global climate change. This study investigates change in UHI intensity (UHII) of major metropolitan areas in Japan by effects of the global climate change. We performed a series of climate simulations. Present climate simulations with and without urban process are conducted for ten seasons using a high-resolution numerical climate model, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Future climate projections with and without urban process are also conducted. The future projections are performed using the pseudo global warming method, assuming 2050s' initial and boundary conditions estimated by a GCM under the RCP scenario. Simulation results indicated that UHII would be enhanced more than 30% in Tokyo during the night due to the global climate change. The enhancement of urban heat island is mostly caused by change of lower atmospheric stability.

The impact of heat waves on surface urban heat island and local economy in Cluj-Napoca city, Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Herbel, Ioana; Croitoru, Adina-Eliza; Rus, Adina Viorica; Roşca, Cristina Florina; Harpa, Gabriela Victoria; Ciupertea, Antoniu-Flavius; Rus, Ionuţ

2017-07-01

The association between heat waves and the urban heat island effect can increase the impact on environment and society inducing biophysical hazards. Heat stress and their associated public health problems are among the most frequent. This paper explores the heat waves impact on surface urban heat island and on the local economy loss during three heat periods in Cluj-Napoca city in the summer of 2015. The heat wave events were identified based on daily maximum temperature, and they were divided into three classes considering the intensity threshold: moderate heat waves (daily maximum temperature exceeding the 90th percentile), severe heat waves (daily maximum temperature over the 95th percentile), and extremely severe heat waves (daily maximum temperature exceeding the 98th percentile). The minimum length of an event was of minimum three consecutive days. The surface urban heat island was detected based on land surface temperature derived from Landsat 8 thermal infrared data, while the economic impact was estimated based on data on work force structure and work productivity in Cluj-Napoca derived from the data released by Eurostat, National Bank of Romania, and National Institute of Statistics. The results indicate that the intensity and spatial extension of surface urban heat island could be governed by the magnitude of the heat wave event, but due to the low number of satellite images available, we should consider this information only as preliminary results. Thermal infrared remote sensing has proven to be a very efficient method to study surface urban heat island, due to the fact that the synoptic conditions associated with heat wave events usually favor cloud free image. The resolution of the OLI_TIRS sensor provided good results for a mid-extension city, but the low revisiting time is still a drawback. The potential economic loss was calculated for the working days during heat waves and the estimated loss reached more than 2.5 mil. EUR for each heat wave day

Positive effects of vegetation: Urban heat island and green roofs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susca, T.; Gaffin, S.R.; Dell'Osso, G.R.

2011-01-01

This paper attempts to evaluate the positive effects of vegetation with a multi-scale approach: an urban and a building scale. Monitoring the urban heat island in four areas of New York City, we have found an average of 2 deg. C difference of temperatures between the most and the least vegetated areas, ascribable to the substitution of vegetation with man-made building materials. At micro-scale, we have assessed the effect of surface albedo on climate through the use of a climatological model. Then, using the CO 2 equivalents as indicators of the impact on climate, we have compared the surface albedo, and the construction, replacement and use phase of a black, a white and a green roof. By our analyses, we found that both the white and the green roofs are less impactive than the black one; with the thermal resistance, the biological activity of plants and the surface albedo playing a crucial role. - Highlights: → The local morphology and the scarcity of vegetation in NYC core determines its UHI. → We introduce the evaluation of the effects of the surface albedo on climate change. → We use it to compare a black roof with a white and a green one. → Surface albedo has a crucial role in the evaluation of the environmental loads of the roofs. → Vegetation has positive effects on both the urban and the building scale. - Vegetation has positive effects both on an urban scale, mitigating the urban heat island effect; and on a building scale, where albedo, thermal insulation and biological activity of plants play a crucial role.

Urban and regional heat island adaptation measures in the Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leyre Echevarria Icaza

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The urban planner´s role should be adapted to the current globalised and overspecialised economic and environmental context, envisioning a balance at the regional scale, apprehending not only new technologies, but also new mapping principles, that allow obtaining multidisciplinary integral overviews since the preliminary stages of the design process. The urban heat Island (UHI is one of the main phenomena affecting the urban climate. In the Netherlands, during the heat wave of 2006, more than 1,000 extra deaths were registered. UHI-related parameters are an example of new elements that should be taken into consideration since the early phases of the design process. Problem statement Thus, the development of urban design guidelines to reduce the heat islands in Dutch cities and regions requires first an overall reflection on the heat island phenomenom (relevance of the large scale assessment, existing tools, instruments and proposal of integrative and catalysing mapping strategies and then a specific assessment of the phenomenom at the selected locations in The Netherlands (testing those principles. Main research question Could the use of satellite imagery help analyse the UHI in the Netherlands and contribute to suggest catalysing mitigation acions actions implementable in the existing urban context of the cities, regions and provinces assessed? Method The development of urban design principles that aim at reaching a physical balance at the regional scale is critical to ensure a reduction of the UHI effect. Landsat and Modis satellite imagery can be analysed and processed using ATCOR 2/3, ENVI 4.7 and GIS, allowing not only a neighbourhood, city and regional scale assessment, but also generating holistic catalysing mapping typologies: game-board, rhizome, layering and drift, which are critical to ensure the integration of all parameters. The scientific inputs need to be combined not only with other disciplines but often also with existing urban

Impact of the urban heat island on residents’ energy consumption: a case study of Qingdao

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Feng; Pang, Huaji; Guo, Wenhui

2018-02-01

This paper examines impact of urban heat island on residents’ energy consumption through comparative analyses of monthly air temperature data observed in Qingdao, Laoshan and Huangdao weather stations. The results show effect of urban heat island is close related with urbanization speed. Recently, effects of urban heat island of Laoshan and Huangdao exceed that of Qingdao, consistent with rapid urbanization in Laoshan and Huangdao. Enhanced effect of urban heat island induces surface air temperature to rise up, further increase electricity energy consumption for air conditioning use in summer and reduce coal consumption for residents heating in winter. Comparing change of residents’ energy consumption in summer and winter, increments in summer are less than reduction in winter. This implicates effect of urban heat island is more obvious in winter than in summer.

A wedge strategy for mitigation of urban warming in future climate scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lei; Lee, Xuhui; Schultz, Natalie M.

2017-07-01

Heat stress is one of the most severe climate threats to human society in a future warmer world. The situation is further exacerbated in urban areas by urban heat islands (UHIs). Because the majority of world's population is projected to live in cities, there is a pressing need to find effective solutions for the heat stress problem. We use a climate model to investigate the effectiveness of various urban heat mitigation strategies: cool roofs, street vegetation, green roofs, and reflective pavement. Our results show that by adopting highly reflective roofs, almost all the cities in the United States and southern Canada are transformed into white oases - cold islands caused by cool roofs at midday, with an average oasis effect of -3.4 K in the summer for the period 2071-2100, which offsets approximately 80 % of the greenhouse gas (GHG) warming projected for the same period under the RCP4.5 scenario. A UHI mitigation wedge consisting of cool roofs, street vegetation, and reflective pavement has the potential to eliminate the daytime UHI plus the GHG warming.

Monitoring of urban heat island over Shenzhen, China using remotely sensed measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weimin; Hong, Liang; Yang, Lijun; He, Lihuan; Dong, Guihua

2016-05-01

In the past three decades, the Shenzhen city, which is located in south of China, has experienced a rapid urbanization process characterized by sharp decrease in farmland and increases in urban area. This rapid urbanization is one of the main causes of many environmental and ecological problems including urban heat island (UHI). Therefore, the monitoring of rapid urbanization regions and the environment is of critical importance for their sustainable development. In this study, Landsat-8 OLI and TIR images, which were acquired on 2013, are used to monitor urban heat island. After radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction with a simplified method for the atmospheric correction (SMAC) are applied to OLI image, an index-based build-up index (IBI), which is based on the soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), the modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), is employed to extract the build-up land features with a given thresholds. A single-channel algorithm is used to retrieve land surface temperature while the land surface emissivity is derived from a normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) thresholds method. Surface urban heat island index (SUHII) and urban heat island ratio index (URI) are computed for ten districts of Shenzhen based on build-up land distribution and land surface temperature data. A correlation analysis is conducted between heat island index (including SUHII and URI) and socio-economic statistics (including total population and population density) also are included in this analysis. The results show that, a weak relationship between urban heat island and socio-economic statistics are found.

Linking potential heat source and sink to urban heat island: Heterogeneous effects of landscape pattern on land surface temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weifeng; Cao, Qiwen; Lang, Kun; Wu, Jiansheng

2017-05-15

Rapid urbanization has significantly contributed to the development of urban heat island (UHI). Regulating landscape composition and configuration would help mitigate the UHI in megacities. Taking Shenzhen, China, as a case study area, we defined heat source and heat sink and identified strong and weak sources as well as strong and weak sinks according to the natural and socioeconomic factors influencing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, the potential thermal contributions of heat source and heat sink patches were differentiated. Then, the heterogeneous effects of landscape pattern on LST were examined by using semiparametric geographically weighted regression (SGWR) models. The results showed that landscape composition has more significant effects on thermal environment than configuration. For a strong source, the percentage of patches has a positive impact on LST. Additionally, when mosaicked with some heat sink, even a small improvement in the degree of dispersion of a strong source helps to alleviate UHI. For a weak source, the percentage and density of patches have positive impacts on LST. For a strong sink, the percentage, density, and degree of aggregation of patches have negative impacts on LST. The effects of edge density and patch shape complexity vary spatially with the fragmentation of a strong sink. Similarly, the impacts of a weak sink are mainly exerted via the characteristics of percent, density, and shape complexity of patches. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Natural Ventilation: A Mitigation Strategy to Reduce Overheating In Buildings under Urban Heat Island Effect in South American Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Palme, Massimo; Carrasco, Claudio; Ángel Gálvez, Miguel; Inostroza, Luis

2017-10-01

Urban heat island effect often produces an increase of overheating sensation inside of buildings. To evacuate this heat, the current use of air conditioning increases the energy consumption of buildings. As a good alternative, natural ventilation is one of the best strategies to obtain indoor comfort conditions, even in summer season, if buildings and urban designs are appropriated. In this work, the overheating risk of a small house is evaluated in four South American cities: Guayaquil, Lima, Antofagasta and Valparaíso, with and without considering the UHI effect. Then, natural ventilation is assessed in order to understand the capability of this passive strategy to assure comfort inside the house. Results show that an important portion of the indoor heat can be evacuated, however the temperature rising (especially during the night) due to UHI can generate a saturation effect if appropriate technical solutions, like the increase in the air speed that can be obtained with good urban design, are not considered.

Heat transport in the quasi-single-helicity islands of EXTRAP T2R

Science.gov (United States)

Frassinetti, L.; Brunsell, P. R.; Drake, J.

2009-03-01

The heat transport inside the magnetic island generated in a quasi-single-helicity regime of a reversed-field pinch device is studied by using a numerical code that simulates the electron temperature and the soft x-ray emissivity. The heat diffusivity χe inside the island is determined by matching the simulated signals with the experimental ones. Inside the island, χe turns out to be from one to two orders of magnitude lower than the diffusivity in the surrounding plasma, where the magnetic field is stochastic. Furthermore, the heat transport properties inside the island are studied in correlation with the plasma current and with the amplitude of the magnetic fluctuations.

Can Aerosol Offset Urban Heat Island Effect?

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, M. S.; Shepherd, J. M.

2009-12-01

The Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) refers to urban skin or air temperature exceeding the temperatures in surrounding non-urban regions. In a warming climate, the UHI may intensify extreme heat waves and consequently cause significant health and energy problems. Aerosols reduce surface insolation via the direct effect, namely, scattering and absorbing sunlight in the atmosphere. Combining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) observations over large cities together with Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) simulations, we find that the aerosol direct reduction of surface insolation range from 40-100 Wm-2, depending on seasonality and aerosol loads. As a result, surface skin temperature can be reduced by 1-2C while 2-m surface air temperature by 0.5-1C. This study suggests that the aerosol direct effect is a competing mechanism for the urban heat island effect (UHI). More importantly, both aerosol and urban land cover effects must be adequately represented in meteorological and climate modeling systems in order to properly characterize urban surface energy budgets and UHI.

Analytical approach for evaluating temperature field of thermal modified asphalt pavement and urban heat island effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Jiaqi; Wang, Hao; Zhu, Hongzhou

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Derive an analytical approach to predict temperature fields of multi-layered asphalt pavement based on Green’s function. • Analyze the effects of thermal modifications on heat output from pavement to near-surface environment. • Evaluate pavement solutions for reducing urban heat island (UHI) effect. - Abstract: This paper aims to present an analytical approach to predict temperature fields in asphalt pavement and evaluate the effects of thermal modification on near-surface environment for urban heat island (UHI) effect. The analytical solution of temperature fields in the multi-layered pavement structure was derived with the Green’s function method, using climatic factors including solar radiation, wind velocity, and air temperature as input parameters. The temperature solutions were validated with an outdoor field experiment. By using the proposed analytical solution, temperature fields in the pavement with different pavement surface albedo, thermal conductivity, and layer combinations were analyzed. Heat output from pavement surface to the near-surface environment was studied as an indicator of pavement contribution to UHI effect. The analysis results show that increasing pavement surface albedo could decrease pavement temperature at various depths, and increase heat output intensity in the daytime but decrease heat output intensity in the nighttime. Using reflective pavement to mitigate UHI may be effective for an open street but become ineffective for the street surrounded by high buildings. On the other hand, high-conductivity pavement could alleviate the UHI effect in the daytime for both the open street and the street surrounded by high buildings. Among different combinations of thermal-modified asphalt mixtures, the layer combination of high-conductivity surface course and base course could reduce the maximum heat output intensity and alleviate the UHI effect most.

Future Reef Growth Can Mitigate Physical Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on Atoll Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Beetham, Edward; Kench, Paul S.; Popinet, Stéphane

2017-10-01

We present new detail on how future sea-level rise (SLR) will modify nonlinear wave transformation processes, shoreline wave energy, and wave driven flooding on atoll islands. Frequent and destructive wave inundation is a primary climate-change hazard that may render atoll islands uninhabitable in the near future. However, limited research has examined the physical vulnerability of atoll islands to future SLR and sparse information are available to implement process-based coastal management on coral reef environments. We utilize a field-verified numerical model capable of resolving all nonlinear wave transformation processes to simulate how future SLR will modify wave dissipation and overtopping on Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu, accounting for static and accretionary reef adjustment morphologies. Results show that future SLR coupled with a static reef morphology will not only increase shoreline wave energy and overtopping but will fundamentally alter the spectral composition of shoreline energy by decreasing the contemporary influence of low-frequency infragravity waves. "Business-as-usual" emissions (RCP 8.5) will result in annual wave overtopping on Funafuti Atoll by 2030, with overtopping at high tide under mean wave conditions occurring from 2090. Comparatively, vertical reef accretion in response to SLR will prevent any significant increase in shoreline wave energy and mitigate wave driven flooding volume by 72%. Our results provide the first quantitative assessment of how effective future reef accretion can be at mitigating SLR-associated flooding on atoll islands and endorse active reef conservation and restoration for future coastal protection.

Pre-heating mitigates composite degradation.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Jessika Calixto da; Rogério Vieira, Reges; Rege, Inara Carneiro Costa; Cruz, Carlos Alberto dos Santos; Vaz, Luís Geraldo; Estrela, Carlos; Castro, Fabrício Luscino Alves de

2015-01-01

Dental composites cured at high temperatures show improved properties and higher degrees of conversion; however, there is no information available about the effect of pre-heating on material degradation. Objectives This study evaluated the effect of pre-heating on the degradation of composites, based on the analysis of radiopacity and silver penetration using scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Material and Methods Thirty specimens were fabricated using a metallic matrix (2x8 mm) and the composites Durafill VS (Heraeus Kulzer), Z-250 (3M/ESPE), and Z-350 (3M/ESPE), cured at 25°C (no pre-heating) or 60°C (pre-heating). Specimens were stored sequentially in the following solutions: 1) water for 7 days (60°C), plus 0.1 N sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for 14 days (60°C); 2) 50% silver nitrate (AgNO3) for 10 days (60°C). Specimens were radiographed at baseline and after each storage time, and the images were evaluated in gray scale. After the storage protocol, samples were analyzed using SEM/EDS to check the depth of silver penetration. Radiopacity and silver penetration data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's tests (α=5%). Results Radiopacity levels were as follows: Durafill VSZ-350>Z-250 (pheated specimens presented higher radiopacity values than non-pre-heated specimens (pheated specimens (pheating at 60°C mitigated the degradation of composites based on analysis of radiopacity and silver penetration depth.

Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect represents the relatively higher temperatures found in urban areas compared to surrounding rural areas owing to higher proportions...

The urban heat island dynamics during heat waves: a study of cities in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Leiqiu

2016-04-01

The urban heat island (UHI) is a common phenomenon describing that metropolitan areas are usually warmer than their rural surroundings. This effect is compounded by extreme heat events, which are a leading cause of weather-related human mortality in many countries worldwide. However, the spatial and diurnal variability of temperature and humidity in urban and adjacent rural areas during extreme heat events is not well measured and therefore not well understood. The recently developed dataset of near-surface air and dew temperature from MODIS atmospheric profiles and the new method for the UHI quantification--urban heat island curve are used to quantify the urban climatic changes during heat waves in cities of the United States. The enhanced and weakened UHIs are observed in various cities. The causes of UHI changes during heat waves are discussed, including climate region, vegetation type and amount, city geolocation, etc.

Cool city as a sustainable example of heat island management case study of the coolest city in the world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reeman Mohammed Rehan

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Urbanization negatively impacts the urban environment mainly by the production of waste heat from refrigeration systems, although industrial processes and motorized vehicular traffic have also been recognized as additional causes of the urban heat island (UHI effect. The UHI negatively impacts the residents, with spillover effects for environmental aspects. In urbanized areas, it is a critical factor for air quality management and public health. The UHI and strategies to implement its mitigation are becoming increasingly important for governmental agencies and researchers. The problem is how to deal with UHI effects? Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to determine the UHI mitigation strategies and their effectiveness in terms of cooling and temperature reduction in cities at the level of urban design. This goal is achieved through exploring the concept of the cool city, as it is the key factor, from the theoretical, analytical, and practical viewpoints, to diminishing the urban heat release. Then, the paper analyzes how the concept of the coolest city in the world (Stuttgart, Germany is developed and explores a practical approach toward cool cities. Finally, it suggests a set of recommendations to develop the urban environment in Greater Cairo by applying the cool city concept.

A wedge strategy for mitigation of urban warming in future climate scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Zhao

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Heat stress is one of the most severe climate threats to human society in a future warmer world. The situation is further exacerbated in urban areas by urban heat islands (UHIs. Because the majority of world's population is projected to live in cities, there is a pressing need to find effective solutions for the heat stress problem. We use a climate model to investigate the effectiveness of various urban heat mitigation strategies: cool roofs, street vegetation, green roofs, and reflective pavement. Our results show that by adopting highly reflective roofs, almost all the cities in the United States and southern Canada are transformed into white oases – cold islands caused by cool roofs at midday, with an average oasis effect of −3.4 K in the summer for the period 2071–2100, which offsets approximately 80 % of the greenhouse gas (GHG warming projected for the same period under the RCP4.5 scenario. A UHI mitigation wedge consisting of cool roofs, street vegetation, and reflective pavement has the potential to eliminate the daytime UHI plus the GHG warming.

ANALYSIS OF THE INTRA-CITY VARIATION OF URBAN HEAT ISLAND AND ITS RELATION TO LAND SURFACE/COVER PARAMETERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Gerçek

2016-06-01

envelope, distance to sea, and traffic space density. These parameters that cause variation in intra-city temperatures were evaluated for their relationship with different grades of UHIs. Zonal statistics of UHI classes and variations in average value of parameters were interpreted. The outcomes that highlight local temperature peaks are proposed to the attention of the decision makers for mitigation of Urban Heat Island effect in the city at local and neighbourhood scale.

Analysis of the Intra-City Variation of Urban Heat Island and its Relation to Land Surface/cover Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Gerçek, D.; Güven, İ. T.; Oktay, İ. Ç.

2016-06-01

, distance to sea, and traffic space density. These parameters that cause variation in intra-city temperatures were evaluated for their relationship with different grades of UHIs. Zonal statistics of UHI classes and variations in average value of parameters were interpreted. The outcomes that highlight local temperature peaks are proposed to the attention of the decision makers for mitigation of Urban Heat Island effect in the city at local and neighbourhood scale.

Influence of the adhesion force crystal/heat exchanger surface on fouling mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forster, M.; Augustin, W.; Bohnet, M.

1999-01-01

The accumulation of unwanted crystalline deposits (fouling) reduces the efficiency of heat exchangers considerably. In order to decrease the cost of fouling two strategies have been developed. The first fouling mitigation strategy is based on the modification of energy-and-geometry-related characteristics of the heat transfer surface to realize an increased duration of the induction period. By means of a drop-shape-analysis measurement device the interaction at the interface crystal/heat transfer surface is determined. The deployment of the fracture energy model and the interfacial defect model relates wetting characteristics to the adhesion phenomenon. Hence, a first estimation of the optimal choice of surface material is realized. Furthermore, the influence of surface topography on interfacial interactions has been analyzed. The second fouling mitigation strategy is based on the adjustment of the hydrodynamic flow conditions using a pulsation technique. Here, single strokes of higher velocity are superimposed on the stationary flow. These strokes shift the equilibrium of forces to an improved removal process. Fouling experiments have proved that pulsation is a powerful tool to mitigate the built-up of fouling layers on heat transfer surfaces. (author)

Initial estimates of anthropogenic heat emissions for the City of Durban

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Padayachi, Yerdashin R

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Cities in South Africa are key hotspots for regional emissions and climate change impacts including the urban heat island effect. Anthropogenic Heat (AH) emission is an important driver of warming in urban areas. The implementation of mitigation...

The Effect of Tree Spacing and Size in Urban Areas: Strategies for Mitigating High Temperature in Urban Heat Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, R.; Shandas, V.; Makido, Y.

2017-12-01

Many cities are unintentionally designed to be heat sinks, which absorb the sun's short-wave radiation and reemit as long-wave radiation. Long time reorganization of this `urban heat island' (UHI) phenomena has led researchers and city planners into developing strategies for reducing ambient temperatures through urban design. Specifically, greening areas have proven to reduce the temperature in UHI's, including strategies such as green streets, green facades, and green roofs have been implemented. Among the scientific community there is promoted study of how myriad greening strategies can reduce temperature, relatively limited work has focused on the distribution, density, and quantity of tree campaigns. This paper examines how the spacing and size of trees reduce temperatures differently. A major focus of the paper is to understand how to lower the temperature through tree planting, and provide recommendations to cities that are attempting to solve their own urban heat island issues. Because different cities have different room for planting greenery, we examined which strategies are more efficient given an area constraint. Areas that have less available room might not be able to plant a high density of trees. We compared the different experimental groups varying in density and size of trees against the control to see the effect the trees had. Through calibration with local weather stations, we used a micrometeorology program (ENVI-Met) to model and simulate the different experimental models and how they affect the temperature. The results suggest that some urban designs can reduce ambient temperatures by over 7 0C, and the inclusion of large form trees have the greatest contribution, by reducing temperatures over 15 0C. The results suggest that using specific strategies that combine placement of specific tree configurations with alternative distribution of urban development patterns can help to solve the current challenges of UHI's, and thereby support management

Stabilization of sawtooty oscillation by island heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, W.; Monticello, D.A.; Chu, T.K.

1986-10-01

Using the compressible resistive MHD equations in a finite aspect ratio cylinder, it is found that the m = 1 mode (the sawtooth oscillation) can saturate when the pressure inside the magnetic island is higher than that of the original core plasma. The saturation condition is of the form Δβ/sub p/ ≥ 8 ε -1 /sub q = 1/ (1 - q 0 ) 2 . This saturation effect can be used to actively stabilize sawteeth by heating the island and/or by cooling the core plasma. This mechanism together with a stabilizing toroidal effect may also explain recent lower-hybrid-wave-driven tokamak experiments where the saturation of sawteeth has been observed

Intensity of Urban Heat Islands in Tropical and Temperate Climates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarete Cristiane de Costa Trindade Amorim

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, most of the Earth’s population lives in urban areas. The replacement of vegetation by buildings and the general soil sealing, associated with human activity, lead to a rise in cities temperature, resulting in the formation of urban heat islands. This article aims to evaluate the intensity and the hourly maintenance of the atmospheric heat islands in two climates: one tropical (Presidente Prudente, Brazil and one temperate (Rennes, France throughout 2016. For this, air temperature and hourly averages were measured and calculated using both a HOBO datalogger (U23-002—protected under the same RS3 brand and weather stations Davis Vantage PRO 2. The daily evolution of the heat islands presented characteristics that varied according to the hours and seasons of the year. For both Rennes and Presidente Prudente, the largest magnitudes occurred overnight, being more greatly expressed in the tropical environment and during the driest months (winter in the tropical city and summer in the temperate one. The variability of synoptic conditions from one month to another also leads to a great heterogeneity of UHI intensity throughout the year.

Spatially Analyzing the Inequity of the Hong Kong Urban Heat Island by Socio-Demographic Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Man Sing Wong

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have suggested that some disadvantaged socio-demographic groups face serious environmental-related inequities in Hong Kong due to the rising ambient urban temperatures. Identifying heat-vulnerable groups and locating areas of Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI inequities is thus important for prioritizing interventions to mitigate death/illness rates from heat. This study addresses this problem by integrating methods of remote sensing retrieval, logistic regression modelling, and spatial autocorrelation. In this process, the SUHI effect was first estimated from the Land Surface Temperature (LST derived from a Landsat image. With the scale assimilated to the SUHI and socio-demographic data, a logistic regression model was consequently adopted to ascertain their relationships based on Hong Kong Tertiary Planning Units (TPUs. Lastly, inequity “hotspots” were derived using spatial autocorrelation methods. Results show that disadvantaged socio-demographic groups were significantly more prone to be exposed to an intense SUHI effect: over half of 287 TPUs characterized by age groups of 60+ years, secondary and matriculation education attainment, widowed, divorced and separated, low and middle incomes, and certain occupation groups of workers, have significant Odds Ratios (ORs larger than 1.2. It can be concluded that a clustering analysis stratified by age, income, educational attainment, marital status, and occupation is an effective way to detect the inequity hotspots of SUHI exposure. Additionally, inequities explored using income, marital status and occupation factors were more significant than the age and educational attainment in these areas. The derived maps and model can be further analyzed in urban/city planning, in order to mitigate the physical and social causes of the SUHI effect.

Impacts of urban growth and heat waves events on the urban heat island in Bucharest city

Science.gov (United States)

Zoran, Maria A.; Savastru, Roxana S.; Savastru, Dan M.; Dida, Adrian I.

2016-10-01

This study investigated the influences of urban growth and heat waves events on Urban Heat Island in relationship with several biophysical variables in Bucharest metropolitan area of Romania through satellite and in-situ monitoring data. Remote sensing data from Landsat TM/ETM+ and time series MODIS Terra/Aqua sensors have been used to assess urban land cover- temperature interactions over period between 2000 and 2016 years. Vegetation abundances and percent impervious surfaces were derived by means of linear spectral mixture model, and a method for effectively enhancing impervious surface has been developed to accurately examine the urban growth. The land surface temperature (Ts), a key parameter for urban thermal characteristics analysis, was also analyzed in relation with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at city level. Based on these parameters, the urban growth, urban heat island effect (UHI) and the relationships of Ts to other biophysical parameters (surface albedo, precipitations, wind intensity and direction) have been analyzed. Results show that in the metropolitan area ratio of impervious surface in Bucharest increased significantly during investigated period, the intensity of urban heat island and heat wave events being most significant. The correlation analyses revealed that, at the pixel-scale, Ts possessed a strong positive correlation with percent impervious surfaces and negative correlation with vegetation abundances at the regional scale, respectively. This analysis provided an integrated research scheme and the findings can be very useful for urban ecosystem modeling.

Avery Island heater tests: measured data for 1000 days of heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Sambeek, L.L.; Stickney, R.G.; DeJong, K.B.

1983-10-01

Three heater tests were conducted in the Avery Island salt mine. The measurements of temperature and displacement, and the calculation of stress in the vicinity of each heater are of primary importance in the understanding of the thermal and thermomechanical response of the salt to an emplaced heat source. This report presents the temperature, displacement, and calculated stress data gathered during the heating phase of the three heater tests. The data presented have application in the ongoing studies of the response of geologicic media to an emplaced heat source. Specifically, electric heaters, which simulate canisters of heat-generating nuclear waste, were placed in the floor of the Avery Island salt mine, and measurements were made of the response of the salt caused by the heating. The purpose of this report is to transmit the data to the scientific community; rigorous analysis and interpretation of the data are considered beyond the scope of this data report. 11 references, 46 figures

An Evidence-Based Review of Impacts, Strategies and Tools to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Leal Filho

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The impacts of climate changes on cities, which are home to over half of the world’s population, are already being felt. In many cases, the intensive speed with which urban centres have been growing means that little attention has been paid to the role played by climatic factors in maintaining quality of life. Among the negative consequences of rapid city growth is the expansion of the problems posed by urban heat islands (UHIs, defined as areas in a city that are much warmer than other sites, especially in comparison with rural areas. This paper analyses the consistency of the UHI-related literature in three stages: first it outlines its characteristics and impacts in a wide variety of cities around the world, which poses pressures to public health in many different countries. Then it introduces strategies which may be employed in order to reduce its effects, and finally it analyses available tools to systematize the initial high level assessment of the phenomenon for multidisciplinary teams involved in the urban planning process. The analysis of literature on the characteristics, impacts, strategies and digital tools to assess on the UHI, reveals the wide variety of parameters, methods, tools and strategies analysed and suggested in the different studies, which does not always allow to compare or standardize the diagnosis or solutions.

An Evidence-Based Review of Impacts, Strategies and Tools to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Leal Filho, Walter; Echevarria Icaza, Leyre; Emanche, Victoria Omeche; Quasem Al-Amin, Abul

2017-01-01

The impacts of climate changes on cities, which are home to over half of the world’s population, are already being felt. In many cases, the intensive speed with which urban centres have been growing means that little attention has been paid to the role played by climatic factors in maintaining quality of life. Among the negative consequences of rapid city growth is the expansion of the problems posed by urban heat islands (UHIs), defined as areas in a city that are much warmer than other sites, especially in comparison with rural areas. This paper analyses the consistency of the UHI-related literature in three stages: first it outlines its characteristics and impacts in a wide variety of cities around the world, which poses pressures to public health in many different countries. Then it introduces strategies which may be employed in order to reduce its effects, and finally it analyses available tools to systematize the initial high level assessment of the phenomenon for multidisciplinary teams involved in the urban planning process. The analysis of literature on the characteristics, impacts, strategies and digital tools to assess on the UHI, reveals the wide variety of parameters, methods, tools and strategies analysed and suggested in the different studies, which does not always allow to compare or standardize the diagnosis or solutions. PMID:29257100

Towards a Proactive Risk Mitigation Strategy at La Fossa Volcano, Vulcano Island

Science.gov (United States)

Biass, S.; Gregg, C. E.; Frischknecht, C.; Falcone, J. L.; Lestuzzi, P.; di Traglia, F.; Rosi, M.; Bonadonna, C.

2014-12-01

A comprehensive risk assessment framework was built to develop proactive risk reduction measures for Vulcano Island, Italy. This framework includes identification of eruption scenarios; probabilistic hazard assessment, quantification of hazard impacts on the built environment, accessibility assessment on the island and risk perception study. Vulcano, a 21 km2 island with two primary communities host to 900 permanent residents and up to 10,000 visitors during summer, shows a strong dependency on the mainland for basic needs (water, energy) and relies on a ~2 month tourism season for its economy. The recent stratigraphy reveals a dominance of vulcanian and subplinian eruptions, producing a range of hazards acting at different time scales. We developed new methods to probabilistically quantify the hazard related to ballistics, lahars and tephra for all eruption styles. We also elaborated field- and GIS- based methods to assess the physical vulnerability of the built environment and created dynamic models of accessibility. Results outline the difference of hazard between short and long-lasting eruptions. A subplinian eruption has a 50% probability of impacting ~30% of the buildings within days after the eruption, but the year-long damage resulting from a long-lasting vulcanian eruption is similar if tephra is not removed from rooftops. Similarly, a subplinian eruption results in a volume of 7x105 m3 of material potentially remobilized into lahars soon after the eruption. Similar volumes are expected for a vulcanian activity over years, increasing the hazard of small lahars. Preferential lahar paths affect critical infrastructures lacking redundancy, such as the road network, communications systems, the island's only gas station, and access to the island's two evacuation ports. Such results from hazard, physical and systemic vulnerability help establish proactive volcanic risk mitigation strategies and may be applicable in other island settings.

TOKES studies of the thermal quench heat load reduction in mitigated ITER disruptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Pestchanyi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Disruption mitigation by massive gas injection (MGI of Ne gas has been simulated using the 3D TOKES code that includes the injectors of the Disruption Mitigation System (DMS as it will be implemented in ITER. The simulations have been done using a quasi-3D approach, which gives an upper limit for the radiation heat load (notwithstanding possible asymmetries in radial heat flux associated with MHD. The heating of the first wall from the radiation flash has been assessed with respect to injection quantity, the number of injectors, and their location for an H-mode ITER discharge with 280MJ of thermal energy. Simulations for the maximum quantity of Ne (8kPam3 have shown that wall melting can be avoided by using solely the three injectors in the upper ports, whereas shallow melting occurred when the midplane injector had been added. With all four injectors, melting had been avoided for a smaller neon quantity of 250Pam3 that provides still a sufficient radiation level for thermal load mitigation.

Evaluation of Air Pollution Tolerance Index of Plants and Ornamental Shrubs in Enugu City: Implications for Urban Heat Island Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The study compared the air pollution tolerance indices (APTI of five plant species and five ornamental shrubs in Enugu Urban Center. Laboratory analysis was performed on the four physiological and biological parameters including leaf relative water content (RWC, ascorbic acid (AA content, total leaf chlorophyll (TCH and leaf extract pH. These parameters were used to develop an air pollution tolerance index. Factor analysis and descriptive statistics were utilized in the analysis to examine the interactions between these parameters. Vegetation monitoring in terms of its APTI acts as a \\'Bioindicator\\' of air pollution. The study also showed the possibility of utilizing APTI as a tool for selecting plants or ornamental shrubs for urban heat Island mitigation in Enugu City. The result of APTI showed order of tolerance for plants as Anacarduim occidentale (23.20, Pinus spp (22.35, Catalpa burgei (22.57, Magifera indica (23.37, and Psidum guajava (24.15.The result of APTI showed increasing order of sensitivity for ornamental shrubs from ixora red (14.32, yellow ficus(12.63, masquerade pine(12.26, Tuja pine(11.000,to Yellow bush(10.60. The APTI of all the plants examined were higher than those of ornamental shrubs. Thus suggesting that plants in general were more tolerant to air pollution than ornamental shrubs. The ornamental shrubs with lower APTI values (sensitive were recommended as bioindicator of poor urban air quality while plants with high APTI values (tolerant are planted around areas anticipated to have high air pollution load. The result of this current study is therefore handy for future planning and as well provides tolerant species for streetscape and urban heat island mitigation.

Strong contributions of local background climate to urban heat islands

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lei; Lee, Xuhui; Smith, Ronald B.; Oleson, Keith

2014-07-01

The urban heat island (UHI), a common phenomenon in which surface temperatures are higher in urban areas than in surrounding rural areas, represents one of the most significant human-induced changes to Earth's surface climate. Even though they are localized hotspots in the landscape, UHIs have a profound impact on the lives of urban residents, who comprise more than half of the world's population. A barrier to UHI mitigation is the lack of quantitative attribution of the various contributions to UHI intensity (expressed as the temperature difference between urban and rural areas, ΔT). A common perception is that reduction in evaporative cooling in urban land is the dominant driver of ΔT (ref. 5). Here we use a climate model to show that, for cities across North America, geographic variations in daytime ΔT are largely explained by variations in the efficiency with which urban and rural areas convect heat to the lower atmosphere. If urban areas are aerodynamically smoother than surrounding rural areas, urban heat dissipation is relatively less efficient and urban warming occurs (and vice versa). This convection effect depends on the local background climate, increasing daytime ΔT by 3.0 +/- 0.3 kelvin (mean and standard error) in humid climates but decreasing ΔT by 1.5 +/- 0.2 kelvin in dry climates. In the humid eastern United States, there is evidence of higher ΔT in drier years. These relationships imply that UHIs will exacerbate heatwave stress on human health in wet climates where high temperature effects are already compounded by high air humidity and in drier years when positive temperature anomalies may be reinforced by a precipitation-temperature feedback. Our results support albedo management as a viable means of reducing ΔT on large scales.

Assessment of Urban Heat Islands in Small- and Mid-Sized Cities in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata dos Santos Cardoso

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Urban heat islands (UHIs in large cities and different climatic regions have been thoroughly studied; however, their effects are becoming a common concern in smaller cities as well. We assessed UHIs in three tropical cities, analyzing how synoptic conditions, urban morphology, and land cover affect the heat island magnitude. Data gathering involved mobile surveys across Paranavaí (Paraná, Rancharia (São Paulo, and Presidente Prudente (São Paulo, Brazil, during summer evenings (December 2013–January 2014. Temperature data collected over five days in each city point to heat islands with magnitudes up to 6 °C, under calm synoptic conditions, whereas summer average UHI magnitudes peak at 3.7 °C. In addition, UHI magnitudes were higher in areas with closely spaced buildings and few or no trees and building materials that are not appropriate for the region’s climate and thermal comfort.

Urban heat islands in the subsurface of German cities

Science.gov (United States)

Menberg, K.; Blum, P.; Zhu, K.; Bayer, P.

2012-04-01

In the subsurface of many cities there are widespread and persistent thermal anomalies (subsurface urban heat islands) that result in a warming of urban aquifers. The reasons for this heating are manifold. Possible heat sources are basements of buildings, leakage of sewage systems, buried district heating networks, re-injection of cooling water and solar irradiation on paved surfaces. In the current study, the reported groundwater temperatures in several German cities, such as Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Karlsruhe, are compared. Available data sets are supplemented by temperature measurements and depth profiles in observation wells. Trend analyses are conducted with time series of groundwater temperatures, and three-dimensional groundwater temperature maps are provided. In all investigated cities, pronounced positive temperature anomalies are present. The distribution of groundwater temperatures appears to be spatially and temporally highly variable. Apparently, the increased heat input into the urban subsurface is controlled by very local and site-specific parameters. In the long-run, the superposition of various heat sources results in an extensive temperature increase. In many cases, the maximum temperature elevation is found close to the city centre. Regional groundwater temperature differences between the city centre and the rural background are up to 5 °C, with local hot spots of even more pronounced anomalies. Particular heat sources, like cooling water injections or case-specific underground constructions, can cause local temperatures > 20°C in the subsurface. Examination of the long-term variations in isotherm maps shows that temperatures have increased by about 1°C in the city, as well as in the rural background areas over the last decades. This increase could be reproduced with trend analysis of temperature data gathered from several groundwater wells. Comparison between groundwater and air temperatures in Karlsruhe, for example, also indicates a

Radon mitigation in schools utilising heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, G.; Ligman, B.; Brennan, T.; Shaughnessy, R.; Turk, B.H.; Snead, B.

1994-01-01

As part of a continuing radon in schools technology development effort, EPA's School Evaluation Team has performed radon mitigation in schools by the method of ventilation/pressurisation control technology. Ventilation rates were increased, at a minimum, to meet the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standard, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality (ASHRAE 62-1989). This paper presents the results and the preliminary evaluations which led to the team's decision to implement this technology. Factors considered include energy penalties, comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), building shell tightness, and equipment costs. Cost benefit of heat recovery ventilation was also considered. Earlier results of the SEP team's efforts have indicated a severe ventilation problem within the schools of the United States. Two case studies are presented where HVAC technology was implemented for controlling radon concentrations. One involved the installation of a heat recovery ventilator to depressurise a crawl space and provide ventilation to the classrooms which previously had no mechanical ventilation. The other involved the restoration of a variable air volume system in a two-storey building. The HVAC system's controls were restored and modified to provide a constant building pressure differential to control the entry of radon. Pre-mitigation and post-mitigation indoor air pollutant measurements were taken, including radon, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), particulates, and bio-aerosols. Long-term monitoring of radon, CO 2 , building pressure differentials, and indoor/outdoor temperature and relative humidity is presented. (author)

Adaptation measures for climate change and the urban heat island in Japan's built environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimoda, Y.

2003-01-01

Climate change scenarios are discussed for Japan with clear implications drawn for the built environment in terms of increased temperatures of 4-5 o C, rising sea levels and subterranean water tables. Research on the impacts and adaptation measures for global warming in Japan is reviewed. One of the most significant impacts of climate change in Japan will exacerbate the existing heat island phenomenon in cities by absorbing increased solar radiation. This will lead to further increases in temperatures in an urban microclimate with negative implications for energy and water consumption, human health and discomfort, and local ecosystems. The current urban heat island phenomenon and its impacts are described. The relationships between climate change and urban heat island impacts are discussed. Potential adaptation measures to those impacts are also discussed and proposed. (author)

Existing climate data sources and Their Use in Heat IslandResearch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Pon, Brian; Smith, Craig Kenton; Stamper-Kurn, Dan Moses

1998-10-01

Existing climate data sources can be used in two general types of analysis for the detection of urban heat islands. Historical analyses use long-term data records-preferentially from several locations in and around an urban area-to trace the gradual influence of urban development on its climate. Primary sources of such data include the cooperative network, first-order National Weather Service stations, and military weather stations. Analyses of short-term data use information from a dense urban weather station network to discern the location, extent, and magnitude of urban heat islands. Such analyses may use the aforementioned national networks or regional networks such as agricultural, air quality monitoring, or utility networks. We demonstrate the use of existing data sources with a historical analysis of temperature trends in Los Angeles, California, and an analysis of short-term data of the urban temperature profile for Phoenix, Arizona. The Los Angeles climate was examined with eleven long-term data records from the cooperative network. Statistically significant trends of rising temperature were detected at Los Angeles Civic Center and other stations over some parts of the year, although timing of the increase varied from station to station. Observed increases in temperatures maybe due to long-term climate changes, microclimate influences, or local-scale heat islands. The analysis of short-term data was made for Phoenix using the PRISMS station network. Mean diurnal temperature profiles for a month were examined and compared with those for adjacent rural areas. Data fi-om stations in the center of Phoenix showed clear and significant nighttime and daytime temperature differences of 1- 2K (3 - 4"F). These temperature increases maybe attributable to a local-scale heat island.

Heat in the city. An inventory of knowledge and knowledge deficiencies regarding heat stress in Dutch cities and options for its mitigation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salcedo Rahola, B.; Mulder, K. [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Van Oppen, P. [Stichting Bouwresearch SBR, Rotterdam (Netherlands)

2009-03-15

This report gives an overview of heat stress problems in urban areas of the Netherlands and various options for mitigating this stress. Climate change is causing more occurrences of heat waves. Urban areas in particular will suffer the most, as they are warmer than the countryside. What is known about the magnitude of heat stress in Dutch urban areas? What are the consequences? What research is needed to clarify its effects? Which options in particular could do with further study in order to prevent fatalities, maintain comfort levels and avoid increases in energy consumption for summer cooling? This report aims at identifying: the foreseeable problems of urban heat in the Netherlands; the specifics (geographic, cultural, economic, technological) that apply to the Netherlands; the most promising options for mitigating urban heat; and the priorities for further research.

Mitigation of urban heat stress – a modelling case study for the area of Stuttgart

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fallmann, Joachim

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In 2050 the fraction of urban global population will increase to over 69%, which means that around 6.3 billion people are expected to live in urban areas (UN 2011. Cities are the predominant habitation places for humans to live and are vulnerable to extreme weather events aggravating phenomena like heat stress. Finding mitigation strategies to sustain future development is of great importance, given expected influences on human health. In this study, the mesoscale numerical model WRF is used on a regional scale for the urban area of Stuttgart, to simulate the effect of urban planning strategies on dynamical processes affecting urban climate. After comparing two urban parameterisation schemes, a sensitivity study for different scenarios is performed; it shows that a change of the reflective properties of surfaces has the highest impact on near-surface temperatures compared to an increase of urban green areas or a decrease of building density. The Urban Heat Island (UHI describes the temperature difference between urban and rural temperatures; it characterises regional urban climate and is responsible for urban-rural circulation patterns. Applying urban planning measures may decrease the intensity of the UHI in the study area by up to 2 °C by using heat-reflective roof paints or by 1 °C through replacing impervious surfaces by natural vegetation in the urban vicinity – compared to a value of 2.5 °C for the base case. Because of its topographical location in a valley and the overall high temperatures in this region, the area of Stuttgart suffers from heat stress to a comparatively large extent.

Urban Heat Island Versus Air Quality - a Numerical Modelling Study for a European City

Science.gov (United States)

Fallmann, J.; Forkel, R.; Emeis, S.

2014-12-01

In 2050 70% of the global population is expected to live in urban areas. Climate change will render these areas more vulnerable to heat waves, which often are accompanied by severe air pollution problems. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a feature that adds to the general temperature increase that is expected. Decreasing the UHI can impact air quality as well, because heat influences atmospheric dynamics and accelerates air chemical processes and often also increases the emission of primary pollutants due to increased demand of energy. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of, e.g., high reflective surfaces and urban greening on mitigating the UHI and the related impact on air quality. A multi-layer urban canopy model is coupled to the mesoscale model WRF-Chem and the urban area of Stuttgart (South-West Germany) is taken as one example. Different scenario runs are executed for short time periods and are compared to a control run. The results show that the UHI effect can be substantially reduced when changing the albedo of roof surfaces, whereas the effect of urban greening is minor. Both scenarios have in common, that they evoke changes in secondary circulation patterns. The effects of these mitigation strategies on chemical composition of the urban atmosphere are complex, attributed to both chemical and dynamical features. Increasing the reflectivity of roof surfaces in the model results in a net decrease of the surface ozone concentration, because ozone formation is highly correlated to temperature. With regard to primary pollutants, e.g. NO, CO and PM10 concentrations are increased when increasing reflectivity. This effect primarily can be ascribed to a reduction of turbulent motion, convection and a decrease of the boundary layer height, coming along with lower temperatures in the urban canopy layer due to increased reflectivity. The table below shows the effect on grid cell mean concentrations for different chemical species and scenarios.

Monitoring the effects of land use/landcover changes on urban heat island

Science.gov (United States)

Gee, Ong K.; Sarker, Md Latifur Rahman

2013-10-01

Urban heat island effects are well known nowadays and observed in cities throughout the World. The main reason behind the effects of urban heat island (UHI) is the transformation of land use/ land cover, and this transformation is associated with UHI through different actions: i) removal of vegetated areas, ii) land reclamation from sea/river, iii) construction of new building as well as other concrete structures, and iv) industrial and domestic activity. In rapidly developing cities, urban heat island effects increases very hastily with the transformation of vegetated/ other types of areas into urban surface because of the increasing population as well as for economical activities. In this research the effect of land use/ land cover on urban heat island was investigated in two growing cities in Asia i.e. Singapore and Johor Bahru, (Malaysia) using 10 years data (from 1997 to 2010) from Landsat TM/ETM+. Multispectral visible band along with indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Build Index (NDBI), and Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI) were used for the classification of major land use/land cover types using Maximum Likelihood Classifiers. On the other hand, land surface temperature (LST) was estimated from thermal image using Land Surface Temperature algorithm. Emissivity correction was applied to the LST map using the emissivity values from the major land use/ land cover types, and validation of the UHI map was carried out using in situ data. Results of this research indicate that there is a strong relationship between the land use/land cover changes and UHI. Over this 10 years period, significant percentage of non-urban surface was decreased but urban heat surface was increased because of the rapid urbanization. With the increase of UHI effect it is expected that local urban climate has been modified and some heat related health problem has been exposed, so appropriate measure should be taken in order to

Diffusive heat transport across magnetic islands and stochastic layers in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoelzl, Matthias

2010-01-01

Heat transport in tokamak plasmas with magnetic islands and ergodic field lines was simulated at realistic plasma parameters in realistic tokamak geometries. This requires the treatment of anisotropic heat diffusion, which is more efficient along magnetic field lines by up to ten orders of magnitude than perpendicular to them. Comparisons with analytical predictions and experimental measurements allow to determine the stability properties of neoclassical tearing modes as well as the experimental heat diffusion anisotropy.

Water conservation benefits of urban heat mitigation: can cooling strategies reduce water consumption in California?

Science.gov (United States)

Vahmani, P.; Jones, A. D.

2017-12-01

Urban areas are at the forefront of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts given their high concentration of people, industry, and infrastructure. Many cities globally are seeking strategies to counter the consequences of both a hotter and drier climate. While urban heat mitigation strategies have been shown to have beneficial effects on health, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, their implications for water conservation have not been widely examined. Here we show that broad implementation of cool roofs, an urban heat mitigation strategy, not only results in significant cooling of air temperature, but also meaningfully decreases outdoor water consumption by reducing evaporative and irrigation water demands. Based on a suite of satellite-supported, multiyear regional climate simulations, we find that cool roof adoption has the potential to reduce outdoor water consumption across the major metropolitan areas in California by up to 9%. Irrigation water savings per capita, induced by cool roofs, range from 1.8 to 15.4 gallons per day across 18 counties examined. Total water savings in Los Angeles county alone is about 83 million gallons per day. While this effect is robust across the 15 years examined (2001-2015), including both drought and non-drought years, we find that cool roofs are most effective during the hottest days of the year, indicating that they could play an even greater role in reducing outdoor water use in a hotter future climate. We further show that this synergistic relationship between heat mitigation and water conservation is asymmetrical - policies that encourage direct reductions in irrigation water use can lead to substantial regional warming, potentially conflicting with heat mitigation efforts designed to counter the effects of the projected warming climate.

A global analysis of the urban heat island effect based on multisensor satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, J.; Frolking, S. E.; Milliman, T. E.; Schneider, A.; Friedl, M. A.

2017-12-01

Human population is rapidly urbanizing. In much of the world, cities are prone to hotter weather than surrounding rural areas - so-called `urban heat islands' - and this effect can have mortal consequences during heat waves. During the daytime, when the surface energy balance is driven by incoming solar radiation, the magnitude of urban warming is strongly influenced by surface albedo and the capacity to evaporate water (i.e., there is a strong relationship between vegetated land fraction and the ratio of sensible to latent heat loss or Bowen ratio). At nighttime, urban cooling is often inhibited by the thermal inertia of the built environment and anthropogenic heat exhaust from building and transportation energy use. We evaluated a suite of global remote sensing data sets representing a range of urban characteristics against MODIS-derived land-surface temperature differences between urban and surrounding rural areas. We included two new urban datasets in this analysis - MODIS-derived change in global urban extent and global urban microwave backscatter - along with several MODIS standard products and DMSP/OLS nighttime lights time series data. The global analysis spanned a range of urban characteristics that likely influence the magnitude of daytime and/or nighttime urban heat islands - urban size, population density, building density, state of development, impervious fraction, eco-climatic setting. Specifically, we developed new satellite datasets and synthesizing these with existing satellite data into a global database of urban land surface parameters, used two MODIS land surface temperature products to generate time series of daytime and nighttime urban heat island effects for 30 large cities across the globe, and empirically analyzed these data to determine specifically which remote sensing-based characterizations of global urban areas have explanatory power with regard to both daytime and nighttime urban heat islands.

Assessing Heat Health Risk for Sustainability in Beijing’s Urban Heat Island

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Weihua Dong

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This research is motivated by the increasing threat of urban heat waves that are likely worsened by pervasive global warming and urbanization. Different regions of the city including urban, borderland and rural area will experience different levels of heat health risk. In this paper, we propose an improved approach to quantitatively assess Beijing’s heat health risk based on three factors from hazard, vulnerability and especially environment which is considered as an independent factor because different land use/cover types have different influence on ambient air temperatures under the Urban Heat Island effect. The results show that the heat health risk of Beijing demonstrates a spatial-temporal pattern with higher risk in the urban area, lower risk in the borderland between urban and rural area, and lowest risk in the rural area, and the total risk fluctuated dramatically during 2008–2011. To be more specific, the heat health risk was clearly higher in 2009 and 2010 than in 2008 and 2011. Further analysis with the urban area at sub-district level signifies that the impervious surface (urban area such as buildings, roads, et al. ratio is of high correlation with the heat health risk. The validation results show that the proposed method improved the accuracy of heat health risk assessment. We recommend that policy makers should develop efficient urban planning to accomplish Beijing’s sustainable development.

Comparative and Combinative Study of Urban Heat island in Wuhan City with Remote Sensing and CFD Simulation

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Zhuang Yu

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Urban heat islands are one of the most critical urban environment heat problems. Landsat ETM+ satellite data were used to investigate the land surface temperature and underlying surface indices such as NDVI and NDBI. A comparative study of the urban heat environment at different scales, times and locations was done to verify the heat island characteristics. Since remote sensing technology has limitations for dynamic flow analysis in the study of urban spaces, a CFD simulation was used to validate the improvement of the heat environment in a city by means of wind. CFD technology has its own shortcomings in parameter setting and verification, while RS technology is helpful to remedy this. The city of Wuhan and its climatological condition of being hot in summer and cold in winter were chosen to verify the comparative and combinative application of RS with CFD in studying the urban heat island.

Micrometeorological simulations to predict the impacts of heat mitigation strategies on pedestrian thermal comfort in a Los Angeles neighborhood

Science.gov (United States)

Taleghani, Mohammad; Sailor, David; Ban-Weiss, George A.

2016-02-01

The urban heat island impacts the thermal comfort of pedestrians in cities. In this paper, the effects of four heat mitigation strategies on micrometeorology and the thermal comfort of pedestrians were simulated for a neighborhood in eastern Los Angeles County. The strategies investigated include solar reflective ‘cool roofs’, vegetative ‘green roofs’, solar reflective ‘cool pavements’, and increased street-level trees. A series of micrometeorological simulations for an extreme heat day were carried out assuming widespread adoption of each mitigation strategy. Comparing each simulation to the control simulation assuming current land cover for the neighborhood showed that additional street-trees and cool pavements reduced 1.5 m air temperature, while cool and green roofs mostly provided cooling at heights above pedestrian level. However, cool pavements increased reflected sunlight from the ground to pedestrians at a set of unshaded receptor locations. This reflected radiation intensified the mean radiant temperature and consequently increased physiological equivalent temperature (PET) by 2.2 °C during the day, reducing the thermal comfort of pedestrians. At another set of receptor locations that were on average 5 m from roadways and underneath preexisting tree cover, cool pavements caused significant reductions in surface air temperatures and small changes in mean radiant temperature during the day, leading to decreases in PET of 1.1 °C, and consequent improvements in thermal comfort. For improving thermal comfort of pedestrians during the afternoon in unshaded locations, adding street trees was found to be the most effective strategy. However, afternoon thermal comfort improvements in already shaded locations adjacent to streets were most significant for cool pavements. Green and cool roofs showed the lowest impact on the thermal comfort of pedestrians since they modify the energy balance at roof level, above the height of pedestrians.

Micrometeorological simulations to predict the impacts of heat mitigation strategies on pedestrian thermal comfort in a Los Angeles neighborhood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taleghani, Mohammad; Ban-Weiss, George A; Sailor, David

2016-01-01

The urban heat island impacts the thermal comfort of pedestrians in cities. In this paper, the effects of four heat mitigation strategies on micrometeorology and the thermal comfort of pedestrians were simulated for a neighborhood in eastern Los Angeles County. The strategies investigated include solar reflective ‘cool roofs’, vegetative ‘green roofs’, solar reflective ‘cool pavements’, and increased street-level trees. A series of micrometeorological simulations for an extreme heat day were carried out assuming widespread adoption of each mitigation strategy. Comparing each simulation to the control simulation assuming current land cover for the neighborhood showed that additional street-trees and cool pavements reduced 1.5 m air temperature, while cool and green roofs mostly provided cooling at heights above pedestrian level. However, cool pavements increased reflected sunlight from the ground to pedestrians at a set of unshaded receptor locations. This reflected radiation intensified the mean radiant temperature and consequently increased physiological equivalent temperature (PET) by 2.2 °C during the day, reducing the thermal comfort of pedestrians. At another set of receptor locations that were on average 5 m from roadways and underneath preexisting tree cover, cool pavements caused significant reductions in surface air temperatures and small changes in mean radiant temperature during the day, leading to decreases in PET of 1.1 °C, and consequent improvements in thermal comfort. For improving thermal comfort of pedestrians during the afternoon in unshaded locations, adding street trees was found to be the most effective strategy. However, afternoon thermal comfort improvements in already shaded locations adjacent to streets were most significant for cool pavements. Green and cool roofs showed the lowest impact on the thermal comfort of pedestrians since they modify the energy balance at roof level, above the height of pedestrians. (letter)

Analysis of the ability of water resources to reduce the urban heat island in the Tokyo megalopolis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakayama, Tadanobu; Hashimoto, Shizuka

2011-01-01

Simulation procedure integrated with multi-scale in horizontally regional-urban-point levels and in vertically atmosphere-surface-unsaturated-saturated layers, was newly developed in order to predict the effect of urban geometry and anthropogenic exhaustion on the hydrothermal changes in the atmospheric/land and the interfacial areas of the Japanese megalopolis. The simulated results suggested that the latent heat flux in new water-holding pavement (consisting of porous asphalt and water-holding filler made of steel by-products based on silica compound) has a strong impact on hydrologic cycle and cooling temperature in comparison with the observed heat budget. We evaluated the relationship between the effect of groundwater use as a heat sink to tackle the heat island and the effect of infiltration on the water cycle in the urban area. The result indicates that effective management of water resources would be powerful for ameliorating the heat island and recovering sound hydrologic cycle there. - Highlights: → Simulation procedure with multi-scale was newly developed. → Latent heat flux in water-holding pavement had strong impact on hydrothermal changes. → Model predicted effect of urban geometry and anthropogenic exhaustion. → Effective management of water resources is powerful for ameliorating heat island. - This study indicates that effective management of water resources would be powerful for ameliorating the heat island and recovering sound hydrologic cycle in urban area.

Analysis of the ability of water resources to reduce the urban heat island in the Tokyo megalopolis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakayama, Tadanobu, E-mail: nakat@nies.go.jp [Asian Environment Research Group, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Process Hydrology Section, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB (United Kingdom); Hashimoto, Shizuka [Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)

2011-08-15

Simulation procedure integrated with multi-scale in horizontally regional-urban-point levels and in vertically atmosphere-surface-unsaturated-saturated layers, was newly developed in order to predict the effect of urban geometry and anthropogenic exhaustion on the hydrothermal changes in the atmospheric/land and the interfacial areas of the Japanese megalopolis. The simulated results suggested that the latent heat flux in new water-holding pavement (consisting of porous asphalt and water-holding filler made of steel by-products based on silica compound) has a strong impact on hydrologic cycle and cooling temperature in comparison with the observed heat budget. We evaluated the relationship between the effect of groundwater use as a heat sink to tackle the heat island and the effect of infiltration on the water cycle in the urban area. The result indicates that effective management of water resources would be powerful for ameliorating the heat island and recovering sound hydrologic cycle there. - Highlights: > Simulation procedure with multi-scale was newly developed. > Latent heat flux in water-holding pavement had strong impact on hydrothermal changes. > Model predicted effect of urban geometry and anthropogenic exhaustion. > Effective management of water resources is powerful for ameliorating heat island. - This study indicates that effective management of water resources would be powerful for ameliorating the heat island and recovering sound hydrologic cycle in urban area.

Modeling skin temperature to assess the effect of air velocity to mitigate heat stress among growing pigs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerg, Bjarne; Pedersen, Poul; Morsing, Svend

2017-01-01

It is generally accepted that increased air velocity can help to mitigate heat stress in livestock housing, however, it is not fully clear how much it helps and significant uncertainties exists when the air temperature approaches the animal body temperature. This study aims to develop a skin...... temperature model to generated data for determining the potential effect of air velocity to mitigate heat stress among growing pigs housed in warm environment. The model calculates the skin temperature as function of body temperature, air temperature and the resistances for heat transfer from the body...

Economic and CO2 mitigation impacts of promoting biomass heating systems: An input-output study for Vorarlberg, Austria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madlener, Reinhard; Koller, Martin

2007-01-01

This paper reports on an empirical investigation about the economic and CO 2 mitigation impacts of bioenergy promotion in the Austrian federal province of Vorarlberg. We study domestic value-added, employment, and fiscal effects by means of a static input-output analysis. The bioenergy systems analysed comprise biomass district heating, pellet heating, and automated wood chip heating systems, as well as logwood stoves and boilers, ceramic stoves, and buffer storage systems. The results indicate that gross economic effects are significant, regarding both investment and operation of the systems, and that the negative economic effects caused by the displacement of conventional decentralised heating systems might be in the order of 20-40%. Finally, CO 2 mitigation effects are substantial, contributing already in 2004 around 35% of the 2010 CO 2 mitigation target of the Land Vorarlberg for all renewable energy sources

Subsurface urban heat islands in German cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Menberg, Kathrin; Bayer, Peter; Zosseder, Kai; Rumohr, Sven; Blum, Philipp

2013-01-01

Little is known about the intensity and extension of subsurface urban heat islands (UHI), and the individual role of the driving factors has not been revealed either. In this study, we compare groundwater temperatures in shallow aquifers beneath six German cities of different size (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Darmstadt). It is revealed that hotspots of up to +20K often exist, which stem from very local heat sources, such as insufficiently insulated power plants, landfills or open geothermal systems. When visualizing the regional conditions in isotherm maps, mostly a concentric picture is found with the highest temperatures in the city centers. This reflects the long-term accumulation of thermal energy over several centuries and the interplay of various factors, particularly in heat loss from basements, elevated ground surface temperatures (GST) and subsurface infrastructure. As a primary indicator to quantify and compare large-scale UHI intensity the 10-90%-quantile range UHII(10-90) of the temperature distribution is introduced. The latter reveals, in comparison to annual atmospheric UHI intensities, an even more pronounced heating of the shallow subsurface. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the effect of local heat island in Seoul using LANDSAT image

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, K. I.; Ryu, J.; Jeon, S. W.

2017-12-01

The increase in the rate of industrialization due to urbanization has caused the Urban Heat Island phenomenon which means that the temperature of the city is higher than the surrounding area, and its intensity is increasing with climate change. Among the cities where heat island phenomenon occur, Seoul city has different degree of urbanization, green area ratio, energy consumption, and population density by each district unit. As a result, the strength of heat island phenomenon is also different. The average maximum temperature in each region may differ by more than 3 °, which is bigger than the suburbs in Seoul and it means that analysis of UHI effect by regional unit is needed. Therefore, this study is to extract the UHI Intensity of the regional unit of the Seoul Metropolitan City using the satellite image, analyzed the difference of intensity according to the regional unit. And do linear regression analysis with variables included in three categories(regional meteorological conditions, anthropogenic heat generation, land use factors). As a result, The UHI Intensity value of the Gu unit is significantly different from the UHI Intensity distribution of the Dong unit. The variable having the greatest positive correlation with UHI Intensity was NDBI(Normalized Difference Built-up Index) which shows the distribution of urban area, and Urban area ratio also has high correlation. There was a negative correlation between mean wind speed but there was no significant correlation between population density and power consumption. The result of this study is to identify the regional difference of UHI Intensity and to identify the factors inducing heat island phenomenon. so It is expected that it will provide direction in urban thermal environment design and policy development in the future.

Interactions between urban heat islands and heat waves

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lei; Oppenheimer, Michael; Zhu, Qing; Baldwin, Jane W.; Ebi, Kristie L.; Bou-Zeid, Elie; Guan, Kaiyu; Liu, Xu

2018-03-01

Heat waves (HWs) are among the most damaging climate extremes to human society. Climate models consistently project that HW frequency, severity, and duration will increase markedly over this century. For urban residents, the urban heat island (UHI) effect further exacerbates the heat stress resulting from HWs. Here we use a climate model to investigate the interactions between the UHI and HWs in 50 cities in the United States under current climate and future warming scenarios. We examine UHI2m (defined as urban-rural difference in 2m-height air temperature) and UHIs (defined as urban-rural difference in radiative surface temperature). Our results show significant sensitivity of the interaction between UHI and HWs to local background climate and warming scenarios. Sensitivity also differs between daytime and nighttime. During daytime, cities in the temperate climate region show significant synergistic effects between UHI and HWs in current climate, with an average of 0.4 K higher UHI2m or 2.8 K higher UHIs during HWs than during normal days. These synergistic effects, however, diminish in future warmer climates. In contrast, the daytime synergistic effects for cities in dry regions are insignificant in the current climate, but emerge in future climates. At night, the synergistic effects are similar across climate regions in the current climate, and are stronger in future climate scenarios. We use a biophysical factorization method to disentangle the mechanisms behind the interactions between UHI and HWs that explain the spatial-temporal patterns of the interactions. Results show that the difference in the increase of urban versus rural evaporation and enhanced anthropogenic heat emissions (air conditioning energy use) during HWs are key contributors to the synergistic effects during daytime. The contrast in water availability between urban and rural land plays an important role in determining the contribution of evaporation. At night, the enhanced release of stored

The contribution of urbanization to recent extreme heat events and white roof mitigation strategy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mingna

2015-04-01

The UHI effect can aggravate summertime heat waves and strongly influence human comfort and health, leading to greater mortality in metropolitan areas. Many geo-engineering technological strategies have been proposed to mitigate climate warming, and for the UHI, increasing the albedo of artificial urban surfaces (rooftops or pavements) has been considered a lucrative and effective way to cool cities. The objective of this work is to quantify the contribution of urbanization to recent extreme heat events of the early 21st century in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area, using the mesoscale WRF model coupled with a single urban canopy model and actual urban land cover datasets. This work also investigates a simulation of the regional effects of white roof technology by increasing the albedo of urban areas in the urban canopy model to mitigate the urban heat island, especially in extreme heat waves. The results show that urban land use characteristics that have evolved over the past ~20 years in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area have had a significant impact on the extreme temperatures occurring during extreme heat events. Simulations show that new urban development has caused an intensification and expansion of the areas experiencing extreme heat waves with an average increase in temperature of approximately 0.60°C. This change is most obvious at night with an increase up to 0.95°C, for which the total contribution of anthropogenic heat is 34%. We also simulate the effects of geo-engineering strategies increasing the albedo of urban roofs. White roofs reflect a large fraction of incoming sunlight in the daytime, which reduced the net radiation so that the roof surface keep at a lower temperature than regular solar-absorptive roofs. Urban net radiation decreases by approximately 200 W m-2 at local noon because of high solar reflectance of white roofs, which cools the daytime urban temperature afer sunrise, with the largest decrease of almost -0.80�

Stabilization of a magnetic island by localized heating in a tokamak with stiff temperature profile

Science.gov (United States)

Maget, Patrick; Widmer, Fabien; Février, Olivier; Garbet, Xavier; Lütjens, Hinrich

2018-02-01

In tokamaks plasmas, turbulent transport is triggered above a threshold in the temperature gradient and leads to stiff profiles. This particularity, neglected so far in the problem of magnetic island stabilization by a localized heat source, is investigated analytically in this paper. We show that the efficiency of the stabilization is deeply modified compared to the previous estimates due to the strong dependence of the turbulence level on the additional heat source amplitude inside the island.

Solar Panels reduce both global warming and Urban Heat Island

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valéry eMasson

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The production of solar energy in cities is clearly a way to diminish our dependency to fossil fuels, and is a good way to mitigate global warming by lowering the emission of greenhouse gases. However, what are the impacts of solar panels locally ? To evaluate their influence on urban weather, it is necessary to parameterize their effects within the surface schemes that are coupled to atmospheric models. The present paper presents a way to implement solar panels in the Town Energy Balance scheme, taking account of the energy production (for thermal and photovoltaic panels, the impact on the building below and feedback towards the urban micro-climate through radiative and convective fluxes. A scenario of large but realistic deployment of solar panels on the Paris metropolitan area is then simulated. It is shown that solar panels, by shading the roofs, slightly increases the need for domestic heating (3%. In summer however, the solar panels reduce the energy needed for air-conditioning (by 12% and also the Urban Heat Island (UHI: 0.2K by day and up to 0.3K at night. These impacts are larger than those found in previous works, because of the use of thermal panels (that are more efficient than photovoltaic panels and the geographical position of Paris, which is relatively far from the sea. This means that it is not influenced by sea breezes, and hence that its UHI is stronger than for a coastal city of the same size. But this also means that local adaptation strategies aiming to decrease the UHI will have more potent effects. In summary, the deployment of solar panels is good both globally, to produce renewable energy (and hence to limit the warming of the climate and locally, to decrease the UHI, especially in summer, when it can constitute a health threat.

A Numerical Study on Impact of Taiwan Island Surface Heat Flux on Super Typhoon Haitang (2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongxiong Xu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Three to four tropical cyclones (TCs by average usually impact Taiwan every year. This study, using the Developmental Tested Center (DTC version of the Hurricane WRF (HWRF model, examines the effects of Taiwan’s island surface heat fluxes on typhoon structure, intensity, track, and its rainfall over the island. The numerical simulation successfully reproduced the structure and intensity of super Typhoon Haitang. The model, especially, reproduced the looped path and landfall at nearly the right position. Sensitive experiments indicated that Taiwan’s surface heat fluxes have significant influence on the super Typhoon Haitang. Compared to sensible heat (SH fluxes, latent heat (LH is the dominant factor affecting the intensity and rainfall, but they showed opposite effects on intensity and rainfall. LH (SH flux of Taiwan Island intensified (weakened Typhoon Haitang’s intensity and structure by transferring more energy from (to surface. However, only LH played a major role in the looped path before the landfall of the Typhoon Haitang.

Reshaping the Built Environment to Reduce Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Summertime Heat

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, J. E.; Bakewell, K.

2005-12-01

, risk of mortality was higher in the black community, and in those living in certain types of low-income and multi-tenant housing. Interventions in the built environment to promote urban heat island mitigation can reduce ambient temperatures, potentially reducing heat-related mortality rates in vulnerable populations, electricity consumption and air pollutant emissions, and slow ozone formation, an important health stressor. These mitigation measures may also serve as adaptive responses for a range of potential future climate conditions. Here we review current research that assesses the health, air quality, and energy conservation benefits in cities from these interventions in the built environment, and discuss the techniques and research objectives of a new pilot community-based project to mitigate the heat island effect in the South Bronx, New York City through implementation of vegetated and high albedo roofing on residential and institutional buildings. Recent studies use mesoscale climate models and a variety of land-use and land-cover scenarios to project the effects of increasing vegetative fraction and albedo within metropolitan regions and to evaluate the impacts of measures that may serve both as adaptive responses to current conditions and mitigation for future climate variability. Through this perspective, we address the questions: What urban design approaches make for resilient cities in a changing environment? What costs and benefits may be expected by the adoption of heat island mitigation techniques within the New York metropolitan region?

Satellite and ground-based sensors for the Urban Heat Island analysis in the city of Rome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fabrizi, Roberto; Bonafoni, Stefania; Biondi, Riccardo

2010-01-01

In this work, the trend of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) of Rome is analyzed by both ground-based weather stations and a satellite-based infrared sensor. First, we have developed a suitable algorithm employing satellite brightness temperatures for the estimation of the air temperature belonging...... and nighttime scenes taken between 2003 and 2006 have been processed. Analysis of the Canopy Layer Heat Island (CLHI) during summer months reveals a mean growth in magnitude of 3-4 K during nighttime and a negative or almost zero CLHI intensity during daytime, confirmed by the weather stations. © 2010...... by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Keyword: Thermal pollution,Summer months,Advanced-along track scanning radiometers,Urban heat island,Remote sensing,Canopy layer,Atmospheric temperature,Ground based sensors,Weather information services,Satellite remote sensing,Infra-red sensor,Weather stations...

The footprint of urban heat island effect in China

Science.gov (United States)

Decheng Zhou; Shuqing Zhao; Liangxia Zhang; Ge Sun; Yongqiang Liu

2015-01-01

Urban heat island (UHI) is one major anthropogenic modification to the Earth system that transcends its physical boundary. Using MODIS data from 2003 to 2012, we showed that the UHI effect decayed exponentially toward rural areas for majority of the 32 Chinese cities. We found an obvious urban/ rural temperature “cliff”, and estimated that the footprint of UHI effect (...

[Applicability of traditional landscape metrics in evaluating urban heat island effect].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ai-Lian; Sun, Ran-Hao; Chen, Li-Ding

2012-08-01

By using 24 landscape metrics, this paper evaluated the urban heat island effect in parts of Beijing downtown area. QuickBird (QB) images were used to extract the landscape type information, and the thermal bands from Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images were used to extract the land surface temperature (LST) in four seasons of the same year. The 24 landscape pattern metrics were calculated at landscape and class levels in a fixed window with 120 mx 120 m in size, with the applicability of these traditional landscape metrics in evaluating the urban heat island effect examined. Among the 24 landscape metrics, only the percentage composition of landscape (PLAND), patch density (PD), largest patch index (LPI), coefficient of Euclidean nearest-neighbor distance variance (ENN_CV), and landscape division index (DIVISION) at landscape level were significantly correlated with the LST in March, May, and November, and the PLAND, LPI, DIVISION, percentage of like adjacencies, and interspersion and juxtaposition index at class level showed significant correlations with the LST in March, May, July, and December, especially in July. Some metrics such as PD, edge density, clumpiness index, patch cohesion index, effective mesh size, splitting index, aggregation index, and normalized landscape shape index showed varying correlations with the LST at different class levels. The traditional landscape metrics could not be appropriate in evaluating the effects of river on LST, while some of the metrics could be useful in characterizing urban LST and analyzing the urban heat island effect, but screening and examining should be made on the metrics.

Urban Heat Island phenomenon in extreme continental climate (Astana, Kazakhstan)

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantinov, Pavel; Akhmetova, Alina

2015-04-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon is well known in scientific literature since first half of the 19th century [1]. By now a wide number of world capitals is described from climatological point of view, especially in mid-latitudes. In beginning of XXI century new studies focus on heat island of tropical cities. However dynamics UHI in extreme continental climates is insufficiently investigated, due to the fact that there isn't large cities in Europe and Northern America within that climate type. In this paper we investigate seasonal and diurnal dynamics UHI intensity for Astana, capital city of Kazakhstan (population larger than 835 000 within the city) including UHI intensity changes on different time scales. Now (since 1998) Astana is the second coldest capital city in the world after Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia [3] For this study we use the UHI investigation technology, described in [2]. According to this paper, we selected three stations: one located into city in high and midrise buildings area (including extensive lowrise and high-energy industrial - LCZ classification) and two others located in rural site (sparsely built or open-set and lightweight lowrise according LCZ classification). Also these stations must be close by distance (less than 100 km) and altitude. Therefore, first for Astana city were obtained numerical evaluations for UHI climate dynamics, UHI dependence of synoptic situations and total UHI climatology on monthly and daily averages. References: 1.Howard, L. (1833) The Climate of London, Deduced from Meteorological Observations. Volume 2, London. 2.Kukanova E.A., Konstantinov P.I. An urban heat islands climatology in Russia and linkages to the climate change In Geophysical Research Abstracts, volume 16 of EGU General Assembly, pages EGU2014-10833-1, Germany, 2014. Germany. 3.www.pogoda.ru.net

Exploring the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect in Port Louis, Mauritius

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2012r

2014-10-13

Oct 13, 2014 ... namely: environmental contamination stemming from traffic congestion, the ... problem of UHI may become a more important issue than global warming because the rate of ..... MIGRATION, population distribution and development in the world. ... Urban Heat Island and Climate Change: An Assessment of.

MONITORING SPATIOTEMPORAL CHANGES OF HEAT ISLAND IN BABOL CITY DUE TO LAND USE CHANGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Alavi Panah

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Urban heat island is one of the most vital environmental risks in urban areas. The advent of remote sensing technology provides better visibility due to the integrated view, low-cost, fast and effective way to study and monitor environmental and humanistic changes. The aim of this study is a spatiotemporal evaluation of land use changes and the heat island in the time period of 1985-2015 for the studied area in the city of Babol. For this purpose, multi-temporal Landsat images were used in this study. For calculating the land surface temperature (LST, single-channel and maximum likelihood algorithms were used, to classify Images. Therefore, land use changes and LST were examined, and thereby the relationship between land-use changes was analyzed with the normalized LST. By using the average and standard deviation of normalized thermal images, the area was divided into five temperature categories, inter alia, very low, low, medium, high and very high and then, the heat island changes in the studied time period were investigated. The results indicate that land use changes for built-up lands increased by 92%, and a noticeable decrease was observed for agricultural lands. The Built-up land changes trend has direct relation with the trend of normalized surface temperature changes. Low and very low-temperature categories which follow a decreasing trend, are related to lands far away from the city. Also, high and very high-temperature categories whose areas increase annually, are adjacent to the city center and exit ways of the town. The results emphasize on the importance of attention of urban planners and managers to the urban heat island as an environmental risk.

Monitoring Spatiotemporal Changes of Heat Island in Babol City due to Land Use Changes

Science.gov (United States)

Alavi Panah, S. K.; Kiavarz Mogaddam, M.; Karimi Firozjaei, M.

2017-09-01

Urban heat island is one of the most vital environmental risks in urban areas. The advent of remote sensing technology provides better visibility due to the integrated view, low-cost, fast and effective way to study and monitor environmental and humanistic changes. The aim of this study is a spatiotemporal evaluation of land use changes and the heat island in the time period of 1985-2015 for the studied area in the city of Babol. For this purpose, multi-temporal Landsat images were used in this study. For calculating the land surface temperature (LST), single-channel and maximum likelihood algorithms were used, to classify Images. Therefore, land use changes and LST were examined, and thereby the relationship between land-use changes was analyzed with the normalized LST. By using the average and standard deviation of normalized thermal images, the area was divided into five temperature categories, inter alia, very low, low, medium, high and very high and then, the heat island changes in the studied time period were investigated. The results indicate that land use changes for built-up lands increased by 92%, and a noticeable decrease was observed for agricultural lands. The Built-up land changes trend has direct relation with the trend of normalized surface temperature changes. Low and very low-temperature categories which follow a decreasing trend, are related to lands far away from the city. Also, high and very high-temperature categories whose areas increase annually, are adjacent to the city center and exit ways of the town. The results emphasize on the importance of attention of urban planners and managers to the urban heat island as an environmental risk.

The Conundrum of Impacts of Climate Change on Urbanization and the Urban Heat Island Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Quattrochi, Dale A.

2011-01-01

The twenty-first century is the first urban century according to the United Nations Development Program. The focus on cities reflects awareness of the growing percentage of the world's population that lives in urban areas. In 2000, approximately 3 billion people representing about 40% of the global population resided in urban areas. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, 60% of the world s population will live in urban areas. As a consequence, the number of megacities (those cities with populations of 10 million inhabitants or more) will increase by 100 by 2025. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the spatial growth of urban areas and what the impacts are on the environment. Moreover, there is a critical need to assess how under global climate change, cities will affect the local, regional, and even global climate. As urban areas increase in size, it is anticipated there will be a concomitant growth of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), and the attributes that are related to its spatial and temporal dynamics. Therefore, how climate change, including the dynamics of the UHI, will affect the urban environment, must be explored to help mitigate potential impacts on the environment (e.g., air quality, heat stress, vectorborne disease) and on human health and well being, to develop adaptation schemes to cope with these impacts.

Agriculture and irrigation as potential drivers of urban heat island

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, R.; Buzan, J. R.; Mishra, V.; Kumar, R.; Shindell, D. T.; Huber, M.

2017-12-01

More than half the population are urban dwellers and are most vulnerable to global environmental changes. Urban extents are more prone to intense heating as compared to the surroundings rural area. Presently about 33% of India's population lives in the urban area and is expected to rise steeply, so a better understanding of the phenomenon affecting the urban population is very much important. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a well-known phenomenon which potentially affects energy consumption, spreading of diseases and mortality. In general, almost all (90%) of the major urban area of the country faces UHI at night time in the range (1-5 °C) while 60% of the regions face Urban Cool Island (UCI) in the range of -1 to 6 °C in day time. Our observations and simulations show that vegetation and irrigation in the surrounding non urban directly affects day time Urban Cool Island effects. This is due to the relative cooling by vegetation and irrigated lands in the vicinity of these urban regions. There is a contrasting variation in UHI/UCI intensities in different seasons and in different time of the day. Most of the urban regions face UHI effect in summers whereas this phenomenton reverses in winters. Daytime UCI is more prominent in the months of April and May due to minimum availability of moisture. We observed that apart from vegetation and irrigation, aerosol is also an important factor governing UHI phenomenon.

Heat toxicant contaminant mitigation in potato chips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mariotti, Maria; Cortes, Pablo; Fromberg, Arvid

2015-01-01

Heating foods immersed in oil during frying provides many attractive sensorial attributes including taste, flavor and color. However, some toxic compounds formed during frying of potatoes such as furan and acrylamide may constitute an increased cancer risk for consumers. The objective of this work...... was to mitigate the furan and acrylamide formation in potato chips without increasing their oil uptake by optimizing the blanching treatment before final frying. Potato slices were blanched in order to simultaneously leach out ascorbic acid and reducing sugars, the most important precursors of furan...... and acrylamide generation in thermally treated starchy foods. A central composite design was implemented to optimize the temperature-time blanching conditions under which furan, acrylamide and oil content in potato chips were minimized. The optimum blanching conditions were 64 degrees C and 17 min in which...

Role of City Texture in Urban Heat Islands at Nighttime

Science.gov (United States)

Sobstyl, J. M.; Emig, T.; Qomi, M. J. Abdolhosseini; Ulm, F.-J.; Pellenq, R. J.-M.

2018-03-01

An urban heat island (UHI) is a climate phenomenon that results in an increased air temperature in cities when compared to their rural surroundings. In this Letter, the dependence of an UHI on urban geometry is studied. Multiyear urban-rural temperature differences and building footprints data combined with a heat radiation scaling model are used to demonstrate for more than 50 cities worldwide that city texture—measured by a building distribution function and the sky view factor—explains city-to-city variations in nocturnal UHIs. Our results show a strong correlation between nocturnal UHIs and the city texture.

Mitigation of upward and downward vertical displacement event heat loads with upper or lower massive gas injection in DIII-D

Science.gov (United States)

Hollmann, E. M.; Commaux, N.; Eidietis, N. W.; Lasnier, C. J.; Moyer, R. A.; Parks, P. B.; Shiraki, D.

2015-10-01

Intentionally triggered upward and downward vertical displacement events (VDEs) leading to disruptions were pre-emptively mitigated with neon massive gas injection (MGI) coming from either above or below the plasma. Global indicators of disruption mitigation effectiveness (conducted heat loads, radiated power, and vessel motion) do not show a clear improvement when mitigating with the gas jet located closer to the VDE impact area. A clear trend of improved mitigation is observed for earlier MGI timing relative to the VDE impact time. The plasma edge magnetic perturbation is seen to lock to a preferential phase during the VDE thermal quench, but this phase is not clearly matched by preliminary attempts to fit to the conducted heat load phase. Clear indications of plasma infra-red (IR) emission are observed both before and during the disruptions. This IR emission can affect calculation of disruption heat loads; here, the time decay of post-disruption IR signals is used to correct for this effect.

Mitigation of upward and downward vertical displacement event heat loads with upper or lower massive gas injection in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollmann, E. M.; Moyer, R. A.; Commaux, N.; Shiraki, D.; Eidietis, N. W.; Parks, P. B.; Lasnier, C. J.

2015-01-01

Intentionally triggered upward and downward vertical displacement events (VDEs) leading to disruptions were pre-emptively mitigated with neon massive gas injection (MGI) coming from either above or below the plasma. Global indicators of disruption mitigation effectiveness (conducted heat loads, radiated power, and vessel motion) do not show a clear improvement when mitigating with the gas jet located closer to the VDE impact area. A clear trend of improved mitigation is observed for earlier MGI timing relative to the VDE impact time. The plasma edge magnetic perturbation is seen to lock to a preferential phase during the VDE thermal quench, but this phase is not clearly matched by preliminary attempts to fit to the conducted heat load phase. Clear indications of plasma infra-red (IR) emission are observed both before and during the disruptions. This IR emission can affect calculation of disruption heat loads; here, the time decay of post-disruption IR signals is used to correct for this effect

The Impact of the Urban Heat Island during an Intense Heat Wave in Oklahoma City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey B. Basara

2010-01-01

Full Text Available During late July and early August 2008, an intense heat wave occurred in Oklahoma City. To quantify the impact of the urban heat island (UHI in Oklahoma City on observed and apparent temperature conditions during the heat wave event, this study used observations from 46 locations in and around Oklahoma City. The methodology utilized composite values of atmospheric conditions for three primary categories defined by population and general land use: rural, suburban, and urban. The results of the analyses demonstrated that a consistent UHI existed during the study period whereby the composite temperature values within the urban core were approximately 0.5∘C warmer during the day than the rural areas and over 2∘C warmer at night. Further, when the warmer temperatures were combined with ambient humidity conditions, the composite values consistently revealed even warmer heat-related variables within the urban environment as compared with the rural zone.

Volcanic sulfur dioxide index and volcanic explosivity index inferred from eruptive volume of volcanoes in Jeju Island, Korea: application to volcanic hazard mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Bokyun; Yun, Sung-Hyo

2016-04-01

Jeju Island located in the southwestern part of Korea Peninsula is a volcanic island composed of lavaflows, pyroclasts, and around 450 monogenetic volcanoes. The volcanic activity of the island commenced with phreatomagmatic eruptions under subaqueous condition ca. 1.8-2.0 Ma and lasted until ca. 1,000 year BP. For evaluating volcanic activity of the most recently erupted volcanoes with reported age, volcanic explosivity index (VEI) and volcanic sulfur dioxide index (VSI) of three volcanoes (Ilchulbong tuff cone, Songaksan tuff ring, and Biyangdo scoria cone) are inferred from their eruptive volumes. The quantity of eruptive materials such as tuff, lavaflow, scoria, and so on, is calculated using a model developed in Auckland Volcanic Field which has similar volcanic setting to the island. The eruptive volumes of them are 11,911,534 m3, 24,987,557 m3, and 9,652,025 m3, which correspond to VEI of 3, 3, and 2, respectively. According to the correlation between VEI and VSI, the average quantity of SO2 emission during an eruption with VEI of 3 is 2-8 × 103 kiloton considering that the island was formed under intraplate tectonic setting. Jeju Island was regarded as an extinct volcano, however, several studies have recently reported some volcanic eruption ages within 10,000 year BP owing to the development in age dating technique. Thus, the island is a dormant volcano potentially implying high probability to erupt again in the future. The volcanoes might have explosive eruptions (vulcanian to plinian) with the possibility that SO2 emitted by the eruption reaches stratosphere causing climate change due to backscattering incoming solar radiation, increase in cloud reflectivity, etc. Consequently, recommencement of volcanic eruption in the island is able to result in serious volcanic hazard and this study provides fundamental and important data for volcanic hazard mitigation of East Asia as well as the island. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This research was supported by a grant [MPSS

Heat and drought stresses in crops and approaches for their mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Lamaoui, Mouna; Jemo, Martin; Datla, Raju; Bekkaoui, Faouzi

2018-02-01

Drought and heat are major abiotic stresses that reduce crop productivity and weaken global food security, especially given the current and growing impacts of climate change and increases in the occurrence and severity of both stress factors. Plants have developed dynamic responses at the morphological, physiological and biochemical levels allowing them to escape and/or adapt to unfavourable environmental conditions. Nevertheless, even the mildest heat and drought stress negatively affects crop yield. Further, several independent studies have shown that increased temperature and drought can reduce crop yields by as much as 50%. Response to stress is complex and involves several factors including signaling, transcription factors, hormones, and secondary metabolites. The reproductive phase of development, leading to the grain production is shown to be more sensitive to heat stress in several crops. Advances coming from biotechnology including progress in genomics and information technology may mitigate the detrimental effects of heat and drought through the use of agronomic management practices and the development of crop varieties with increased productivity under stress. This review presents recent progress in key areas relevant to plant drought and heat tolerance. Furthermore, an overview and implications of physiological, biochemical and genetic aspects in the context of heat and drought are presented. Potential strategies to improve crop productivity are discussed.

Heat and Drought Stresses in Crops and Approaches for Their Mitigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mouna Lamaoui

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Drought and heat are major abiotic stresses that reduce crop productivity and weaken global food security, especially given the current and growing impacts of climate change and increases in the occurrence and severity of both stress factors. Plants have developed dynamic responses at the morphological, physiological and biochemical levels allowing them to escape and/or adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions. Nevertheless, even the mildest heat and drought stress negatively affects crop yield. Further, several independent studies have shown that increased temperature and drought can reduce crop yields by as much as 50%. Response to stress is complex and involves several factors including signaling, transcription factors, hormones, and secondary metabolites. The reproductive phase of development, leading to the grain production is shown to be more sensitive to heat stress in several crops. Advances coming from biotechnology including progress in genomics and information technology may mitigate the detrimental effects of heat and drought through the use of agronomic management practices and the development of crop varieties with increased productivity under stress. This review presents recent progress in key areas relevant to plant drought and heat tolerance. Furthermore, an overview and implications of physiological, biochemical and genetic aspects in the context of heat and drought are presented. Potential strategies to improve crop productivity are discussed.

Evaluating Mitigation Effects of Urban Heat Islands in a Historical Small Center with the ENVI-Met® Climate Model

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Dario Ambrosini

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Urban morphology and increasing building density play a key role in the overall use of energy and promotion of environmental sustainability. The urban environment causes a local increase of temperature, a phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island (UHI. The purpose of this work is the study of the possible formation of an UHI and the evaluation of its magnitude, in the context of a small city, carried out with the ENVI-met® software. For this purpose, a simulation was needed, and this simulation is preparatory for a monitoring campaign on site, which will be held in the immediate future. ENVI-met® simulates the temporal evolution of several thermodynamics parameters on a micro-scale range, creating a 3D, non-hydrostatic model of the interactions between building-atmosphere-vegetation. The weather conditions applied simulate a typical Italian summer heat wave. Three different case-studies have been analyzed: Base Case, Cool Case and Green Case. Analysis of the actual state in the Base Case shows how even in an area with average building density, such as the old town center of a small city, fully developed UHI may rise with strong thermal gradients between built areas and open zones with plenty of vegetation. These gradients arise in a really tiny space (few hundreds of meters, showing that the influence of urban geometry can be decisive in the characterization of local microclimate. Simulations, carried out considering the application of green or cool roofs, showed small relevant effects as they become evident only in large areas heavily built up (metropolis subject to more intense climate conditions.

Opportunities for Saving Energy and Improving Air Quality in Urban Heat Islands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem

2007-07-01

World energy use is the main contributor to atmospheric CO2. In 2002, about 7.0 giga metric tons of carbon (GtC) were emitted internationally by combustion of gas, liquid, and solid fuels (CDIAC, 2006), 2 to 5 times the amount contributed by deforestation (Brown et al., 1988). The share of atmospheric carbon emissions for the United States from fossil fuel combustion was 1.6 GtC. Increasing use of fossil fuel and deforestation together have raised atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration some 25% over the last 150 years. According to global climate models and preliminary measurements, these changes in the composition of the atmosphere have already begun raising the Earth's average temperature. If current energy trends continue, these changes could drastically alter the Earth's temperature, with unknown but potentially catastrophic physical and political consequences. During the last three decades, increased energy awareness has led to conservation efforts and leveling of energy consumption in the industrialized countries. An important byproduct of this reduced energy use is the lowering of CO{sub 2} emissions. Of all electricity generated in the United States, about one-sixth is used to air-condition buildings. The air-conditioning use is about 400 tera-watt-hours (TWh), equivalent to about 80 million metric tons of carbon (MtC) emissions, and translating to about $40 billion (B) per year. Of this $40 B/year, about half is used in cities that have pronounced 'heat islands'. The contribution of the urban heat island to the air-conditioning demand has increased over the last 40 years and it is currently at about 10%. Metropolitan areas in the United States (e.g., Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, and New York City) have typically pronounced heat islands that warrant special attention by anyone concerned with broad-scale energy efficiency (HIG, 2006). The ambient air is primarily heated through three processes: direct absorption of solar radiation

Thermal signatures of urban land cover types: High-resolution thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat island in Huntsville, AL

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Chor Pang

1996-01-01

The main objective of this research is to apply airborne high-resolution thermal infrared imagery for urban heat island studies, using Huntsville, AL, a medium-sized American city, as the study area. The occurrence of urban heat islands represents human-induced urban/rural contrast, which is caused by deforestation and the replacement of the land surface by non-evaporating and non-porous materials such as asphalt and concrete. The result is reduced evapotranspiration and more rapid runoff of rain water. The urban landscape forms a canopy acting as a transitional zone between the atmosphere and the land surface. The composition and structure of this canopy have a significant impact on the thermal behavior of the urban environment. Research on the trends of surface temperature at rapidly growing urban sites in the United States during the last 30 to 50 years suggests that significant urban heat island effects have caused the temperatures at these sites to rise by 1 to 2 C. Urban heat islands have caused changes in urban precipitation and temperature that are at least similar to, if not greater than, those predicted to develop over the next 100 years by global change models. Satellite remote sensing, particularly NOAA AVHRR thermal data, has been used in the study of urban heat islands. Because of the low spatial resolution (1.1 km at nadir) of the AVHRR data, these studies can only examine and map the phenomenon at the macro-level. The present research provides the rare opportunity to utilize 5-meter thermal infrared data acquired from an airplane to characterize more accurately the thermal responses of different land cover types in the urban landscape as input to urban heat island studies.

The urban climate: urban heat island of Salamanca El clima de las ciudades: isla de calor de Salamanca

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Mª Salud Alonso García

2004-12-01

Full Text Available We have determined the existence of the urban heat island (UHI in a medium-sized city, with an extreme climate and few important foci of industrial pollution. It was seen that urban warming can arise in cities of these characteristics, being able to influence in the alive beings of the zone. By comparing the temperature series in an urban area and those from a nearby rural area, we studied the temporal evolution of the intensity of the UHI for the three-year period between 1996 and 1998. We detected two phenomenons: nocturnal heat island, when the difference of temperature between city and rural zone is positive, and diurnal heat island, when is negative. The most intense nocturnal heat island was seen in autumn, and the most intense diurnal heat island was seen in spring. Statistical study of the annual series corresponding to the night-time heat island permits a definition for Salamanca: a weak island, such as the one showing an intensity lower than 2.0 oC, a moderate island, if the intensity lies between 2.0 oC and 4.0 oC, and an intense island when a values greater than 4.0 oC is passed.En este trabajo se ha determinado la existencia de la isla de calor urbana (ICU, en una ciudad de tamaño medio, con un clima extremado y focos industriales de poca actividad. Con lo que se puede comprobar cómo afecta el calentamiento urbano a ciudades de estas características, pudiendo influir en los seres vivos de la zona. La existencia del fenómeno isla de calor, y su evolución en el tiempo, se han observado comparando los datos de temperatura registrados en una estación meteorológica situada en la ciudad, con los de otra estación fuera del radio de acción de la urbe, durante el período 1996-1998. Se han detectado dos fenómenos: la isla de calor nocturna, cuando la diferencia térmica entre la ciudad y la zona rural es positiva, que presenta sus valores más altos en otoño, y la isla de calor diurna, cuando la diferencia es negativa, que

Spatiotemporal Variation in Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity and Associated Determinants across Major Chinese Cities

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Juan Wang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Urban heat islands (UHIs created through urbanization can have negative impacts on the lives of people living in cities. They may also vary spatially and temporally over a city. There is, thus, a need for greater understanding of these patterns and their causes. While previous UHI studies focused on only a few cities and/or several explanatory variables, this research provides a comprehensive and comparative characterization of the diurnal and seasonal variation in surface UHI intensities (SUHIIs across 67 major Chinese cities. The factors associated with the SUHII were assessed by considering a variety of related social, economic and natural factors using a regression tree model. Obvious seasonal variation was observed for the daytime SUHII, and the diurnal variation in SUHII varied seasonally across China. Interestingly, the SUHII varied significantly in character between northern and southern China. Southern China experienced more intense daytime SUHIIs, while the opposite was true for nighttime SUHIIs. Vegetation had the greatest effect in the day time in northern China. In southern China, annual electricity consumption and the number of public buses were found to be important. These results have important theoretical significance and may be of use to mitigate UHI effects.

Satellite-based detection of global urban heat-island temperature influence

Science.gov (United States)

Gallo, K.P.; Adegoke, Jimmy O.; Owen, T.W.; Elvidge, C.D.

2002-01-01

This study utilizes a satellite-based methodology to assess the urban heat-island influence during warm season months for over 4400 stations included in the Global Historical Climatology Network of climate stations. The methodology includes local and regional satellite retrievals of an indicator of the presence green photosynthetically active vegetation at and around the stations. The difference in local and regional samples of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used to estimate differences in mean air temperature. Stations classified as urban averaged 0.90??C (N. Hemisphere) and 0.92??C (S. Hemisphere) warmer than the surrounding environment on the basis of the NDVI-derived temperature estimates. Additionally, stations classified as rural averaged 0.19??C (N. Hemisphere) and 0.16??C (S. Hemisphere) warmer than the surrounding environment. The NDVI-derived temperature estimates were found to be in reasonable agreement with temperature differences observed between climate stations. The results suggest that satellite-derived data sets can be used to estimate the urban heat-island temperature influence on a global basis and that a more detailed analysis of rural stations and their surrounding environment may be necessary to assure that temperature trends derived from assumed rural environments are not influenced by changes in land use/land cover. Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union.

On the urban heat island effect dependence on temperature trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camilloni, I.; Barros, V.

1997-01-01

For US, Argentine and Australian cities, yearly mean urban to rural temperature differences (ΔT u-r ) and rural temperatures (T r ) are negatively correlated in almost every case, suggesting that urban heat island intensity depends, among other parameters on the temperature itself. This negative correlation is related to the fact that interannual variability of temperature is generally lower in urban environments than in rural areas. This seems to hold true at low frequencies leading to opposite trends in the two variables. Hence, urban stations are prone to have lower trends in absolute value than rural ones. Therefore, regional data sets including records from urban locations, in addition to urban growth bias may have a second type of urban bias associated with temperature trends. A bulk estimate of this second urban bias trend for the contiguous United States during 1901-1984 indicates that it could be of the same order as the urban growth bias and of opposite sign. If these results could be extended to global data, it could be expected that the spurious influence of urban growth on global temperature trends during warming periods will be offset by the diminishing of the urban heat island intensity. 36 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

The urban physical environment: temperature and urban heat islands. Chapter 2

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon M. Heisler; Anthony J. Brazel

2010-01-01

The term urban heat island (UHI) describes the phenomenon in which cities are generally warmer than adjacent rural areas. The UHI effect is strongest with skies free of clouds and with low wind speeds. In moist temperate climates, the UHI effect causes cities to be slightly warmer in midday than rural areas, whereas in dry climates, irrigation of vegetation in cites...

Hybrid Automaton Based Controller Design for Damage Mitigation of Islanded Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lahiri, Sudipta

Spurred by increasingly unpredictable weather, high penetration of renewable resources and a period of focused US government policy, it is widely expected that microgrids within the electric distribution system will show exponential growth in the coming decade. Microgrids comprise of power generation, delivery and consumption assets within restricted electrical boundaries and under contiguous control oversight that enables holistic management of these assets. Microgrids can be islanded and operated independent of a larger electric power network, and as such, a primary function of microgrids is to enhance the energy reliability of the underlying loads. In this work, we focus on naval shipboard power systems. Apart from being islanded, in the true sense, resiliency and damage mitigation are key considerations in the design and operation of these power systems. Islanded power systems encompass a rich diversity of discrete and continuous dynamic behavior in multiple time-scales. A high penetration of devices with power electronics interface, low inherent system inertia, and high density of switching devices can lead to rapid disturbance propagation and system failure without advanced damage mitigation strategies. Hybrid systems formalism incorporates continuous dynamics as well as discrete switching behavior into a modeling and control framework, thus allowing a complete system description while crystallizing concepts of safety into system design criteria. We build on existing work to enhance a Dynamic Mixed Integer Programming (DMIP) model of a power system that combines continuous time differential algebraic models with switching dynamics synthesized into mixed integer inequalities. We use this model to derive an optimal system reconfiguration strategy to prevent voltage collapse of a benchmark shipboard power system. However, this methodology is restricted by the computational complexity of dynamic programming and scalability of non-automated processes. To overcome

Cost of preventing workplace heat-related illness through worker breaks and the benefit of climate-change mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Takakura, Jun'ya; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Honda, Yasushi; Masui, Toshihiko

2017-06-01

The exposure of workers to hot environments is expected to increase as a result of climate change. In order to prevent heat-related illness, it is recommended that workers take breaks during working hours. However, this would lead to reductions in worktime and labor productivity. In this study, we estimate the economic cost of heat-related illness prevention through worker breaks associated with climate change under a wide range of climatic and socioeconomic conditions. We calculate the worktime reduction based on the recommendation of work/rest ratio and the estimated future wet bulb glove temperature, which is an index of heat stresses. Corresponding GDP losses (cost of heat-related illness prevention through worker breaks) are estimated using a computable general equilibrium model throughout this century. Under the highest emission scenario, GDP losses in 2100 will range from 2.6 to 4.0% compared to the current climate conditions. On the other hand, GDP losses will be less than 0.5% if the 2.0 °C goal is achieved. The benefit of climate-change mitigation for avoiding worktime loss is comparable to the cost of mitigation (cost of the greenhouse gas emission reduction) under the 2.0 °C goal. The relationship between the cost of heat-related illness prevention through worker breaks and global average temperature rise is approximately linear, and the difference in economic loss between the 1.5 °C goal and the 2.0 °C goal is expected to be approximately 0.3% of global GDP in 2100. Although climate mitigation and socioeconomic development can limit the vulnerable regions and sectors, particularly in developing countries, outdoor work is still expected to be affected. The effectiveness of some adaptation measures such as additional installation of air conditioning devices or shifting the time of day for working are also suggested. In order to reduce the economic impacts, adaptation measures should also be implemented as well as pursing ambitious climate change

Heatwaves and urban heat islands: A comparative analysis of multiple cities

Science.gov (United States)

Ramamurthy, P.; Bou-Zeid, E.

2017-01-01

The recent International Panel on Climate Change report predicts the highly urbanized Northeastern U.S. to be at high risk to heat waves. Since urban residents and infrastructure are known to be highly vulnerable to extreme heat, the goal of this paper is to understand the interaction between the synoptic-scale heat wave and the city-scale urban heat island (UHI) effects. The study also qualitatively analyzes the primary factors that contribute to UHIs by comparing their intensities in different cities with distinct geo-physical characteristics. Our results, generated by using the Weather Research and Forecasting model augmented with advanced urban surface parameterizations, confirm that the amplitude of UHI is related to the physical size of the city. However, the results suggest that cities of comparabale sizes might interact differently with heat waves: in New York City; Washington, DC; and Baltimore (but not in Philadelphia) the regular UHI was amplified more strongly during heat waves compared to smaller cities. The results also establish that the pattern of UHI in different cities, its variability, and its interaction with heat waves are inherently linked to dynamic factors.

Mitigation of divertor heat flux by high-frequency ELM pacing with non-fuel pellet injection in DIII-D

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A. Bortolon

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Experiments have been conducted on DIII-D investigating high repetition rate injection of non-fuel pellets as a tool for pacing Edge Localized Modes (ELMs and mitigating their transient divertor heat loads. Effective ELM pacing was obtained with injection of Li granules in different H-mode scenarios, at frequencies 3–5 times larger than the natural ELM frequency, with subsequent reduction of strike-point heat flux (Bortolon et al., Nucl. Fus., 56, 056008, 2016. However, in scenarios with high pedestal density (∼6 ×1019m−3, the magnitude of granule triggered ELMs shows a broad distribution, in terms of stored energy loss and peak heat flux, challenging the effectiveness of ELM mitigation. Furthermore, transient heat-flux deposition correlated with granule injections was observed far from the strike-points. Field line tracing suggest this phenomenon to be consistent with particle loss into the mid-plane far scrape-off layer, at toroidal location of the granule injection.

Mitigation potential of horizontal ground coupled heat pumps for current and future climatic conditions: UK environmental modelling and monitoring studies

Science.gov (United States)

García González, Raquel; Verhoef, Anne; Vidale, Pier Luigi; Gan, Guohui; Wu, Yupeng; Hughes, Andrew; Mansour, Majdi; Blyth, Eleanor; Finch, Jon; Main, Bruce

2010-05-01

An increased uptake of alternative low or non-CO2 emitting energy sources is one of the key priorities for policy makers to mitigate the effects of environmental change. Relatively little work has been undertaken on the mitigation potential of Ground Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHPs) despite the fact that a GCHP could significantly reduce CO2 emissions from heating systems. It is predicted that under climate change the most probable scenario is for UK temperatures to increase and for winter rainfall to become more abundant; the latter is likely to cause a general rise in groundwater levels. Summer rainfall may reduce considerably, while vegetation type and density may change. Furthermore, recent studies underline the likelihood of an increase in the number of heat waves. Under such a scenario, GCHPs will increasingly be used for cooling as well as heating. These factors will affect long-term performance of horizontal GCHP systems and hence their economic viability and mitigation potential during their life span ( 50 years). The seasonal temperature differences encountered in soil are harnessed by GCHPs to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. The performance of a GCHP system will depend on technical factors (heat exchanger (HE) type, length, depth, and spacing of pipes), but also it will be determined to a large extent by interactions between the below-ground parts of the system and the environment (atmospheric conditions, vegetation and soil characteristics). Depending on the balance between extraction and rejection of heat from and to the ground, the soil temperature in the neighbourhood of the HE may fall or rise. The GROMIT project (GROund coupled heat pumps MITigation potential), funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK), is a multi-disciplinary research project, in collaboration with EarthEnergy Ltd., which aims to quantify the CO2 mitigation potential of horizontal GCHPs. It considers changing environmental conditions and combines

The use of remotely sensed data as a tool in urban heat island investigations: An overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orvis, K.H.; Akbari, H. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States). Energy and Environment Div.

1992-01-01

Remotely sensed data contribute an important tool to areawide, cost-effective studies of urban heat island phenomena. This paper provides an overview of its use dating from the first satellite thermal images of urban heat signatures in the early 1970`s, and briefly examines the range of previous uses of remotely sensed data in urban studies, including identification and analysis of heat island effects, modeling of energy budgets, attempts to analyze and classify the urban landscape, and temporal analyses. The intent is not to provide an exhaustive review but rather to describe research trends and patterns. In addition the paper lists an compares those sensing devices that have seen significant use in urban studies and briefly discusses potential strengths and weaknesses of remotely sensed data for use in urban analyses. Three annotated bibliographies, divided by subject, are included. 95 refs.

Study of the heat island phenomenon in large cities and the measures to prevent it; Daitoshi ni okeru heat island gensho to sono taisaku ni kansuru kenkyu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawasaki, T.; Ishitani, H.; Matsuhashi, T. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1997-01-30

The paper made an analysis of the heat island phenomenon in the Kanto area using 3-D numerical analysis models and a study on the effectiveness of the measures to prevent it. The models are composed of advection/diffusion models of heat/steam in the wind-velocity field and atmospheric air, heat diffusion models in the underground and undersea, and heat balance models on the ground surface and sea surface. In the calculation, a simulation was conducted of the case of taking the following three measures: the case where the exhaust heat was reduced 30% in the assumed typical day of summer; the case where the heat volume of buildings/trunk roads was reduced; the case where the evaporation efficiency of buildings/trunk roads was raised. The result of the study was as follows: The reduction effect of the exhaust heat is totally large, but precisely observing, some meshes contrarily showed rises in temperature in the suburbs. Also in the case of reducing the heat volume, the same phenomenon occurred, but the effect was large in the center of a city. It was found that the effect was unexpectedly large in the case of increasing the evaporation efficiency. 7 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.

Quality and sensitivity of high-resolution numerical simulation of urban heat islands

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie

2014-05-01

High-resolution numerical simulations of the urban heat island (UHI) effect with the widely-used Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are assessed. Both the sensitivity of the results to the simulation setup, and the quality of the simulated fields as representations of the real world, are investigated. Results indicate that the WRF-simulated surface temperatures are more sensitive to the planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme choice during nighttime, and more sensitive to the surface thermal roughness length parameterization during daytime. The urban surface temperatures simulated by WRF are also highly sensitive to the urban canopy model (UCM) used. The implementation in this study of an improved UCM (the Princeton UCM or PUCM) that allows the simulation of heterogeneous urban facets and of key hydrological processes, together with the so-called CZ09 parameterization for the thermal roughness length, significantly reduce the bias (Changing UCMs and PBL schemes does not alter the performance of WRF in reproducing bulk boundary layer temperature profiles significantly. The results illustrate the wide range of urban environmental conditions that various configurations of WRF can produce, and the significant biases that should be assessed before inferences are made based on WRF outputs. The optimal set-up of WRF-PUCM developed in this paper also paves the way for a confident exploration of the city-scale impacts of UHI mitigation strategies in the companion paper (Li et al 2014).

Temperature and heat flow measurements in a fumarolic area: Vulcano Island (Italy)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guern, F.L. (Centre des Faibles Radioactivites C.N.R.S., Gifsur Yvette, France); Carbonnelle, J.; D' Amore, F.

1980-01-01

Vulcano, the southern Aeolian Island, is in fumarolic activity. The possibilities of measurements are limited by the field conditions as well as by the technological feasibility. In the present work different tests were made in the field to measure temperature continuously: only the measurements made in dry steam gave good results because they avoid corrosion, and solution of the acid gases in the condensed steam in the ground. Field measurements show that the heat transfer is mainly due to convection. The values obtained in the field can be used to quantify the remote sensing of heat transfer.

Urban heat island and linkage with air quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greuillet, C.; Galsomies, L.

2013-01-01

The urban heat island (UHI) effect can be noticed in cities where the temperature is higher than the surrounding countryside, on average 2 deg. C above. In summer during a heat wave, the gap can up to over ten-degree. UHI causes a thermal stress which induces some repercussions on health. The formation of UHI is more and more documented but further studies have to be conducted in order to qualify and quantify the impacts on our health and environment, and the link with atmospheric pollution. Studies have shown air quality deterioration in UHI areas: Both phenomena can be simultaneous because their conditions of appearance are often linked. Henceforth the stake is to manage and if possible reduce UHI to adapt cities to the expected climate change. Dense cities in the future will also have to be naturally cooled down. In order to do so, we will have to act on the most influential UHI formation factors, namely: vegetation and water, buildings (shapes and materials), production and consumption of energy. (authors)

An energy and mortality impact assessment of the urban heat island in the US

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Increased summer energy use and increased summer heat related mortality are the two most cited detrimental impacts of the urban heat island (UHI). An assessment of these impacts was made that considered the annual impact of the UHI, not just the summer impact. It was found that in north of the US there was a net decrease in energy use from the UHI, as heating energy reductions were larger than the increase in cooling energy. In the south there was a net energy increase from the UHI. The impact of the UHI on heat related deaths was an estimated increase of 1.1 deaths per million people. The impact of the UHI on cold related deaths was an estimated decrease of 4.0 deaths per million people. These estimates are caveated by the acknowledgement that compounding factors influence mortality. Hypothermia related death rates were three times higher in rural areas than urban areas. This is surprising as the homeless population is usually considered the most at risk, yet they mostly live in urban areas. - Highlights: • The urban heat island (UHI) may actually be beneficial in colder cities in the US in terms of energy use • The UHI may cause an increase in heat related mortality of ~ 1 deaths per million • In winter the UHI may decrease cold related mortality by ~ 4 deaths per million • Cold related death rates were 3 times higher in rural areas although the homeless population live mainly in urban areas

An energy and mortality impact assessment of the urban heat island in the US

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lowe, Scott A., E-mail: Scott.lowe@manhattan.edu

2016-01-15

Increased summer energy use and increased summer heat related mortality are the two most cited detrimental impacts of the urban heat island (UHI). An assessment of these impacts was made that considered the annual impact of the UHI, not just the summer impact. It was found that in north of the US there was a net decrease in energy use from the UHI, as heating energy reductions were larger than the increase in cooling energy. In the south there was a net energy increase from the UHI. The impact of the UHI on heat related deaths was an estimated increase of 1.1 deaths per million people. The impact of the UHI on cold related deaths was an estimated decrease of 4.0 deaths per million people. These estimates are caveated by the acknowledgement that compounding factors influence mortality. Hypothermia related death rates were three times higher in rural areas than urban areas. This is surprising as the homeless population is usually considered the most at risk, yet they mostly live in urban areas. - Highlights: • The urban heat island (UHI) may actually be beneficial in colder cities in the US in terms of energy use • The UHI may cause an increase in heat related mortality of ~ 1 deaths per million • In winter the UHI may decrease cold related mortality by ~ 4 deaths per million • Cold related death rates were 3 times higher in rural areas although the homeless population live mainly in urban areas.

Harmonic mitigation in islanded microgrids by inverter-interfaced distributed energy resource

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiongfei Wang

2012-10-15

presented to confirm the performance of the VHI method for the autonomous sharing of harmonic currents and the effective resonance damping at the Point of Connection (PoC) of DER inverters. Following the research on the autonomous control methods of DER inverters for the harmonic current filtering and resonance damping, the investigations move forward to the harmonic voltage compensation at the microgrid system-level. The shunt-connected capacitors may result in a mismatch between the characteristic impedances of the distribution feeders and the synthesized harmonic resistances in DER inverters. Consequently, a so-called 'whack-a-mole' effect arises which magnifies harmonic voltages at the certain buses even though the harmonic voltages at the PoC of DER inverters have been reduced. Hence, in order to mitigate such undesired harmonic voltage distortion in islanded microgrids, a centralized harmonic voltage compensator is proposed and realized in the secondary control system. Moreover, to overcome the bandwidth limits of communication channels, a Park transformation aided signal processing technique is developed, so that harmonic frequency signals can be demodulated as DC signals by Park transformations in the centralized compensator, and be modulated back to harmonic signals in the primary control systems of DER inverters. Simulation case studies and experimental results have shown that the proposed secondary harmonic voltage compensation schemes perform well with tens of milliseconds communication delay. (Author)

Mitigation of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants from Residential Coal Heating and Combined Heating/Cooking Stoves: Impacts on the Cryosphere, Policy Options, and Co-benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Chafe, Z.; Anenberg, S.; Klimont, Z.; Kupiainen, K.; Lewis, J.; Metcalfe, J.; Pearson, P.

2017-12-01

Residential solid fuel combustion for cooking, heating, and other energy services contributes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, and creates impacts on the cryosphere. Solid fuel use often occurs in colder climates and at higher elevations, where a wide range of combustion emissions can reduce reflectivity of the snow- and ice-covered surfaces, causing climatic warming. Reducing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), such as black carbon (BC), could have substantial climate and health co-benefits, especially in areas where emissions influence the cryosphere. A review of existing literature and emissions estimates, conducted as part of the Warsaw Summit on BC and Other Emissions from Residential Coal Heating Stoves and Combined Cooking/Heating Stoves, found little nationally-representative data on the fuels and technologies used for heating and combined cooking/heating. The GAINS model estimates that 24 million tonnes of coal equivalent were combusted by households for space heating globally in 2010, releasing 190 kilotons (kt) BC. Emissions from combined cooking/heating are virtually unknown. Policy instruments could mitigate cryosphere-relevant emissions of SLCPs from residential heating or cooking. These include indoor air quality guidelines, stove emission limits, bans on the use of specific fuels, regulatory codes that stipulate when burning can occur, stove changeout programs, and voluntary public education campaigns. These measures are being implemented in countries such as Chile (fuelwood moisture reduction campaign, energy efficiency, heating system improvements), Mongolia (stove renovation, fuel switching), Peru (improved stove programs), Poland (district heating, local fuel bans), United States (stove emission regulation) and throughout the European Community (Ecodesign Directive). Few, if any, of these regulations are likely to reduce emissions from combined cooking/heating. This research team found no global platform to create and share model

Influence of Urbanization Factors on Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity: A Comparison of Countries at Different Developmental Phases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaoping Cui

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a global problem with demographic trends. The urban heat island plays a dominant role in local climate systems. Despite existing efforts to understand the impacts of multiple urbanization factors on the urban heat island globally, very little is known about the attribution of urban heat island magnitude to urbanization in different locations or developmental phases. In this study, based on global land surface temperature data, urban spatial domain data, gross domestic product (GDP, and population data, we analyzed the influence of multiple urbanization factors on global surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII. We also tentatively compared the abovementioned factors between different regions across the globe, especially between China and the USA, the largest countries that are experiencing or have experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. The results showed that global SUHII had remarkable spatial heterogeneity due to the geographical and socioeconomic variation between cities. There was a significant correlation between SUHII and population as well as GDP in global cities. Moreover, this study suggested that the impacts of population on SUHII might be stronger in the early stages of urbanization, and the GDP factor would become a critical factor at a certain development level. The urban area also had non-ignorable impacts on SUHII, while the correlation between SUHII and urban shape was relatively weak. All these may imply that the best approach to slow down SUHII is to find other solutions, e.g., optimize the spatial configuration of urban internal landscapes, when the urbanization reaches a high level.

Tarague Interpretive Trail Mitigation Plan

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Welch, David

2001-01-01

...), International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc. (lARfI) has prepared a mitigation plan for development of an interpretive trail at Tarague Beach, located on the north coast of the island of Guam (Fig. 1...

A Numerical Study on Impact of Taiwan Island Surface Heat Flux on Super Typhoon Haitang (2005)

OpenAIRE

Xu, Hongxiong

2015-01-01

Three to four tropical cyclones (TCs) by average usually impact Taiwan every year. This study, using the Developmental Tested Center (DTC) version of the Hurricane WRF (HWRF) model, examines the effects of Taiwan’s island surface heat fluxes on typhoon structure, intensity, track, and its rainfall over the island. The numerical simulation successfully reproduced the structure and intensity of super Typhoon Haitang. The model, especially, reproduced the looped path and landfall at nearly the ...

Observing the Vertical Dimensions of Singapore's Urban Heat Island

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, W. T. L.; Ho, D. X. Q.

2015-12-01

In numerous cities, measurements of urban warmth in most urban heat island (UHI) studies are generally constrained towards surface or near-surface (quadcopter platforms to measure urban temperature and humidity profiles in Singapore, which is a rapidly urbanizing major tropical metropolis. These profiles were measured from the surface to ~100 m above ground level, a height which includes all of the urban canopy and parts of the urban boundary layer. Initial results indicate significant variations in stability measured over different land uses (e.g. urban park, high-rise residential, commercial); these profiles are also temporally dynamic, depending on the time of day and larger-scale weather conditions.

The effect of urban heat island on Izmir's city ecosystem and climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Corumluoglu, Ozsen; Asri, Ibrahim

2015-03-01

Depending on the researches done on urban landscapes, it is found that the heat island intensity caused by the activities in any city has some impact on the ecosystem of the region and on the regional climate. Urban areas located in arid and semiarid lands somehow represent heat increase when it is compared with the heat in the surrounding rural areas. Thus, cities located amid forested and temperate climate regions show moderate temperatures. The impervious surfaces let the rainfall leave the city lands faster than undeveloped areas. This effect reduces water's cooling effects on these lands. More significantly, if trees and other vegetations are rare in any region, it means less evapotranspiration-the process by which trees "exhale" water. Trees also contribute to the cooling of urban lands by their shade. Land cover and land use maps can easily be produced by processing of remote sensing satellites' images, like processing of Landsat's images. As a result of this process, urban regions can be distinguished from vegetation. Analyzed GIS data produced and supported by these images can be utilized to determine the impact of urban land on energy, water, and carbon balances at the Earth's surface. Here in this study, it is found that remote sensing technique with thermal images is a liable technique to asses where urban heat islands and hot spots are located in cities. As an application area, in Izmir, it was found that the whole city was in high level of surface temperature as it was over 28 °C during the summer times. Beside this, the highest temperature values which go up to 47 °C are obtained at industrial regions especially where the iron-steel factories and the related industrial activities are.

PEMBAHASAN MENGENAI EFEK URBAN HEAT ISLAND DAN SOLUSI ALTERNATIF BAGI KOTA JAKARTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew V Limas

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Hadirnya Jakarta sebagai salah satu kota metropolitan yang berkembang di dunia, menjadikan Jakarta sebagai salah satu kota yang harus diperhitungkan konsistensinya. Letaknya yang berada di daerah tropis serta memiliki angka kepadatan penduduk yang tinggi menciptakan sebuah masalah serius bagi bangunan perkantoran dan perumahan di dalamnya, polemik yang dimaksud adalah adanya “efek pemanasan di daerah perkotaan”. Artikel ini akan membahas definisi dan aplikasi dari sistem “atap hijau” bersamaan dengan keuntungan dan keunikannya dalam menjawab kebutuhan dalam mengurangi tingginya temperatur pada pusat perkantoran dan daerah perumahan di kota Jakarta. Kata Kunci : efek pemanasan daerah perkotaan, kepadatan penduduk, sistem atap hijau Abstract Considering Jakarta as one of the developing metropolitan cities in the world creates, the need to reckon it’s consistency has emerged. Located in a tropical area with  high population density creates a serious problem to its city planning, in other words an urban heat island effect. This paper will discuss the definition and application of a green roof system along with its advantages or uniqueness to answer the need to reduce high temperature in central business district and residental areas for city of Jakarta in particular. Keywords : urban heat island effect, population density, green roof system

Sensitivities Affecting Heat and Urban Heat Island Effect on Local Scale Projected to Neighborhood Scale in Baltimore, Maryland

Science.gov (United States)

Sze, C.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Scott, A.

2015-12-01

Urban regions are often impacted more by heat than adjacent rural areas, which is a phenomenon known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Urban areas are also highly heterogeneous and notoriously difficult to monitor using standard meteorological protocols—the hottest microclimates within a city often occur in locations that lack open, representative installation sites that are an adequate distance from buildings and direct heat sources. To investigate the challenges of monitoring urban heat, this study examines the sensitivity of temperature and humidity sensors currently used in a Baltimore UHI monitoring network to differences in sun exposure, material on which the data collecting instrument is attached, and land cover class of the vicinity. Sensitivity to sun exposure and attachment site can be interpreted as sources of uncertainty for urban heat monitoring, while sensitivity to land cover may reflect a true source of local temperature and humidity variability. In this study, we present results from a test deployment designed to assess the sensitivity of heat measurements to each of these three factors. We then apply these results to interpret measurements taken across the entire Baltimore UHI monitoring network. These results can then be used to improve heat measurements and more accurately represent and quantify the UHI effect on a broader scale, such as in neighborhoods or urban centers.

Heat island and spatio-temporal changes of temperature in the city of Bogota

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angel, L; Ramirez, A; Dominguez, E.

2010-01-01

The planet Earth, as a whole, has experienced a warming process caused principally by the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Otherwise, it has been well demonstrated that thermic islands exist inside of cities, essentially as a result of the replacement of forest areas with urban materials such as asphalt, concrete, bricks, etc. Based on this foundation, this research evaluated the minimum, median and maximum temperature changes that occurred in the city of Bogota over the last 40 years. This research makes evident the presence of a heat island 3o Cover the periphery median temperature in most of the city. There were also periods with increases and decreases in city temperatures, not affected in its main tendency by the Nino Phenomena which in contrast affected the periphery.

Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Urban Heat-island Effects: Findings from an India Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Xu, Tengfang; Taha, Haider; Wray, Craig; Sathaye, Jayant; Garg, Vishal; Tetali, Surekha; Babu, M. Hari; Reddy, K. Niranjan

2011-05-25

energy in India. Meteorological simulations in this study indicated that a reduction of 2C in air temperature in the Hyderabad area would be likely if a combination of increased surface albedo and vegetative cover are used as urban heat-island control strategies. In addition, air-temperature reductions on the order of 2.5-3.5C could be achieved if moderate and aggressive heat-island mitigation measures are adopted, respectively. A large-scale deployment of mitigation measures can bring additional indirect benefit to the urban area. For example, cooling outside air can improve the efficiency of cooling systems, reduce smog and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and indirectly reduce pollution from power plants - all improving environmental health quality. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of cool-roof technology as one of the urban heat-island control strategies for the Indian industrial and scientific communities and has provided an estimate of the national energy savings potential of cool roofs in India. These outcomes can be used for developing cool-roof building standards and related policies in India. Additional field studies, built upon the successes and lessons learned from this project, may be helpful to further confirm the scale of potential energy savings from the application of cooler roofs in various regions of India. In the future, a more rigorous meteorological simulation using urbanized (meso-urban) meteorological models should be conducted, which may produce a more accurate estimate of the air-temperature reductions for the entire urban area.

Shallow geothermal field in Lanzarote (Canary Island). Potential evaluation and heat extraction test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diez-Gil, J.L.; Valentin, A. [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid (Spain); Torres, F. [Universidad de Barcelona (Spain); Albert, J.F.

1994-12-31

Boreholes were used to perform various experiments. A thermometry was carried out, as well as chemical analysis and an hydrodynamic modelling. This paper presents the scientific aims and conclusions of the whole project called ``Shallow H.D.R. geothermal field`` in Lanzarote (Canary Islands). Potential evaluation and heat extraction test are presented. (Project JOUG-0004 ES -JR - JOULE Program of the EEC). (TEC). 2 tabs.

Multidecadal shoreline changes of atoll islands in the Marshall Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, M.

2012-12-01

Atoll islands are considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of continued sea level rise. One of the most commonly predicted outcomes of continued sea level rise is widespread and chronic shoreline erosion. Despite the widespread implications of predicted erosion, the decadal scale changes of atoll island shorelines are poorly resolved. The Marshall Islands is one of only four countries where the majority of inhabited land is comprised of reef and atoll islands. Consisting of 29 atolls and 5 mid-ocean reef islands, the Marshall Islands are considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise. A detailed analysis of shoreline change on over 300 islands on 10 atolls was undertaken using historic aerial photos (1945-1978) and modern high resolution satellite imagery (2004-2012). Results highlight the complex and dynamic nature of atoll islands, with significant shifts in shoreline position observed over the period of analysis. Results suggest shoreline accretion is the dominant mode of change on the islands studied, often associated with a net increase in vegetated island area. However, considerable inter- and intra-atoll variability exists with regards to shoreline stability. Findings are discussed with respect to island morphodynamics and potential hazard mitigation and planning responses within atoll settings.

The relation between land-cover and the urban heat island in northeastern Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

David J.R. Murphy; Myrna Hall; Charles Hall; Gordon Heisler; Steve Stehman

2007-01-01

As development continues in Puerto Rico, forests and grasslands are being converted to impervious cover, changing the magnitude and geographic range of the Urban Heat Island (UHI). As part of the U.S. National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Program, this study aims to quantify the various meteorological effects that urbanization may be imparting on...

Physical model of the dispersion of a radioactive contaminant in the atmosphere above a heat island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toly, J.A.; Tenchine, D.

1984-01-01

The project deals with the impact of surface heating in urban areas on the dispersion of contaminants in the atmosphere. - The atmospheric boundary layer is simulated in a water flume. Ground heating is applied locally reproducing the heat flux of an urban region. Fission products for which internal heat source is neglected are simulated by horizontal plumes at pHs different from the original pH of the flume. - The main results of the study concern: the characterization of the internal boundary layer downstream of the leading edge of the heated ground; the comparison of the concentration distributions of pollutants with and without surface heating. - A transposition of the results, expressed in terms of global parameters, enables information on the heat island effect due to urban regions on the dispersion of contaminants in the atmosphere to be obtained

Use of GLOBE Observations to Derive a Landsat 8 Split Window Algorithm for Urban Heat Island

Science.gov (United States)

Fagerstrom, L.; Czajkowski, K. P.

2017-12-01

Surface temperature has been studied to investigate the warming of urban climates, also known as urban heat islands, which can impact urban planning, public health, pollution levels, and energy consumption. However, the full potential of remotely sensed images is limited when analyzing land surface temperature due to the daunting task of correcting for atmospheric effects. Landsat 8 has two thermal infrared sensors. With two bands in the infrared region, a split window algorithm (SWA), can be applied to correct for atmospheric effects. This project used in situ surface temperature measurements from NASA's ground observation program, the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), to derive the correcting coefficients for use in the SWA. The GLOBE database provided land surface temperature data that coincided with Landsat 8 overpasses. The land surface temperature derived from Landsat 8 SWA can be used to analyze for urban heat island effect.

Satellite and Ground-Based Sensors for the Urban Heat Island Analysis in the City of Rome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Fabrizi

2010-05-01

Full Text Available In this work, the trend of the Urban Heat Island (UHI of Rome is analyzed by both ground-based weather stations and a satellite-based infrared sensor. First, we have developed a suitable algorithm employing satellite brightness temperatures for the estimation of the air temperature belonging to the layer of air closest to the surface. UHI spatial characteristics have been assessed using air temperatures measured by both weather stations and brightness temperature maps from the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR on board ENVISAT polar-orbiting satellite. In total, 634 daytime and nighttime scenes taken between 2003 and 2006 have been processed. Analysis of the Canopy Layer Heat Island (CLHI during summer months reveals a mean growth in magnitude of 3–4 K during nighttime and a negative or almost zero CLHI intensity during daytime, confirmed by the weather stations.

Urban surface temperature behaviour and heat island effect in a tropical planned city

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Adeb Qaid; Ossen, Dilshan Remaz; Jamei, Elmira; Manaf, Norhashima Abd; Said, Ismail; Ahmad, Mohd Hamdan

2015-02-01

Putrajaya is a model city planned with concepts of a "city in the garden" and an "intelligent city" in the tropics. This study presents the behaviour of the surface temperature and the heat island effect of Putrajaya. Findings show that heat island intensity is 2 °C on average at nighttime and negligible at daytime. But high surface temperature values were recorded at the main boulevard due to direct solar radiation incident, street orientation in the direction of northeast and southwest and low building height-to-street width ratio. Buildings facing each other had cooling effect on surfaces during the morning and evening hours; conversely, they had a warming effect at noon. Clustered trees along the street are effective in reducing the surface temperature compared to scattered and isolated trees. Surface temperature of built up areas was highest at noon, while walls and sidewalks facing northwest were hottest later in the day. Walls and sidewalks that face northwest were warmer than those that face southeast. The surface temperatures of the horizontal street surfaces and of vertical façades are at acceptable levels relative to the surface temperature of similar surfaces in mature cities in subtropical, temperate and Mediterranean climates.

The Impact of Energy Consumption on the Surface Urban Heat Island in China’s 32 Major Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weilin Liao

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Supported by the rapid economic development in the last few decades, China has become the largest energy consumer in the world. Alongside this, the effect of the anthropogenic heat released from energy consumption is increasingly apparent. We quantified the daytime and nighttime surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII for the 32 major cities in mainland China, using MODIS land surface temperature data from 2008 to 2012, and estimated the energy consumption intensity (ECI based on the correlation between energy consumption and the sum of nighttime lights. On this basis, the impact of energy consumption on the surface urban heat island in China’s 32 major cities was analyzed, by directly examining the relationship between SUHII and the urban-suburban difference in ECI. The results show that energy consumption has a significantly positive correlation with the nighttime SUHII, but no correlation with the daytime SUHII. It indicates that the cities with a larger urban-suburban difference in ECI have a far greater impact on SUHII during the nighttime. Therefore, the statistical analysis of the historical observation data in this study provides evidence for a long-held hypothesis that the anthropogenic heat released from energy consumption is an important contributor to the urban thermal environment.

Detailed Urban Heat Island Projections for Cities Worldwide: Dynamical Downscaling CMIP5 Global Climate Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk Lauwaet

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A new dynamical downscaling methodology to analyze the impact of global climate change on the local climate of cities worldwide is presented. The urban boundary layer climate model UrbClim is coupled to 11 global climate models contained in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 archive, conducting 20-year simulations for present (1986–2005 and future (2081–2100 climate conditions, considering the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 climate scenario. The evolution of the urban heat island of eight different cities, located on three continents, is quantified and assessed, with an unprecedented horizontal resolution of a few hundred meters. For all cities, urban and rural air temperatures are found to increase strongly, up to 7 °C. However, the urban heat island intensity in most cases increases only slightly, often even below the range of uncertainty. A potential explanation, focusing on the role of increased incoming longwave radiation, is put forth. Finally, an alternative method for generating urban climate projections is proposed, combining the ensemble temperature change statistics and the results of the present-day urban climate.

Effects of Land Use/Cover Changes and Urban Forest Configuration on Urban Heat Islands in a Loess Hilly Region: Case Study Based on Yan’an City, China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinping; Hao, Hongke; Zhang, Fangfang; Hu, Youning

2017-01-01

In this study Yan’an City, a typical hilly valley city, was considered as the study area in order to explain the relationships between the surface urban heat island (SUHI) and land use/land cover (LULC) types, the landscape pattern metrics of LULC types and land surface temperature (LST) and remote sensing indexes were retrieved from Landsat data during 1990–2015, and to find factors contributed to the green space cool island intensity (GSCI) through field measurements of 34 green spaces. The results showed that during 1990–2015, because of local anthropogenic activities, SUHI was mainly located in lower vegetation cover areas. There was a significant suburban-urban gradient in the average LST, as well as its heterogeneity and fluctuations. Six landscape metrics comprising the fractal dimension index, percentage of landscape, aggregation index, division index, Shannon’s diversity index, and expansion intensity of the classified LST spatiotemporal changes were paralleled to LULC changes, especially for construction land, during the past 25 years. In the urban area, an index-based built-up index was the key positive factor for explaining LST increases, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index and modified normalized difference water index were crucial factors for explaining LST decreases during the study periods. In terms of the heat mitigation performance of green spaces, mixed forest was better than pure forest, and the urban forest configuration had positive effects on GSCI. The results of this study provide insights into the importance of species choice and the spatial design of green spaces for cooling the environment. PMID:28933770

Effects of Land Use/Cover Changes and Urban Forest Configuration on Urban Heat Islands in a Loess Hilly Region: Case Study Based on Yan’an City, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinping Zhang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this study Yan’an City, a typical hilly valley city, was considered as the study area in order to explain the relationships between the surface urban heat island (SUHI and land use/land cover (LULC types, the landscape pattern metrics of LULC types and land surface temperature (LST and remote sensing indexes were retrieved from Landsat data during 1990–2015, and to find factors contributed to the green space cool island intensity (GSCI through field measurements of 34 green spaces. The results showed that during 1990–2015, because of local anthropogenic activities, SUHI was mainly located in lower vegetation cover areas. There was a significant suburban-urban gradient in the average LST, as well as its heterogeneity and fluctuations. Six landscape metrics comprising the fractal dimension index, percentage of landscape, aggregation index, division index, Shannon’s diversity index, and expansion intensity of the classified LST spatiotemporal changes were paralleled to LULC changes, especially for construction land, during the past 25 years. In the urban area, an index-based built-up index was the key positive factor for explaining LST increases, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index and modified normalized difference water index were crucial factors for explaining LST decreases during the study periods. In terms of the heat mitigation performance of green spaces, mixed forest was better than pure forest, and the urban forest configuration had positive effects on GSCI. The results of this study provide insights into the importance of species choice and the spatial design of green spaces for cooling the environment.

Effects of Land Use/Cover Changes and Urban Forest Configuration on Urban Heat Islands in a Loess Hilly Region: Case Study Based on Yan'an City, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinping; Wang, Dexiang; Hao, Hongke; Zhang, Fangfang; Hu, Youning

2017-07-26

In this study Yan'an City, a typical hilly valley city, was considered as the study area in order to explain the relationships between the surface urban heat island (SUHI) and land use/land cover (LULC) types, the landscape pattern metrics of LULC types and land surface temperature (LST) and remote sensing indexes were retrieved from Landsat data during 1990-2015, and to find factors contributed to the green space cool island intensity (GSCI) through field measurements of 34 green spaces. The results showed that during 1990-2015, because of local anthropogenic activities, SUHI was mainly located in lower vegetation cover areas. There was a significant suburban-urban gradient in the average LST, as well as its heterogeneity and fluctuations. Six landscape metrics comprising the fractal dimension index, percentage of landscape, aggregation index, division index, Shannon's diversity index, and expansion intensity of the classified LST spatiotemporal changes were paralleled to LULC changes, especially for construction land, during the past 25 years. In the urban area, an index-based built-up index was the key positive factor for explaining LST increases, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index and modified normalized difference water index were crucial factors for explaining LST decreases during the study periods. In terms of the heat mitigation performance of green spaces, mixed forest was better than pure forest, and the urban forest configuration had positive effects on GSCI. The results of this study provide insights into the importance of species choice and the spatial design of green spaces for cooling the environment.

Quality and sensitivity of high-resolution numerical simulation of urban heat islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie

2014-01-01

High-resolution numerical simulations of the urban heat island (UHI) effect with the widely-used Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are assessed. Both the sensitivity of the results to the simulation setup, and the quality of the simulated fields as representations of the real world, are investigated. Results indicate that the WRF-simulated surface temperatures are more sensitive to the planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme choice during nighttime, and more sensitive to the surface thermal roughness length parameterization during daytime. The urban surface temperatures simulated by WRF are also highly sensitive to the urban canopy model (UCM) used. The implementation in this study of an improved UCM (the Princeton UCM or PUCM) that allows the simulation of heterogeneous urban facets and of key hydrological processes, together with the so-called CZ09 parameterization for the thermal roughness length, significantly reduce the bias (<1.5 °C) in the surface temperature fields as compared to satellite observations during daytime. The boundary layer potential temperature profiles are captured by WRF reasonable well at both urban and rural sites; the biases in these profiles relative to aircraft-mounted senor measurements are on the order of 1.5 °C. Changing UCMs and PBL schemes does not alter the performance of WRF in reproducing bulk boundary layer temperature profiles significantly. The results illustrate the wide range of urban environmental conditions that various configurations of WRF can produce, and the significant biases that should be assessed before inferences are made based on WRF outputs. The optimal set-up of WRF-PUCM developed in this paper also paves the way for a confident exploration of the city-scale impacts of UHI mitigation strategies in the companion paper (Li et al 2014). (letter)

Detection of urban heat island in Ankara, Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cicek, I.; Dogan, U.

2006-01-01

Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey after Istanbul, and the rate of population increase and urbanization are quite high. In this study, the effects of urbanization on temperature variation due to urbanization in Ankara were investigated. The intensities of urban heat island (UHI) for long and short term were analyzed. Analysis of both long- and short-term data revealed that there is a significant increase in the intensity of UHI (AT(u-r)) in winter during the period analyzed. Analysis of data collected for period of October 2001-September 2002 shows that intensity of maximum UHI is in February. In this month, positive UHI was observed in 26 nights and on all these days wind speed was less than 0.5ms.1. UHI is positive in all seasons and frequency and intensity of UHI in winter are higher than in the other seasons. This characteristic makes Ankara different from other temperate latitude cities

Mitigating Climate Change by the Development and Deployment of Solar Water Heating Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. T. Wara

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Solar energy is becoming an alternative for the limited fossil fuel resources. One of the simplest and most direct applications of this energy is the conversion of solar radiation into heat, which can be used in Water Heating Systems. Ogun State in Nigeria was used as a case study. The solar radiation for the state was explored with an annual average of 4.775 kWh/m2 recorded. The designed system comprised storage tanks and the collector unit which comprises wooden casing, copper tube, and aluminium foil. Test results for the unlagged and lagged storage tanks for water temperature at various angles of inclination (2.500°–20.000° were on the average 27.800°C and 28.300°C, respectively, for the inlet temperature and 60.100°C and 63.000°C for the outlet temperature, respectively. The efficiency of the Solar Water Heating System was 72.500% and the power saved 2.798 kW. The cost of the unit is put at 1121,400 ($145 as at August 2012. The unit developed can be applied for the purpose of reducing the cost of energy, dealing with environmental challenges, and improving the use of energy, hence serving as a climate mitigation process as this can be extended for water heating for domestic and other industrial purposes.

Streamlined energy-savings calculations for heat-island reduction strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Konopacki, Steven J.

2003-03-15

We have developed summary tables (sorted by heating- and cooling-degree-days) to estimate the potential of Heat-Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., solar-reflective roofs, shade trees, reflective pavements, and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling-energy use in buildings. The tables provide estimates of savings for both direct effect (reducing heat gain through the building shell) and indirect effect (reducing the ambient air temperature). In this analysis, we considered three building types that offer the most savings potential : residences, offices, and retail stores. Each building type was characterized in detail by Pre-1980 (old) or 1980+ (new) construction vintage and with natural gas or electricity as heating fuel. We defined prototypical-building characteristics for each building type and simulated the effects of HIR strategies on building cooling and heating energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.1E model and weather data for about 240 locations in the U.S. A statistical analysis of previously completed simulations for five cities was used to estimate the indirect savings. Our simulations included the effect of (1) solar-reflective roofing material on building [direct effect], (2) placement of deciduous shade trees near south and west walls of building [direct effect], and (3) ambient cooling achieved by urban reforestation and reflective building surfaces and pavements [indirect effect]. Upon completion of estimating the direct and indirect energy savings for all the selected locations, we integrated the results in tables arranged by heating- and cooling-degree-days. We considered 15 bins for heating-degree-days, and 11 bins for cooling-degree-days. Energy use and savings are presented per 1000 ft2 of roof area. In residences heated with gas and in climates with greater than 1000 cooling-degree-days, the annual electricity savings in Pre-1980 stock ranged from 650 to 1300 kWh/1000ft2; for 1980+ stock savings ranged 300 to 600 kWh/1000 ft2

Effect of Land-Use Change on the Urban Heat Island in the Fukuoka–Kitakyushu Metropolitan Area, Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoichi Kawamoto

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In coastal cities, the effect of the sea breeze in mitigating the urban heat island (UHI phenomenon has attracted attention. This study targeted the Fukuoka–Kitakyushu metropolitan area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in Japan which is also coastal. Doppler Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR observations were conducted in the summer of 2015 to clarify the transition of the wind field over the targeted area. To investigate the effects on the UHI of land-use change related to urbanization, the National Land Numerical Information (NLNI land-use datasets for Japan in 1976 (NLNI-76 and 2009 (NLNI-09 were used in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model. The results of the simulation showed that most of the northern part of the Kyushu region became warmer, with an average increase of +0.236 °C for the whole simulation period. Comparing the two simulations and the Doppler LiDAR observations, the simulation results with the NLNI-09 dataset (for the year closest to the study period in 2015 showed closer conformity with the observations. The results of the simulation using NLNI-76 showed faster sea breeze penetration and higher wind velocity than the observations. These results suggest that the land-use change related to urbanization weakened the sea breeze penetration in this area.

The Urban Heat Island phenomenon modelling and analysis as an adaptation of Maghreb cities to climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ouali Kaoutar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The modeling of the urban microclimate, in particular the phenomenon of the Urban Heat Island (UHI, is becoming increasingly essential for city planning and urban design. The phenomenon analysis is henceforth possible thanks to the increase in computational power, the link between simulation tools and urban databases, which allow to represent explicitly the characteristics of the urban microclimate and to better understand its effects, through the analysis and evaluation of the different impacts of the urban climatic or anthropogenic contributors (urban morphology, land use, building sites, albedo, …. However, the choice of the scaleof the study depends on a balance between the precision of the modeling, the capacities of calculation and the availability and reliability of the data.The UHI phenomenon has been the subject of several research studies in the European countries since the 2000s. Thispaper focuses mainly on the description of the phenomenon, the different methodsused to evaluate and modeled its impacts, using some approaches for mitigating these ones.The contribution aims to highlight the phenomenon of the UHI based on a bibliographic study of the latest research on this topic in Maghreb cities.The state of art focuses on the progress made during the last 15 years taking into account the UHI in the different strategies for adapting cities to climate change and for improving their resilience.

Estimating the CO2 mitigation potential of horizontal Ground Source Heat Pumps in the UK

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Gonzalez, R.; Verhoef, A.; Vidale, P. L.; Gan, G.; Chong, A.; Clark, D.

2012-04-01

By 2020, the UK will need to generate 15% of its energy from renewables to meet our contribution to the EU renewable energy target. Heating and cooling systems of buildings account for 30%-50% of the global energy consumption; thus, alternative low-carbon technologies such as horizontal Ground Couple Heat Pumps (GCHPs) can contribute to the reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Horizontal GCHPs currently represent a small fraction of the total energy generation in the UK. However, the fact that semi-detached and detached dwellings represent approximately 40% of the total housing stocks in the UK could make the widespread implementation of this technology particularly attractive in the UK and so could significantly increase its renewable energy generation potential. Using a simulation model, we analysed the dynamic interactions between the environment, the horizontal GCHP heat exchanger and typical UK dwellings, as well as their combined effect on heat pump performance and CO2 mitigation potential. For this purpose, a land surface model (JULES, Joint UK Land Environment Simulator), which calculates coupled soil heat and water fluxes, was combined with a heat extraction model. The analyses took into account the spatio-temporal variability of soil properties (thermal and hydraulic) and meteorological variables, as well as different horizontal GCHP configurations and a variety of building loads and heat demands. Sensitivity tests were performed for four sites in the UK with different climate and soil properties. Our results show that an installation depth of 1.0m would give us higher heat extractions rates, however it would be preferable to install the pipes slightly deeper to avoid the seasonal influence of variable meteorological conditions. A value of 1.5m for the spacing between coils (S) for a slinky configuration type is recommended to avoid thermal disturbances between neighbouring coils. We also found that for larger values of the spacing between the coils

Carbon sequestration index as a determinant for climate change mitigation: Case study of Bintan Island

Science.gov (United States)

Wahyudi, A.'an J.; Afdal; Prayudha, Bayu; Dharmawan, I. W. E.; Irawan, Andri; Abimanyu, Haznan; Meirinawati, Hanny; Surinati, Dewi; Syukri, Agus F.; Yuliana, Chitra I.; Yuniati, Putri I.

2018-02-01

The increase of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) affects the global carbon cycle altering the atmospheric system and initiates the climate changes. There are two ways to mitigate these changes, by maintaining the greenhouse gasses below the carbon budget and by conserving the marine and terrestrial vegetation for carbon sequestration. These two strategies become variable to the carbon sequestration index (CSI) that represents the potential of a region in carbon sequestration, according to its natural capacity. As a study case, we conducted carbon sequestration research in Bintan region (Bintan Island and its surrounding), Riau Archipelago province. This research was aimed to assess the CSI and its possibility for climate change mitigation. We observed carbon sequestration of seagrass meadows and mangrove, greenhouse gas (CO2) emission (correlated to population growth, the increase of vehicles), and CSI. Bintan region has 125,849.9 ha of vegetation area and 14,879.6 ha of terrestrial and marine vegetation area, respectively. Both vegetation areas are able to sequester 0.262 Tg C yr-1 in total and marine vegetation contributes about 77.1%. Total CO2 emission in Bintan region is up to 0.273 Tg C yr-1, produced by transportation, industry and land use sectors. Therefore, CSI of the Bintan region is 0.98, which is above the global average (i.e. 0.58). This value demonstrates that the degree of sequestration is comparable to the total carbon emission. This result suggests that Bintan’s vegetation has high potential for reducing greenhouse gas effects.

A Global Characterization of Urban Heat Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, T.; Lee, X.

2017-12-01

The urban heat island (UHI) effect refers to the higher temperatures in urban areas, and it is one of the most well-known consequences of urbanization on local climate. In the present study, we define a new simplified urban-boundary (SUB) algorithm to quantify the daytime and nighttime surface UHIs on a global scale based on 16 years of MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data. The results from the algorithm are validated against previous studies and used to determine the diurnal, monthly, and long-term variation in the surface UHI for over 9000 urban clusters situated in the different Koppen-Geiger climate zones,namely equatorial, arid, warm temperate, snow, and polar. Thus, the variability of the surface UHI for each climate class is determined using a consistent methodology for the first time. The 16-year mean global daytime surface UHI is 0.71 ± 0.93 °C at 1030 LT and 1.00 ± 1.17 °C at 1330 LT, while the nighttime surface UHI is 0.51 ± 0.50 °C at 2230 LT and 0.42 ± 0.52 °C at 0130 LT. This is in good agreement with the results from previous studies, which have looked at the UHI for multiple cities. Summer surface UHI is larger than winter surface UHI across all climate zones. The annual daytime surface UHI is highest in the polar urban clusters (1.77 ± 1.61 °C), followed by snow (1.39 ± 1.17 °C), equatorial (1.21 ± 1.32 °C), warm temperate (1.02 ± 0.98 °C), and arid (0.18 ± 1.27 °C). Urban clusters in the arid climate are found to show different diurnal and seasonal patterns, with higher nighttime surface UHI (0.65 ± 0.58 °C) and two seasonal peaks during the year. The diurnal variation in surface UHI is highest in the polar zone (1.16 °C) and lowest in the arid zone (0.57 °C). The inter-seasonality is also highest in the polar Zone (2.20 °C) and lowest in the arid zone (0.80 °C). Finally, we investigate the change in the surface UHI in more than a decade (2001 to 2013 for MODIS TERRA and 2003 to 2013 for MODIS AQUA) and find a gradual

Spatial Characteristics of Small Green Spaces' Mitigating Effects on Microscopic Urban Heat Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J.; Lee, D. K.; Jeong, W.; Kim, J. H.; Huh, K. Y.

2015-12-01

The purpose of the study is to find small greens' disposition, types and sizes to reduce air temperature effectively in urban blocks. The research sites were six high developed blocks in Seoul, Korea. Air temperature was measured with mobile loggers in clear daytime during summer, from August to September, at screen level. Also the measurement repeated over three times a day during three days by walking and circulating around the experimental blocks and the control blocks at the same time. By analyzing spatial characteristics, the averaged air temperatures were classified with three spaces, sunny spaces, building-shaded spaces and small green spaces by using Kruskal-Wallis Test; and small green spaces in 6 blocks were classified into their outward forms, polygonal or linear and single or mixed. The polygonal and mixed types of small green spaces mitigated averaged air temperature of each block which they belonged with a simple linear regression model with adjusted R2 = 0.90**. As the area and volume of these types increased, the effect of air temperature reduction (ΔT; Air temperature difference between sunny space and green space in a block) also increased in a linear relationship. The experimental range of this research is 100m2 ~ 2,000m2 of area, and 1,000m3 ~ 10,000m3 of volume of small green space. As a result, more than 300m2 and 2,300m3 of polygonal green spaces with mixed vegetation is required to lower 1°C; 650m2 and 5,000m3 of them to lower 2°C; about 2,000m2 and about 10,000m3 of them to lower 4°C air temperature reduction in an urban block.

Energy Savings Calculations for Heat Island Reduction Strategies in Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konopacki, S.; Akbari, H.

2000-03-01

In 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the ''Heat Island Reduction Initiative'', to quantify the potential benefits of Heat Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., shade trees, reflective roofs, reflective pavements and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling energy use in buildings, lower the ambient air temperature and improve urban air quality in cities, and reduce CO2 emissions from power plants. Under this initiative, the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project (UHIPP) was created with the objective to investigate the potential of HIR strategies in residential and commercial buildings in three initial UHIPP cities: Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. This paper summarizes our efforts to calculate the annual energy savings, peak power avoidance and annual C02 reduction of HIR strategies in the three initial cities. In this analysis, we focused on three building types that offer most savings potential: single-family residence, office and retail store. Each building type was characterized in detail by old or new construction and with a gas furnace or an electric heat pump. We defined prototypical building characteristics for each building type and simulated the impact of HIR strategies on building cooling and heating energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.IE model. Our simulations included the impact of (1) strategically-placed shade trees near buildings [direct effect], (2) use of high-albedo roofing material on building [direct effect], (3) combined strategies I and 2 [direct effect], (4) urban reforestation with high-albedo pavements and building surfaces [indirect effect] and (5) combined strategies 1, 2 and 4 [direct and indirect effects]. We then estimated the total roof area of air-conditioned buildings in each city using readily obtainable data to calculate the metropolitan-wide impact of HIR strategies. The results show, that in Baton Rouge, potential annual energy savings of $15M could be realized by

Seawater-flooding events and impact on freshwater lenses of low-lying islands: Controlling factors, basic management and mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Gingerich, Stephen B.; Voss, Clifford I.; Johnson, Adam G.

2017-08-01

An unprecedented set of hydrologic observations was collected after the Dec 2008 seawater-flooding event on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. By two days after the seawater flooding that occurred at the beginning of dry season, the observed salinity of water withdrawn by the island's main skimming well increased to 100% seawater concentration, but by ten days later already decreased to only 10-20% of seawater fraction. However, the damaging impact on the potability of the groundwater supply (when pumped water had concentrations above 1% seawater fraction) lasted 22 months longer. The data collected make possible analyses of the hydrologic factors that control recovery and management of the groundwater-supply quality on Roi-Namur and on similar low-lying islands. With the observed data as a guide, three-dimensional numerical-model simulation analyses reveal how recovery is controlled by the island's hydrology. These also allow evaluation of the efficacy of basic water-quality management/mitigation alternatives and elucidate how groundwater withdrawal and timing of the seawater-flooding event affect the length of recovery. Simulations show that, as might be expected, by adding surplus captured rainwater as artificial recharge, the freshwater-lens recovery period (after which potable groundwater may again be produced) can be shortened, with groundwater salinity remaining lower even during the dry season, a period during which no artificial recharge is applied. Simulations also show that the recovery period is not lengthened appreciably by groundwater withdrawals during recovery. Simulations further show that had the flooding event occurred at the start of the wet season, the recovery period would have been about 25% (5.5 months) shorter than actually occurred during the monitored flood that occurred at the dry-season start. Finally, analyses show that artificial recharge improves freshwater-lens water quality, making possible longer use of

Correlation analysis of the urban heat island effect and the spatial and temporal distribution of atmospheric particulates using TM images in Beijing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, L.Y.; Xie, X.D.; Li, S.

2013-01-01

This study combines the methods of observation statistics and remote sensing retrieval, using remote sensing information including the urban heat island (UHI) intensity index, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the normalized difference water index (NDWI), and the difference vegetation index (DVI) to analyze the correlation between the urban heat island effect and the spatial and temporal concentration distributions of atmospheric particulates in Beijing. The analysis establishes (1) a direct correlation between UHI and DVI; (2) an indirect correlation among UHI, NDWI and DVI; and (3) an indirect correlation among UHI, NDVI, and DVI. The results proved the existence of three correlation types with regional and seasonal effects and revealed an interesting correlation between UHI and DVI, that is, if UHI is below 0.1, then DVI increases with the increase in UHI, and vice versa. Also, DVI changes more with UHI in the two middle zones of Beijing. -- Highlights: •We analyze the correlation from the spatial and temporal views. •We present correlation analyses among UHI, NDWI, NDVI, and DVI from three perspectives. •Three correlations are proven to exist with regional and seasonal effects. •If UHI is below 0.1, then DVI increases with the increase in UHI, and vice versa. •The DVI changes more with UHI in the two middle zones of Beijing. -- Generally, if UHI is below 0.1 in the weak heat island or green island range, then DVI increases with the increase in UHI, and vice versa

Effects of Green Space and Land Use/Land Cover on Urban Heat Island in a Subtropical Mega-city in China

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, G. Y.; Li, X.; Li, H.; Guo, Q.

2014-12-01

With the quick expansion of urban in size and population, its urban heat island intensity (UHII, expressed as the temperature difference between urban and rural areas) increased rapidly. However, very few studies could quantitatively reveal the effects of green space and land use/land cover (LULC) on urban thermal environment because of lacking of the detailed measurement. This study focuses on quantifying the effects of green space and LULC on urban Heat Island (UHI) in Shenzhen, a mega subtropical city in China. Extensive measurements (air temperature and humidity) were made by mobile traverse method in a transect of 8 km in length, where a variety of LULC types were included. Measurements were carried out at 2 hours interval for 2 years (totally repeated for 7011 times). According to LULC types, we selected 5 different LULC types for studying, including water body, village in the city, shopping center (commercial area), urban green space (well-vegetated area) and suburb (forest). The main conclusions are obtained as follows: (1) The temperature difference between the 5 different urban landscapes is obvious, i.e. shopping center > village in the city > urban water body > urban green space > suburb; (2) Air temperature and UHII decreases linearly with the increase of green space in urban; (3) Green space and water body in urban have obvious effects to reduce the air temperature by evapotranspiration. Compared to the commercial areas, urban water body can relieve the IUHI by 0.9℃, while the urban green space can relieve the IUHI by 1.57℃. The cooling effect of the urban green space is better than that of the urban water body; (4) Periodic activity of human being has obvious effects on urban air temperature. The UHII on Saturday and Sunday are higher than that from Monday to Friday, respectively higher for 0.65, 0.57, 0.26 and 0.21℃. Thursday and Friday have the minimum air temperature and UHII. These results indicate that increase in urban evapotranspiration

Acquisition and Processing of High Resolution Hyperspectral Imageries for the 3d Mapping of Urban Heat Islands and Microparticles of Montreal

Science.gov (United States)

Mongeau, R.; Baudouin, Y.; Cavayas, F.

2017-10-01

Ville de Montreal wanted to develop a system to identify heat islands and microparticles at the urban scale and to study their formation. UQAM and UdeM universities have joined their expertise under the framework "Observatoire Spatial Urbain" to create a representative geospatial database of thermal and atmospheric parameters collected during the summer months. They innovated in the development of a methodology for processing high resolution hyperspectral images (1-2 m). In partnership with Ville de Montreal, they integrated 3D geospatial data (topography, transportation and meteorology) in the process. The 3D mapping of intraurban heat islands as well as air micro-particles makes it possible, initially, to identify the problematic situations for future civil protection interventions during extreme heat. Moreover, it will be used as a reference for the Ville de Montreal to establish a strategy for public domain tree planting and in the analysis of urban development projects.

Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from waste management approaches in the islands.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ying-Chu

2017-07-01

Concerns about waste generation and climate change have attracted worldwide attention. Small islands, which account for more than one-sixth of the global land area, are facing problems caused by global climate change. This study evaluated the greenhouse gas emissions from five small islands surrounding Taiwan. These islands - Penghu County, Liuqui Island, Kinmen County, Matsu Island and Green Island - have their own waste management approaches that can serve as a guideline for waste management with greenhouse gas mitigation. The findings indicate that the total annual greenhouse gas emissions of the islands ranged from 292.1 to 29,096.2 [metric] tonne CO 2 -equivalent. The loading waste volumes and shipping distances were positively related to greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The greenhouse gas emissions from waste-to-energy plants, mainly carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, can be offset by energy recovery (approximately 38.6% of greenhouse gas emissions from incineration). In addition, about 34% and 11% of waste generated on the islands was successfully recycled and composted, respectively. This study provides valuable insights into the applicability of a policy framework for waste management approaches for greenhouse gas mitigation.

a Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Urban Heat Island in Basin City Utilizing Remote Sensing Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hsiao-Tung

2016-06-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) has been becoming a key factor in deteriorating the urban ecological environment. Spatial-temporal analysis on its prototype of basin city's UHI and quantitatively evaluating effect from rapid urbanization will provide theoretical foundation for relieving UHI effect. Based on Landsat 8, ETM+ and TM images of Taipei basin areas from 1900 to 2015, this article has retrieved the land surface temperature (LST) at summer solstice of each year, and then analysed spatial-temporal pattern and evolution characters of UHI in Taipei basin in this decade. The results showed that the expansion built district, UHI area constantly expanded from centre city to the suburb areas. The prototype of UHI in Taipei basin that showed in addition to higher temperatures in the centre city also were relatively high temperatures gathered boundaries surrounded by foot of mountains side. It calls "sinking heat island". From 1900 to 2000, the higher UHI areas were different land use type change had obvious difference by public infrastructure works. And then, in next 15 years till 2015, building density of urban area has been increasing gradually. It has the trend that UHI flooding raises follow urban land use density. Hot spot of UHI in Taipei basin also has the same characteristics. The results suggest that anthropogenic heat release probably plays a significant role in the UHI effect, and must be considered in urban planning adaptation strategies.

Solutions for Remote Island Microgrids: Discussion and analysis of Indonesia’s remote island energy system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Zheng; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard; Santos, Athila Quaresma

2018-01-01

to mitigate this issue. This paper uses Indonesia as an example to investigate, develop and evaluate the potential microgrid solutions for the remote islands. There are six potential microgrid solutions are discussed, and two solutions (photovoltaic cells and storage; diesel generator, photovoltaic cells...

RADON MITIGATION IN SCHOOLS: CASE STUDIES OF RADON MITIGATION SYSTEMS INSTALLED BY EPA IN FOUR MARYLAND SCHOOLS ARE PRESENTED

Science.gov (United States)

The first part of this two-part paper discusses radon entry into schools, radon mitigation approaches for schools, and school characteristics (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning -- HVAC-- system design and operation) that influence radon entry and mitigation system ...

CFD prediction of heat island formation on growing Asian cities. Effect of urbanization in Shanghai; Kyodaikasuru Asia no toshi ni okeru heat island keisei ni kansuru CFD yosoku. Shanghai no toshika ga oyobosu eikyo ni kansuru kento

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ojima, T.; Murakami, S. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). Institute of Industrial Science; Mitsumoto, K. [Waseda University, Tokyo (Japan). School of Science and Engineering

1997-10-01

Study is conducted of the effect of change in land use and increase in artificial exhaust heat on heat island formation in Shanghai. Concerning the land use distribution in Shanghai, a point sampling survey was conducted in the 1930s using topographic charts, when the area was broken down into building-occupied region, paddy field, bare ground, and waters. In the 1990s, thanks to data from satellites, high-density and low-density urban regions have added. Calculation for Shanghai is performed, based on the rate of increase in Tokyo`s population and data predicted for Shanghai`s population, on the assumption that Shanghai`s population in the 2050s will grow 2.3 times larger than it is in the 1990s. The prediction thus produced indicates that the urban area in Shanghai in the 2050s will be as large as that of the present-day Tokyo that covers a 50km zone. Heat island formation prediction for Shanghai is worked out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-aided simulation. According to the prediction, while the maximum temperature in the 1930s was 29.6degC or 4degC higher than in the suburbs, it is 33.2degC or 7.6deg higher in the 1990s, and will be 34.4degC or 8.6degC higher in the 2050s. 16 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and the influence of city parks within the urban environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, W.; Shandas, V.; Voelkel, J.; Espinoza, D.

2016-12-01

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and the influence of city parks within the urban environment.As cities grow outward and their populations increase the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomena becomes an ever more important topic to reducing environmental stressors. When UHI combines with human sensitivities such as pre-existing health conditions, and other vulnerabilities, finding an effective way to cool our cities is a matter of life and death. One way to cool an area is to introduce vegetation; which is abundant is in city parks. This study measures the cooling effect and temperature gradient of city parks; characterizing the relationship between the cooling effects within parks and surrounding neighborhoods. Past studies of the UHI are largely based on satellite images and, more recently, car traverses across that describe the ambient temperatures. The present project aims to understand the effects of parks on the UHI by asking two research questions: (1) how do the physical characteristics and designs of city parks impact the variation in ambient temperatures? And (2) what effect does the park have on cooling the surrounding neighborhoods? We address these questions by using a bicycle mounted with a temperature probe, and a series of geospatial analytics. The bicycle collects temperature data every one second, and the traverse intervals are an hour long to prevent normal fluctuations of daily temperature. Preliminary analysis shows that there is a temperature gradient within the parks (Figure 1). Further, the average temperature of the urban park could cool the surrounding area by upwards of 2°C, depending on the physical characteristics of then park and neighborhood. Our results suggest that the role of smaller parks and their design can reduce heat stress particularly among the vulnerable populations. These results can help urban planners make informed decisions when developing future city infrastructure.

Streams in the urban heat island: spatial and temporal variability in temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Somers, Kayleigh A.; Bernhardt, Emily S.; Grace, James B.; Hassett, Brooke A.; Sudduth, Elizabeth B.; Wang, Siyi; Urban, Dean L.

2013-01-01

Streams draining urban heat islands tend to be hotter than rural and forested streams at baseflow because of warmer urban air and ground temperatures, paved surfaces, and decreased riparian canopy. Urban infrastructure efficiently routes runoff over hot impervious surfaces and through storm drains directly into streams and can lead to rapid, dramatic increases in temperature. Thermal regimes affect habitat quality and biogeochemical processes, and changes can be lethal if temperatures exceed upper tolerance limits of aquatic fauna. In summer 2009, we collected continuous (10-min interval) temperature data in 60 streams spanning a range of development intensity in the Piedmont of North Carolina, USA. The 5 most urbanized streams averaged 21.1°C at baseflow, compared to 19.5°C in the 5 most forested streams. Temperatures in urban streams rose as much as 4°C during a small regional storm, whereas the same storm led to extremely small to no changes in temperature in forested streams. Over a kilometer of stream length, baseflow temperature varied by as much as 10°C in an urban stream and as little as 2°C in a forested stream. We used structural equation modeling to explore how reach- and catchment-scale attributes interact to explain maximum temperatures and magnitudes of storm-flow temperature surges. The best predictive model of baseflow temperatures (R2  =  0.461) included moderately strong pathways directly (extent of development and road density) and indirectly, as mediated by reach-scale factors (canopy closure and stream width), from catchment-scale factors. The strongest influence on storm-flow temperature surges appeared to be % development in the catchment. Reach-scale factors, such as the extent of riparian forest and stream width, had little mitigating influence (R2  =  0.448). Stream temperature is an essential, but overlooked, aspect of the urban stream syndrome and is affected by reach-scale habitat variables, catchment-scale urbanization

Three-Dimensional City Determinants of the Urban Heat Island: A Statistical Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, Bum Seok

There is no doubt that the Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a mounting problem in built-up environments, due to the energy retention by the surface materials of dense buildings, leading to increased temperatures, air pollution, and energy consumption. Much of the earlier research on the UHI has used two-dimensional (2-D) information, such as land uses and the distribution of vegetation. In the case of homogeneous land uses, it is possible to predict surface temperatures with reasonable accuracy with 2-D information. However, three-dimensional (3-D) information is necessary to analyze more complex sites, including dense building clusters. Recent research on the UHI has started to consider multi-dimensional models. The purpose of this research is to explore the urban determinants of the UHI, using 2-D/3-D urban information with statistical modeling. The research includes the following stages: (a) estimating urban temperature, using satellite images, (b) developing a 3-D city model by LiDAR data, (c) generating geometric parameters with regard to 2-/3-D geospatial information, and (d) conducting different statistical analyses: OLS and spatial regressions. The research area is part of the City of Columbus, Ohio. To effectively and systematically analyze the UHI, hierarchical grid scales (480m, 240m, 120m, 60m, and 30m) are proposed, together with linear and the log-linear regression models. The non-linear OLS models with Log(AST) as dependent variable have the highest R2 among all the OLS-estimated models. However, both SAR and GSM models are estimated for the 480m, 240m, 120m, and 60m grids to reduce their spatial dependency. Most GSM models have R2s higher than 0.9, except for the 240m grid. Overall, the urban characteristics having high impacts in all grids are embodied in solar radiation, 3-D open space, greenery, and water streams. These results demonstrate that it is possible to mitigate the UHI, providing guidelines for policies aiming to reduce the UHI.

Could aerosol emissions be used for regional heat wave mitigation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. N. Bernstein

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Geoengineering applications by injection of sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere are under consideration as a measure of last resort to counter global warming. Here a potential regional-scale application to offset the impacts of heat waves is critically examined. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with fully coupled chemistry (WRF-Chem, the effect of regional-scale sulfate aerosol emission over California in each of two days of the July 2006 heat wave is used to quantify potential reductions in surface temperature as a function of emission rates in a layer at 12 km altitude. Local meteorological factors yield geographical differences in surface air temperature sensitivity. For emission rates of approximately 30 μg m−2 s−1 of sulfate aerosols (with standard WRF-Chem size distribution over the region, temperature decreases of around 7 °C result during the middle part of the day over the Central Valley, one of the areas hardest hit by the heat wave. Regions more ventilated with oceanic air such as Los Angeles have slightly smaller reductions. The length of the hottest part of the day is also reduced. Advection effects on the aerosol cloud must be more carefully forecast for smaller injection regions. Verification of the impacts could be done via measurements of differences in reflected and surface downward shortwave. Such regional geoengineering applications with specific near-term target effects but smaller cost and side effects could potentially provide a means of testing larger scale applications. However, design considerations for regional applications, such as a preference for injection at a level of relatively low wind speed, differ from those for global applications. The size of the required injections and the necessity of injection close to the target region raise substantial concerns. The evaluation of this regional-scale application is thus consistent with global model evaluations, emphasizing that mitigation via

Mitigation of severe accidents in light water reactors: Chapter 8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Catton, I.

1983-01-01

As part of the NRC program on degraded core and core-melt accidents beyond the design basis, the work presented here focuses on containment mitigation systems. Included are studies aimed at estimating the risk reduction potential for filtered-vented containment systems, passive containment heat removal systems, and features to mitigate against hydrogen burns and base mat penetration. Specific aspects of mitigation for Zion, Indian Poin and Limerick plants are considered. For Zion, consideration of a filtered-vented containment system and a passive containment heat removal system was considered. For Indian Point, the use of heat pipes for passive heat removal was considered. Lastly, for Limerick a low-volume filtered venting system was found to provide a risk reduction factor on the order of 17, when based on man-rem reduction

The Urban Heat Island Impact in Consideration of Spatial Pattern of Urban Landscape and Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J.; Lee, D. K.; Jeong, W.; Sung, S.; Park, J.

2015-12-01

Preceding study has established a clear relationship between land surface temperature and area of land covers. However, only few studies have specifically examined the effects of spatial patterns of land covers and urban structure. To examine how much the local climate is affected by the spatial pattern in highly urbanized city, we investigated the correlation between land surface temperature and spatial patterns of land covers. In the analysis of correlation, we categorized urban structure to four different land uses: Apartment residential area, low rise residential area, industrial area and central business district. Through this study, we aims to examine the types of residential structure and land cover pattern for reducing urban heat island and sustainable development. Based on land surface temperature, we investigated the phenomenon of urban heat island through using the data of remote sensing. This study focused on Daegu in Korea. This city, one of the hottest city in Korea has basin form. We used high-resolution land cover data and land surface temperature by using Landsat8 satellite image to examine 100 randomly selected sample sites of 884.15km2 (1)In each land use, we quantified several landscape-levels and class-level landscape metrics for the sample study sites. (2)In addition, we measured the land surface temperature in 3 year hot summer seasons (July to September). Then, we investigated the pattern of land surface temperature for each land use through Ecognition package. (3)We deducted the Pearson correlation coefficients between land surface temperature and each landscape metrics. (4)We analyzed the variance among the four land uses. (5)Using linear regression, we determined land surface temperature model for each land use. (6)Through this analysis, we aims to examine the best pattern of land cover and artificial structure for reducing urban heat island effect in highly urbanized city. The results of linear regression showed that proportional land

Fuelwood production in Prince Edward Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCallum, B.

1992-01-01

The most recent Prince Edward Island Fuelwood Survey occurred in 1990-91. Consumption of fuelwood rose again to 49% of Prince Edward Island's 43,170 households. Total residential fuelwood consumption was estimated to be 242,000 m 3 . The fuelwood industry makes an important contribution to the economy of Prince Edward Island. In the 1990-91 heating season, fuelwood valued at USD 9 million displaced approximately 43 million litres of domestic heating oil valued at USD 16.4 million. In addition, it is estimated that 70 cents of every dollar spent on fuelwood remains in the province and contributes spin-off benefits, whereas 90 cents of every dollar spent on heating oil is lost to the economy of Prince Edward Island. The percentage of people cutting their own fuelwood decreased from 52 in 1984-85 to only 23.4 in 1990-91. The governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island have implemented a series of Forest Resource Development Agreements (FRDAs) starting in 1983. The current 1988-1993 FRDA provides USD 24 million for research and incentives for reforestation and management of Prince Edward Island woodlots. It is expected that 3,800 Prince Edward Island woodlot owners will be participating in a woodlot management program by 1993. Silviculture treatments of hardwood stands include thinning, stand conversion (removal of lowgrade softwoods such as balsam fir in mainly hardwood stands), and shelterwood (strip) cutting, particularly in marginal stands. (9 refs.)

Daytime urban heat islands from Landsat ETM+ and Corine land cover data: An application to major cities in Greece

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stathopoulou, Marina; Cartalis, Constantinos [Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory, Division of Applied Physics, Department of Physics, Building PHYS-5, University Campus, 157 84 Athens (Greece)

2007-03-15

Satellite images in the thermal infrared can be used for assessing the thermal urban environment as well as for defining heat islands in urban areas. In this study, the thermal environment of major cities in Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra, Volos and Heraklion) is examined using satellite images provided by the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) sensor on board Landsat 7 satellite corresponding to the daytime and warm period when the surface urban heat island (SUHI) phenomenon is best observed. The spatial structure of the thermal urban environment is analyzed in each case study and the ''hottest'' surfaces within the urban settings are identified and related to the urban surface characteristics and land use. For the needs of the study, the Corine land cover (CLC) database for Greece is also used, in an effort to define more effectively the link between surface emissivities, land surface temperatures and urban surface characteristics. (author)

Tools for sustainability assessment in island socio-ecological systems: an application to the Canary Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabel Banos-González

2016-05-01

Full Text Available An integral dynamic model, in combination with other methods (indicators, policy and scenario analysis, is presented as a tool for sustainability assessment in island socio-ecological systems (SES. The Fuerteventura sustainability model (FSM, tested for the 1996-2011, allows a better understanding of the dynamic interactions between sustainability indicators and other factors of this island. The FSM was first applied to analyse the vulnerability of this island to climate change for the 2012-2025 period; results point to the need for urgent measures to mitigate its effects on some of the analysed indicators. A set of policy measures was then assessed from the behaviour of nine indicators and their sustainability thresholds. Finally, the FSM facilitated the development of a dynamic model of the island of El Hierro, extrapolating the features common to both SES. We propose this to be a useful tool for the quantitative sustainability assessment and the management of real island socio-ecological systems

Reducing urban heat island effects to improve urban comfort and balance energy consumption in Bucharest (Romania)

Science.gov (United States)

Constantinescu, Dan; Ochinciuc, Cristina Victoria; Cheval, Sorin; Comşa, Ionuţ; Sîrodoev, Igor; Andone, Radu; Caracaş, Gabriela; Crăciun, Cerasella; Dumitrescu, Alexandru; Georgescu, Mihaela; Ianoş, Ioan; Merciu, Cristina; Moraru, Dan; Opriş, Ana; Paraschiv, Mirela; Raeţchi, Sonia; Saghin, Irina; Schvab, Andrei; Tătui-Văidianu, Nataşa

2017-04-01

In the recent decades, extreme temperature events and derived hazards are frequent and trigger noteworthy impacts in Romania, especially over the large urban areas. The cities produce significant disturbances of many elements of the regional climate, and generates adverse effects such as Urban Heat Islands (UHI). This presentation condenses the outputs of an ongoing research project (REDBHI) developed through (2013-2017) focused on developing a methodology for monitoring and forecasting indoor climate and energy challenges related to the intensity of UHI of Bucharest (Romania), based on relevant urban climate zones (UCZs). Multi-criteria correlations between the UHI and architectural, urban and landscape variables were determined, and the vulnerability of buildings expressed in the form of transfer function between indoor micro-climate and outdoor urban environment. The vulnerability of civil buildings was determined in relation with the potential for amplifying the thermal hazards intensity through the anthropogenic influence. The project REDBHI aims at developing innovative and original products, with direct applicability, which can be used in any urban settlement and have market potential with regards to energy design and consulting. The concrete innovative outcomes consist of a) localization of the Bucharest UCZs according to the UHI intensity, identifying reference buildings and sub-zones according to urban anthropic factors and landscape pattern; b) typology of representative buildings with regards to energy consumption and CO2 emitted as a result of building exploitation; c) 3D modelling of the reference buildings and of the thermal/energy reaction to severe climatic conditions d) empirical validation of the dynamic thermal/energy analysis; d) development of an pilot virtual studio capable to simulate climate alerts, analyse scenarios and suggest measures to mitigate the UHI effects, and disseminate the outcomes for educational purposes; e) compendium of

Can riparian vegetation shade mitigate the expected rise in stream temperatures due to climate change during heat waves in a human-impacted pre-alpine river?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Trimmel

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Global warming has already affected European rivers and their aquatic biota, and climate models predict an increase of temperature in central Europe over all seasons. We simulated the influence of expected changes in heat wave intensity during the 21st century on water temperatures of a heavily impacted pre-alpine Austrian river and analysed future mitigating effects of riparian vegetation shade on radiant and turbulent energy fluxes using the deterministic Heat Source model. Modelled stream water temperature increased less than 1.5 °C within the first half of the century. Until 2100, a more significant increase of around 3 °C in minimum, maximum and mean stream temperatures was predicted for a 20-year return period heat event. The result showed clearly that in a highly altered river system riparian vegetation was not able to fully mitigate the predicted temperature rise caused by climate change but would be able to reduce water temperature by 1 to 2 °C. The removal of riparian vegetation amplified stream temperature increases. Maximum stream temperatures could increase by more than 4 °C even in annual heat events. Such a dramatic water temperature shift of some degrees, especially in summer, would indicate a total shift of aquatic biodiversity. The results demonstrate that effective river restoration and mitigation require re-establishing riparian vegetation and emphasize the importance of land–water interfaces and their ecological functioning in aquatic environments.

Can riparian vegetation shade mitigate the expected rise in stream temperatures due to climate change during heat waves in a human-impacted pre-alpine river?

Science.gov (United States)

Trimmel, Heidelinde; Weihs, Philipp; Leidinger, David; Formayer, Herbert; Kalny, Gerda; Melcher, Andreas

2018-01-01

Global warming has already affected European rivers and their aquatic biota, and climate models predict an increase of temperature in central Europe over all seasons. We simulated the influence of expected changes in heat wave intensity during the 21st century on water temperatures of a heavily impacted pre-alpine Austrian river and analysed future mitigating effects of riparian vegetation shade on radiant and turbulent energy fluxes using the deterministic Heat Source model. Modelled stream water temperature increased less than 1.5 °C within the first half of the century. Until 2100, a more significant increase of around 3 °C in minimum, maximum and mean stream temperatures was predicted for a 20-year return period heat event. The result showed clearly that in a highly altered river system riparian vegetation was not able to fully mitigate the predicted temperature rise caused by climate change but would be able to reduce water temperature by 1 to 2 °C. The removal of riparian vegetation amplified stream temperature increases. Maximum stream temperatures could increase by more than 4 °C even in annual heat events. Such a dramatic water temperature shift of some degrees, especially in summer, would indicate a total shift of aquatic biodiversity. The results demonstrate that effective river restoration and mitigation require re-establishing riparian vegetation and emphasize the importance of land-water interfaces and their ecological functioning in aquatic environments.

Assessment of alternative mitigation concepts for Hanford flammable gas tanks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stewart, C.W.; Schienbein, L.A.; Hudson, J.D.; Eschbach, E.J.; Lessor, D.L.

1994-09-01

This report provides a review and assessment of four selected mitigation concepts: pump jet mixing, sonic vibration, dilution, and heating. Though the relative levels of development of these concepts are quite different, some definite conclusions are made on their comparative feasibility. Key findings of this report are as follows. A mixer pump has proven to be a safe and effective active mitigation method in Tank 241-SY-101, and the authors are confident that mixer pumps will effectively mitigate other tanks with comparable waste configurations and properties. Low-frequency sonic vibration is also predicted to be effective for mitigation. Existing data cannot prove that dilution can mitigate gas release event (GRE) behavior. However, dilution is the only concept of the four that potentially offers passive mitigation. Like dilution, heating the waste cannot be proven with available information to mitigate GRE behavior. The designs, analyses, and data from which these conclusions are derived are presented along with recommendations.

Assessment of alternative mitigation concepts for Hanford flammable gas tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, C.W.; Schienbein, L.A.; Hudson, J.D.; Eschbach, E.J.; Lessor, D.L.

1994-09-01

This report provides a review and assessment of four selected mitigation concepts: pump jet mixing, sonic vibration, dilution, and heating. Though the relative levels of development of these concepts are quite different, some definite conclusions are made on their comparative feasibility. Key findings of this report are as follows. A mixer pump has proven to be a safe and effective active mitigation method in Tank 241-SY-101, and the authors are confident that mixer pumps will effectively mitigate other tanks with comparable waste configurations and properties. Low-frequency sonic vibration is also predicted to be effective for mitigation. Existing data cannot prove that dilution can mitigate gas release event (GRE) behavior. However, dilution is the only concept of the four that potentially offers passive mitigation. Like dilution, heating the waste cannot be proven with available information to mitigate GRE behavior. The designs, analyses, and data from which these conclusions are derived are presented along with recommendations

Assessing qualitative long-term volcanic hazards at Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands)

Science.gov (United States)

Becerril, Laura; Martí, Joan; Bartolini, Stefania; Geyer, Adelina

2017-07-01

Conducting long-term hazard assessment in active volcanic areas is of primary importance for land-use planning and defining emergency plans able to be applied in case of a crisis. A definition of scenario hazard maps helps to mitigate the consequences of future eruptions by anticipating the events that may occur. Lanzarote is an active volcanic island that has hosted the largest (> 1.5 km3 DRE) and longest (6 years) eruption, the Timanfaya eruption (1730-1736), on the Canary Islands in historical times (last 600 years). This eruption brought severe economic losses and forced local people to migrate. In spite of all these facts, no comprehensive hazard assessment or hazard maps have been developed for the island. In this work, we present an integrated long-term volcanic hazard evaluation using a systematic methodology that includes spatial analysis and simulations of the most probable eruptive scenarios.

Urban heat island and bioclimatological conditions in a hot-humid tropical city: the example of Akure, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balogun, Ifeoluwa A.

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The impact of weather on human health has become an issue of increased significance in recent times, considering the increasing rate of urbanisation and the much associated heat island phenomenon. This study examines the urbanisation influence on human bioclimatic conditions in Akure, a medium sized hot-humid tropical city in Nigeria, utilising data from measurements at urban and rural sites in the city. Differences in the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variation of human bioclimatic characteristics between both environments were evaluated and tested for statistical significance. Higher frequencies of high temperatures observed in the city centre suggest a significant heat stress and health risk in this hot-humid city.

Green Space and Deaths Attributable to the Urban Heat Island Effect in Ho Chi Minh City.

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Tran Ngoc; Van, Doan Quang; Kusaka, Hiroyuki; Seposo, Xerxes T; Honda, Yasushi

2018-04-01

To quantify heat-related deaths in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, caused by the urban heat island (UHI) and explore factors that may alleviate the impact of UHIs. We estimated district-specific meteorological conditions from 2010 to 2013 using the dynamic downscaling model and calculated the attributable fraction and number of mortalities resulting from the total, extreme, and mild heat in each district. The difference in attributable fraction of total heat between the central and outer districts was classified as the attributable fraction resulting from the UHI. The association among attributable fraction, attributable number with a green space, population density, and budget revenue of each district was then explored. The temperature-mortality relationship between the central and outer areas was almost identical. The attributable fraction resulting from the UHI was 0.42%, which was contributed by the difference in temperature distribution between the 2 areas. Every 1-square-kilometer increase in green space per 1000 people can prevent 7.4 deaths caused by heat. Green space can alleviate the impacts of UHIs, although future studies conducting a heath economic evaluation of tree planting are warranted.

Land Use and Land Cover Change, Urban Heat Island Phenomenon, and Health Implications: A Remote Sensing Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, C. P.; Quattrochi, Dale A.

2003-01-01

Land use and land cover maps of Atlanta Metropolitan Area in Georgia were produced from Landsat MSS and TM images for 1973,1979,1983,1987,1992, and 1997, spanning a period of 25 years. Dramatic changes in land use and land cover have occurred with loss of forest and cropland to urban use. In particular, low-density urban use, which includes largely residential use, has increased by over 119% between 1973 and 1997. These land use and land cover changes have drastically altered the land surface characteristics. An analysis of Landsat images revealed an increase in surface temperature and a decline in NDVI from 1973 to 1997. These changes have forced the development of a significant urban heat island effect and an increase in ground level ozone production to such an extent, that Atlanta has violated EPA's ozone level standard in recent years. The urban heat island initiated precipitation events that were identified between 1996 and 2000 tended to occur near high-density urban areas but outside the I-285 loop that traverses around the Central Business District, i.e. not in the inner city area, but some in close proximity to the highways. The health implications were investigated by comparing the spatial patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, the two ingredients that form ozone by reacting with sunlight, with those of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. A clear core-periphery pattern was revealed for both VOC and NOx emissions, but the spatial pattern was more random in the cases of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Clearly, factors other than ozone pollution were involved in explaining the rates of these diseases. Further research is therefore needed to understand the health geography and its relationship to land use and land cover change as well as urban heat island effect. This paper illustrates the usefulness of a remote sensing approach for this purpose.

Nuclear reactor melt-retention structure to mitigate direct containment heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tutu, N.K.; Ginsberg, T.; Klages, J.R.

1991-01-01

This patent describes a nuclear reactor melt-retention structure that functions to retain molten core material within a melt retention chamber to mitigate the extent of direct containment heating. The structure being adapted to be positioned within or adjacent to a pressurized or boiling water nuclear reactor containment building at a location such that at least a portion of the melt retention structure is lower than and to one side of the nuclear reactor pressure vessel, and such that the structure is adjacent to a gas escape channel means that communicates between the reactor cavity and the containment building of the reactor. It comprises a melt-retention chamber, wall means defining a passageway extending between the reactor cavity underneath the reactor pressure vessel and one side of the chamber, the passageway including vent means extending through an upper wall portion thereof. The vent means being in communication with the upper region of the reactor containment building, whereby gas and steam discharged from the reactor pressure vessel are vented through the passageway and vent means into the gas-escape channel means and the reactor containment building

Radon mitigation in schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leovic, K.W.; Craig, A.B.; Saum, D.W.

1990-01-01

This article reports on radon mitigation in school buildings. Subslab depressurization (SSD) has been the most successful and widely used radon reduction method in houses. Thus far, it has also substantially reduced radon levels in a number of schools. Schools often have interior footings or thickened slabs that may create barriers for subslab air flow if a SSD system is the mitigation option. Review of foundation plans and subslab air flow testing will help to determine the presence and effect of such barriers. HVAC systems in schools vary considerable and tend to have a greater influence on pressure differentials (and consequently radon levels) than do heating and air-conditioning systems encountered in the radon mitigation of houses. As part of any radon mitigation method, ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 should be consulted to determine if the installed HVAC system is designed and operated to achieve minimum ventilation standards for indoor air quality

Heat islands over Mumbai as revealed by autorecorded thermograph data

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, A. K.; Voogt, James; Kshirsagar, S. R.; Srivastava, Kavita

2016-02-01

This study examined hourly temperature data of two locations of Mumbai metropolitan city. One data point (Coloba, Mumbai) is in centre of the city and the other one (Santacruz, Mumbai) is at the airport. The study finds that there were many occasions when night-time hourly temperatures over the city centre were considerably higher than that of the airport, even though temperature at the time of sunset at both the places was nearly same. In this study, the occasions, when hourly night-time temperature over city was more than that of the airport by objectively defined threshold value (3.0 ∘C in this study) for most of the hours in the night, were termed as heat island events. Analysis of the study reveals that these events are mostly confined to November-February months. The study also found that frequency of such events has doubled in recent two decades in comparison to the earlier two decades.

Assessing qualitative long-term volcanic hazards at Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Becerril

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Conducting long-term hazard assessment in active volcanic areas is of primary importance for land-use planning and defining emergency plans able to be applied in case of a crisis. A definition of scenario hazard maps helps to mitigate the consequences of future eruptions by anticipating the events that may occur. Lanzarote is an active volcanic island that has hosted the largest (>  1.5 km3 DRE and longest (6 years eruption, the Timanfaya eruption (1730–1736, on the Canary Islands in historical times (last 600 years. This eruption brought severe economic losses and forced local people to migrate. In spite of all these facts, no comprehensive hazard assessment or hazard maps have been developed for the island. In this work, we present an integrated long-term volcanic hazard evaluation using a systematic methodology that includes spatial analysis and simulations of the most probable eruptive scenarios.

Temperature Control & Comfort Level of Elementary School Building with Green Roof in New Taipei City, Taiwan

OpenAIRE

Ying-Ming Su; Mei-Shu Huang

2015-01-01

To mitigate the urban heat island effect has become a global issue when we are faced with the challenge of climate change. Through literature review, plant photosynthesis can reduce the carbon dioxide and mitigate the urban heat island effect to a degree. Because there are not enough open space and parks, green roof has become an important policy in Taiwan. We selected elementary school buildings in northern New Taipei City as research subjects since elementary schools ar...

The surface urban heat island response to urban expansion: A panel analysis for the conterminous United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Xiaoma; Zhou, Yuyu; Asrar, Ghassem R.; Imhoff, Marc; Li, Xuecao

2017-12-01

Abstract: Urban heat island (UHI), a major concern worldwide, affects human health and energy use. With current and anticipated rapid urbanization, improved understanding of the response of UHI to urbanization is important for impact analysis and developing effective adaptation measures and mitigation strategies. Current studies mainly focus on a single or a few big cities and knowledge on the response of UHI to urbanization for large areas is very limited. Modelling UHI caused by urbanization for large areas that encompass multiple metropolitans remains a major scientific challenge/opportunity. As a major indicator of urbanization, urban area size lends itself well for representation in prognostic models to investigate the impacts of urbanization on UHI and the related socioeconomic and environmental effects. However, we have little knowledge on how UHI responds to the increase of urban area size, namely urban expansion, and its spatial and temporal variation over large areas. In this study, we investigated the relationship between surface UHI (SUHI) and urban area size in the climate and ecological context, and its spatial and temporal variations, based on a panel analysis of about 5000 urban areas of 10 km2 or larger, in the conterminous U.S. We found statistically significant positive relationship between SUHI and urban area size, and doubling the urban area size led to a SUHI increase of higher than 0.7 °C. The response of SUHI to the increase of urban area size shows spatial and temporal variations, with stronger SUHI increase in the Northern region of U.S., and during daytime and summer. Urban area size alone can explain as much as 87% of the variance of SUHI among cities studied, but with large spatial and temporal variations. Urban area size shows higher association with SUHI in regions where the thermal characteristics of land cover surrounding the urban are more homogeneous, such as in Eastern U.S., and in the summer months. This study provides a

Daily variation of urban heat island effect and its correlations to urban greenery: A case study of Adelaide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Soltani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Urban structure and landscape cause an artificial temperature increase in cities, known as the urban heat island effect. The magnitude of such urban–rural temperature difference varies in daily and seasonal basis. Daily patterns of urban heat accumulation in Adelaide is under investigation. In this paper, East–West air temperature profile of Adelaide metropolitan area was mapped in 60 journeys alongside a straight cross route connecting Adelaide Hills to the West Beach under clear sky between 26 July and 15 August 2013. The most intense urban–rural temperature differences of 5.9 °C occurred during midnight in Adelaide. However, maximum urban heat variation occurred during the late afternoon when the near-surface urban heat fluctuates by 2 °C between the CBD East and Western Parklands. During summer heatwaves, the afternoon heat stress limits public life vibrancy in Adelaide. Increased urban greenery can facilitate resilience to heat by providing shadow and evaporative cooling. A better understanding of daily urban heat variations and the cooling effect of urban greenery assists urban policy making and public life management in the context of climate change.

Mitigation of strontium and ruthenium release in the CANDU primary heat transport system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFarlane, J.

1998-03-01

In certain severe accident scenarios, low-volatility fission products can appear to contribute significantly to dose, if treated with undue conservatism. Hence a survey was performed, to see if factors that may mitigate release of strontium and ruthenium could be incorporated into safety analyses, to cover parameters such as location in the fuel matrix under normal operating conditions, release from fuel, transport and deposition in the primary heat transport system and chemistry. In addition chemical equilibrium calculations were performed to investigate the volatility of strontium and ruthenium in the presence of uranium and important fission products. Strontium is very soluble in the U0 2 fuel, up to 12 atom %, and hence release is improbable, particularly under oxidizing conditions until volatilization of the fuel matrix itself occurs. Ruthenium, however, can be released at low temperatures, but only under oxidizing conditions. These may occur during a fuel-handling accident or as a result of an end-fitting failure. Under these conditions, the primary heat transport system cannot be credited for retention. The volatile form of ruthenium, RuO 4 (g), is thermally unstable above 381 K and decomposes to RuO 2 (s) and O 2 (g) upon contact with surfaces, a factor that is likely to minimize the release of ruthenium into the environment. (author)

Mitigation Measures Following a Loss-of-Residual-Heat-Removal Event During Shutdown

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seul, Kwang Won; Bang, Young Seok; Kim, Hho Jung

2000-01-01

The transient following a loss-of-residual-heat-removal event during shutdown was analyzed to determine the containment closure time (CCT) to prevent uncontrolled release of fission products and the gravity-injection path and rate (GIPR) for effective core cooling using the RELAP5/MOD3.2 code. The plant conditions of Yonggwang Units 3 and 4, a pressurized water reactor (PWR) of 2815-MW(thermal) power in Korea, were reviewed, and possible event sequences were identified. From the CCT analysis for the five cases of typical plant configurations, it was estimated for the earliest CCT to be 40 min after the event in a case with a large cold-leg opening and emptied steam generators (SGs). However, the case with water-filled SGs significantly delayed the CCT through the heat removal to the secondary side. From the GIPR analysis for the six possible gravity-injection paths from the refueling water storage tank (RWST), the case with the injection point and opening on the other leg side was estimated to be the most suitable path to avoid core boiling. In addition, from the sensitivity study, it was evaluated for the plant to be capable of providing the core cooling for the long-term transient if nominal RWST water is available. As a result, these analysis methods and results will provide useful information in understanding the plant behavior and preparing the mitigation measures after the event, especially for Combustion Engineering-type PWR plants. However, to directly apply the analysis results to the emergency procedure for such an event, additional case studies are needed for a wide range of operating conditions such as reactor coolant inventory, RWST water temperature, and core decay heat rate

Modeling and simulation of storm surge on Staten Island to understand inundation mitigation strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Kress, Michael E.; Benimoff, Alan I.; Fritz, William J.; Thatcher, Cindy A.; Blanton, Brian O.; Dzedzits, Eugene

2016-01-01

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, near Brigantine, New Jersey, and had a transformative impact on Staten Island and the New York Metropolitan area. Of the 43 New York City fatalities, 23 occurred on Staten Island. The borough, with a population of approximately 500,000, experienced some of the most devastating impacts of the storm. Since Hurricane Sandy, protective dunes have been constructed on the southeast shore of Staten Island. ADCIRC+SWAN model simulations run on The City University of New York's Cray XE6M, housed at the College of Staten Island, using updated topographic data show that the coast of Staten Island is still susceptible to tidal surge similar to those generated by Hurricane Sandy. Sandy hindcast simulations of storm surges focusing on Staten Island are in good agreement with observed storm tide measurements. Model results calculated from fine-scaled and coarse-scaled computational grids demonstrate that finer grids better resolve small differences in the topography of critical hydraulic control structures, which affect storm surge inundation levels. The storm surge simulations, based on post-storm topography obtained from high-resolution lidar, provide much-needed information to understand Staten Island's changing vulnerability to storm surge inundation. The results of fine-scale storm surge simulations can be used to inform efforts to improve resiliency to future storms. For example, protective barriers contain planned gaps in the dunes to provide for beach access that may inadvertently increase the vulnerability of the area.

Anthropogenic Heat Flux Estimation from Space: Results of the second phase of the URBANFLUXES Project

Science.gov (United States)

Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Marconcini, Mattia; Gastellu-Etchegorry, Jean-Philippe; Grimmond, Sue; Feigenwinter, Christian; Lindberg, Fredrik; Del Frate, Fabio; Klostermann, Judith; Mitraka, Zina; Esch, Thomas; Landier, Lucas; Gabey, Andy; Parlow, Eberhard; Olofson, Frans

2017-04-01

The H2020-Space project URBANFLUXES (URBan ANthrpogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites) investigates the potential of Copernicus Sentinels to retrieve anthropogenic heat flux, as a key component of the Urban Energy Budget (UEB). URBANFLUXES advances the current knowledge of the impacts of UEB fluxes on urban heat island and consequently on energy consumption in cities. In URBANFLUXES, the anthropogenic heat flux is estimated as a residual of UEB. Therefore, the rest UEB components, namely, the net all-wave radiation, the net change in heat storage and the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are independently estimated from Earth Observation (EO), whereas the advection term is included in the error of the anthropogenic heat flux estimation from the UEB closure. The Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART) model is employed to improve the estimation of the net all-wave radiation balance, whereas the Element Surface Temperature Method (ESTM), adjusted to satellite observations is used to improve the estimation the estimation of the net change in heat storage. Furthermore the estimation of the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes is based on the Aerodynamic Resistance Method (ARM). Based on these outcomes, QF is estimated by regressing the sum of the turbulent heat fluxes versus the available energy. In-situ flux measurements are used to evaluate URBANFLUXES outcomes, whereas uncertainties are specified and analyzed. URBANFLUXES is expected to prepare the ground for further innovative exploitation of EO in scientific activities (climate variability studies at local and regional scales) and future and emerging applications (sustainable urban planning, mitigation technologies) to benefit climate change mitigation/adaptation. This study presents the results of the second phase of the project and detailed information on URBANFLUXES is available at: http://urbanfluxes.eu

An urban heat island in tropical area investigated by remote sensing: Belo Horizonte City

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gastelois, B.C.R.J.; de Assis, E.S.

1992-01-01

The inappropriate urbanization process in tropical areas causes local climatic alterations forming heat islands over the cities. In order to guide urban planning in the control of the environmental urban quality, as for the thermal comfort is concerned, it has developed a method to evaluate the thermal behavior of built and urban green areas. Two TM-LANDSAT images from Belo Horizonte City, the study area, were chosen based on summer and winter typical days statistically characterized. Bands 3 and 4 of these images were combined to produce a local vegetation index map. Band 6 was used to observe the warmer and cooler areas in the city. Some heat nucleons were identified through data analysis of remote sensing, meteorological and urban land use. The mean maximum temperature of the principal heat nuclei exceeds, in summer, the limit value of diurnal thermal comfort for the city climate, using Givoni's Bioclimatic Chart. During the day period, the areas with a lower vegetation index, more density and predominating horizontal settlements were the most warmer. The cooling effect of urban green areas was very local. Thus, it should be regularly distributed in the built areas. The limits of occupation density and edification could be fixed, too, considering its impacts on the urban thermal environment

Island development impacts on the Nile River morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nahla Sadek

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The greater Cairo area has many islands formed after the Aswan High Dam construction. Ministry of water resources and irrigation is interested in studying the development and evolution of these islands in order to reflect the esthetic aspects and improvement of the environment surrounding the islands. This study focuses on Shubra El-Khaima Island which is located upstream Delta Barrage in the back water curve region. The study aims to propose different alternatives for island development. GSTAR3.0 model is the most recent version of a series of numerical models for simulating flow of water and sediment transport and prediction of morphological changes in alluvial rivers. This model was used to simulate and examine different alternatives for Shubra island development on river morphology according to different discharges scenarios. The optimum alternative was proposed. Also, the future required precautions to mitigate the effects of this development on the stability of watercourse were suggested.

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Urban Heat Island and Urban Mobility

Science.gov (United States)

Kar, B.; Omitaomu, O.

2017-12-01

A 2016 report by the U.S. Census stated that while the rural areas cover 97% of the U.S. landmass, these areas house only 19.7% of the nation's population. Given that the U.S. coastal counties are home to more than 50% of the U.S. population, these urban areas are clustered along the coast that is susceptible to sea level rise induced impacts. In light of increasing climate variability and extreme events, it is pertinent to understand the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect that results from increasing population density and mobility in the urban areas, and that contributes to increased energy consumption and temperature as well as unmitigated flooding events. For example, in Illinois, warmer summers contribute to heavy precipitation that overwhelms the region's drainage capacity. This study focuses on understanding the spatio-temporal variability of the relationship between population density and mobility distribution, and creation of UHI due to temperature change in selected cities across the U.S. This knowledge will help us understand the role of UHI in energy-water nexus in urban areas, specifically, energy consumption.

Mitigation of strontium and ruthenium release in the CANDU primary heat transport system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McFarlane, J

1998-03-01

In certain severe accident scenarios, low-volatility fission products can appear to contribute significantly to dose, if treated with undue conservatism. Hence a survey was performed, to see if factors that may mitigate release of strontium and ruthenium could be incorporated into safety analyses, to cover parameters such as location in the fuel matrix under normal operating conditions, release from fuel, transport and deposition in the primary heat transport system and chemistry. In addition chemical equilibrium calculations were performed to investigate the volatility of strontium and ruthenium in the presence of uranium and important fission products. Strontium is very soluble in the U0{sub 2} fuel, up to 12 atom %, and hence release is improbable, particularly under oxidizing conditions until volatilization of the fuel matrix itself occurs. Ruthenium, however, can be released at low temperatures, but only under oxidizing conditions. These may occur during a fuel-handling accident or as a result of an end-fitting failure. Under these conditions, the primary heat transport system cannot be credited for retention. The volatile form of ruthenium, RuO{sub 4}(g), is thermally unstable above 381 K and decomposes to RuO{sub 2}(s) and O{sub 2}(g) upon contact with surfaces, a factor that is likely to minimize the release of ruthenium into the environment. (author)

Heat stress control in the TMI-2 [Three Mile Island Unit 2] defueling and decontamination activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schork, J.S.; Parfitt, B.A.

1988-01-01

During the initial stages of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) defueling and decontamination activities for the reactor building, it was realized that the high levels of loose radioactive contamination would require the use of extensive protective clothing by entry personnel. While there was no doubt that layered protective clothing protects workers from becoming contaminated, it was recognized that these same layers of clothing would impose a very significant heat stress burden. To prevent the potentially serious consequences of a severe reaction to heat stress by workers in the hostile environment of the TMI-2 reactor building and yet maintain the reasonable work productivity necessary to perform the recovery adequately, an effective program of controlling worker exposure to heat stress had to be developed. Body-cooling devices produce a flow of cool air, which is introduced close to the skin to remove body heat through convection and increased sweat evaporation. The cooling effect produced by the Vortex tube successfully protected the workers from heat stress, however, there were several logistical and operational problems that hindered extensive use of these devices. The last type of cooling garment examined was the frozen water garment (FWG) developed by Elizier Kamon at the Pennsylvania State University as part of an Electric Power Research Institute research grant. Personal protection, i.e., body cooling, engineering controls, and administrative controls, have been implemented successfully

The role of city size and urban form in the surface urban heat island.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Bin; Rybski, Diego; Kropp, Jürgen P

2017-07-06

Urban climate is determined by a variety of factors, whose knowledge can help to attenuate heat stress in the context of ongoing urbanization and climate change. We study the influence of city size and urban form on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon in Europe and find a complex interplay between UHI intensity and city size, fractality, and anisometry. Due to correlations among these urban factors, interactions in the multi-linear regression need to be taken into account. We find that among the largest 5,000 cities, the UHI intensity increases with the logarithm of the city size and with the fractal dimension, but decreases with the logarithm of the anisometry. Typically, the size has the strongest influence, followed by the compactness, and the smallest is the influence of the degree to which the cities stretch. Accordingly, from the point of view of UHI alleviation, small, disperse, and stretched cities are preferable. However, such recommendations need to be balanced against e.g. positive agglomeration effects of large cities. Therefore, trade-offs must be made regarding local and global aims.

Remote Sensing of the Urban Heat Island Effect Across Biomes in the Continental USA

Science.gov (United States)

Imhoff, Marc L.; Zhang, Ping; Wolfe, Robert E.; Bounoua, Lahouari

2010-01-01

Impervious surface area (ISA) from the Landsat TM-based NLCD 2001 dataset and land surface temperature (LST) from MODIS averaged over three annual cycles (2003-2005) are used in a spatial analysis to assess the urban heat island (UHI) skin temperature amplitude and its relationship to development intensity, size, and ecological setting for 38 of the most populous cities in the continental United States. Development intensity zones based on %ISA are defined for each urban area emanating outward from the urban core to the nonurban rural areas nearby and used to stratify sampling for land surface temperatures and NDVI. Sampling is further constrained by biome and elevation to insure objective intercomparisons between zones and between cities in different biomes permitting the definition of hierarchically ordered zones that are consistent across urban areas in different ecological setting and across scales. We find that ecological context significantly influences the amplitude of summer daytime UHI (urban-rural temperature difference) the largest (8 C average) observed for cities built in biomes dominated by temperate broadleaf and mixed forest. For all cities combined, ISA is the primary driver for increase in temperature explaining 70% of the total variance in LST. On a yearly average, urban areas are substantially warmer than the non-urban fringe by 2.9 C, except for urban areas in biomes with arid and semiarid climates. The average amplitude of the UHI is remarkably asymmetric with a 4.3 C temperature difference in summer and only 1.3 C in winter. In desert environments, the LST's response to ISA presents an uncharacteristic "U-shaped" horizontal gradient decreasing from the urban core to the outskirts of the city and then increasing again in the suburban to the rural zones. UHI's calculated for these cities point to a possible heat sink effect. These observational results show that the urban heat island amplitude both increases with city size and is seasonally

The Paradox of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Danish Housing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, Rob

2012-01-01

that reducing space heating with high levels of thermal insulation and passive solar energy results in overheating and a growing demand for cooling. Climate change is expected to reduce space heating and increase cooling de-mand in housing. An analysis of new build housing using passive solar energy......Climate change means that buildings must greatly reduce their energy consumption. It is however paradoxical that climate mitigation in Denmark has created negative energy and indoor climate problems in housing that may be made worse by climate change. A literature review has been carried out...... of housing schemes where climate mitigation was sought through reduced space heating demand, and it is shown that extensive problems with overheating exist. A theoretical study of regulative and design strategies for climate mitigation in new build housing has therefore been carried out, and it is shown...

Plasma facing materials performance under ITER-relevant mitigated disruption photonic heat loads

Science.gov (United States)

Klimov, N. S.; Putrik, A. B.; Linke, J.; Pitts, R. A.; Zhitlukhin, A. M.; Kuprianov, I. B.; Spitsyn, A. V.; Ogorodnikova, O. V.; Podkovyrov, V. L.; Muzichenko, A. D.; Ivanov, B. V.; Sergeecheva, Ya. V.; Lesina, I. G.; Kovalenko, D. V.; Barsuk, V. A.; Danilina, N. A.; Bazylev, B. N.; Giniyatulin, R. N.

2015-08-01

PFMs (Plasma-facing materials: ITER grade stainless steel, beryllium, and ferritic-martensitic steels) as well as deposited erosion products of PFCs (Be-like, tungsten, and carbon based) were tested in QSPA under photonic heat loads relevant to those expected from photon radiation during disruptions mitigated by massive gas injection in ITER. Repeated pulses slightly above the melting threshold on the bulk materials eventually lead to a regular, "corrugated" surface, with hills and valleys spaced by 0.2-2 mm. The results indicate that hill growth (growth rate of ∼1 μm per pulse) and sample thinning in the valleys is a result of melt-layer redistribution. The measurements on the 316L(N)-IG indicate that the amount of tritium absorbed by the sample from the gas phase significantly increases with pulse number as well as the modified layer thickness. Repeated pulses significantly below the melting threshold on the deposited erosion products lead to a decrease of hydrogen isotopes trapped during the deposition of the eroded material.

Plasma facing materials performance under ITER-relevant mitigated disruption photonic heat loads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klimov, N.S., E-mail: klimov@triniti.ru [SRC RF TRINITI, ul. Pushkovykh, vladenie 12, Troitsk, Moscow 142190 (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Kashirskoye shosse 31, Moscow 115409 (Russian Federation); Putrik, A.B. [SRC RF TRINITI, ul. Pushkovykh, vladenie 12, Troitsk, Moscow 142190 (Russian Federation); Linke, J. [Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, EURATOM Association, Jülich D-52425 (Germany); Pitts, R.A. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, Karlsruhe 76021 (Germany); Zhitlukhin, A.M. [SRC RF TRINITI, ul. Pushkovykh, vladenie 12, Troitsk, Moscow 142190 (Russian Federation); Kuprianov, I.B. [Bochvar Institute, ul. Rogova, 5a, Moscow 123098 (Russian Federation); Spitsyn, A.V. [NRC «Kurchatov Institute», Akademika Kurchatova pl., 1, Moscow 123182 (Russian Federation); Ogorodnikova, O.V. [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Kashirskoye shosse 31, Moscow 115409 (Russian Federation); Podkovyrov, V.L.; Muzichenko, A.D. [SRC RF TRINITI, ul. Pushkovykh, vladenie 12, Troitsk, Moscow 142190 (Russian Federation); Ivanov, B.V.; Sergeecheva, Ya.V.; Lesina, I.G. [Bochvar Institute, ul. Rogova, 5a, Moscow 123098 (Russian Federation); Kovalenko, D.V.; Barsuk, V.A.; Danilina, N.A. [SRC RF TRINITI, ul. Pushkovykh, vladenie 12, Troitsk, Moscow 142190 (Russian Federation); Bazylev, B.N. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, Karlsruhe 76021 (Germany); Giniyatulin, R.N. [Efremov Institute, Doroga na Metallostroy, 3 bld., Metallostroy, Saint-Petersburg 196641 (Russian Federation)

2015-08-15

PFMs (Plasma-facing materials: ITER grade stainless steel, beryllium, and ferritic–martensitic steels) as well as deposited erosion products of PFCs (Be-like, tungsten, and carbon based) were tested in QSPA under photonic heat loads relevant to those expected from photon radiation during disruptions mitigated by massive gas injection in ITER. Repeated pulses slightly above the melting threshold on the bulk materials eventually lead to a regular, “corrugated” surface, with hills and valleys spaced by 0.2–2 mm. The results indicate that hill growth (growth rate of ∼1 μm per pulse) and sample thinning in the valleys is a result of melt-layer redistribution. The measurements on the 316L(N)-IG indicate that the amount of tritium absorbed by the sample from the gas phase significantly increases with pulse number as well as the modified layer thickness. Repeated pulses significantly below the melting threshold on the deposited erosion products lead to a decrease of hydrogen isotopes trapped during the deposition of the eroded material.

Assessment of urban heat Island for Craiova from satellite-based LST

Science.gov (United States)

Udristioiu, Mihaela Tinca; Velea, Liliana; Bojariu, Roxana; Sararu, Silviu Constantin

2017-12-01

The urban heat island is defined as an excess of heating in urban areas compared with surrounding rural zones which is illustrated by higher surface and air temperatures in the inner part of the cities. The aim of this study is to identify the UHI effect for Craiova - the largest city in the South-Western part of Romania - and to assess its intensity during summer. To this end, MODIS Land surface temperature (LST) for day and night for summer months (June, July, August), in the interval 2002-2017, as well as yearly Land Cover Type (LCT) data also from MODIS were employed. Furthermore, measurements of air and soil temperature from meteorological station Craiova, available from the National Meteorological Administration database, were used to investigate their relation with LST. The analysis shows that in the urban area of Craiova the long-term summer mean LST is about 4 °C (2 °C), higher than in the rural area during daytime (nighttime). During high temperatures episodes, the mean daytime LST reaches 45-47 °C in the city, while the difference from the rural surrounding area is of 2-3 °C. A high correlation (0.77-0.83) is found between LST and air temperature for all land-use types in the area considered. Both LST and 2m-air temperature time-series manifest an increasing linear tendency over the period considered, being more pronounced during the day.

Heat stress and vitamin E in diets for broilers as a mitigating measure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Santos Dalólio

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This review aimed to identify the importance of vitamin E dietary supplementation to broilers subjected to heat stress in relation to metabolism, growth performance and quality of animal products and its effects on immune system. Vitamin E is the concentration of tocopherol and tocotrienol, which can be found in natural or synthetic form. This vitamin is essential for the integrity of reproductive, muscular, circulatory, nervous and immune systems of the animals. In order to reduce the harmful effects of high temperatures in poultry production, vitamin E supplementation is a viable alternative for the sector. Some studies indicate its potential antioxidant effect able to modulate inflammatory responses and physiological adjustments to mitigate the undesirable effects of exposure of broilers to high temperatures. Moreover, it has been found increased viability of animals due to the greater activation of the immune system, and improved quality of animal products given to the deposition in tissues with consequent nutritional enrichment of meat products.

The Urban Heat Island Effect and the Role of Vegetation to Address the Negative Impacts of Local Climate Changes in a Small Brazilian City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elis Dener Lima Alves

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the influence of urban-geographical variables on determining heat islands and proposes a model to estimate and spatialize the maximum intensity of urban heat islands (UHI. Simulations of the UHI based on the increase of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, using multiple linear regression, in Iporá (Brazil are also presented. The results showed that the UHI intensity of this small city tended to be lower than that of bigger cities. Urban geometry and vegetation (UI and NDVI were the variables that contributed the most to explain the variability of the maximum UHI intensity. It was observed that areas located in valleys had lower thermal values, suggesting a cool island effect. With the increase in NDVI in the central area of a maximum UHI, there was a significant decrease in its intensity and size (a 45% area reduction. It is noteworthy that it was possible to spatialize the UHI to the whole urban area by using multiple linear regression, providing an analysis of the urban set from urban-geographical variables and thus performing prognostic simulations that can be adapted to other small tropical cities.

Nuclear reactor melt-retention structure to mitigate direct containment heating

Science.gov (United States)

Tutu, Narinder K.; Ginsberg, Theodore; Klages, John R.

1991-01-01

A light water nuclear reactor melt-retention structure to mitigate the extent of direct containment heating of the reactor containment building. The structure includes a retention chamber for retaining molten core material away from the upper regions of the reactor containment building when a severe accident causes the bottom of the pressure vessel of the reactor to fail and discharge such molten material under high pressure through the reactor cavity into the retention chamber. In combination with the melt-retention chamber there is provided a passageway that includes molten core droplet deflector vanes and has gas vent means in its upper surface, which means are operable to deflect molten core droplets into the retention chamber while allowing high pressure steam and gases to be vented into the upper regions of the containment building. A plurality of platforms are mounted within the passageway and the melt-retention structure to direct the flow of molten core material and help retain it within the melt-retention chamber. In addition, ribs are mounted at spaced positions on the floor of the melt-retention chamber, and grid means are positioned at the entrance side of the retention chamber. The grid means develop gas back pressure that helps separate the molten core droplets from discharged high pressure steam and gases, thereby forcing the steam and gases to vent into the upper regions of the reactor containment building.

Alternative energy balances for Bulgaria to mitigate climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Christov, Christo

1996-01-01

Alternative energy balances aimed to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are developed as alternatives to the baseline energy balance. The section of mitigation options is based on the results of the GHG emission inventory for the 1987 1992 period. The energy sector is the main contributor to the total CO2 emissions of Bulgaria. Stationary combustion for heat and electricity production as well as direct end-use combustion amounts to 80% of the total emissions. The parts of the energy network that could have the biggest influence on GHG emission reduction are identified. The potential effects of the following mitigation measures are discussed: rehabilitation of the combustion facilities currently in operation; repowering to natural gas; reduction of losses in thermal and electrical transmission and distribution networks; penetration of new combustion technologies; tariff structure improvement; renewable sources for electricity and heat production; wasteheat utilization; and supply of households with natural gas to substitute for electricity in space heating and cooking. The total available and the achievable potentials are estimated and the implementation barriers are discussed.

Resonant island divertor experiments on text

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

deGrassie, J.S.; Evans, T.E.; Jackson, G.L.

1988-09-01

The first experimental tests of the resonant island divertor (RID) concept have been carried out on the Texas Experimental Tokamak (TEXT). Modular perturbation coils produce static resonant magnetic fields at the tokamak boundary. The resulting magnetic islands are used to guide heat and particle fluxes around a small scoop limiter head. An enhancement in the limiter collection efficiency over the nonisland operation, as evidenced by enhanced neutral density within the limiter head, of up to a factor of 4 is obtained. This enhancement is larger than one would expect given the measured magnitude of the cross-field particle transport in TEXT. It is proposed that electrostatic perturbations occur which enhance the ion convection rate around the islands. Preliminary experiments utilizing electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in conjunction with RID operation have also have been performed. 6 refs., 3 figs

Long term performance of radon mitigation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prill, R.; Fisk, W.J.

2002-01-01

Researchers installed radon mitigation systems in 12 houses in Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho during the heating season 1985--1986 and continued to monitor indoor radon quarterly and annually for ten years. The mitigation systems included active sub-slab ventilation, basement over-pressurization, and crawlspace isolation and ventilation. The occupants reported various operational problems with these early mitigation systems. The long-term radon measurements were essential to track the effectiveness of the mitigation systems over time. All 12 homes were visited during the second year of the study, while a second set 5 homes was visited during the fifth year to determine the cause(s) of increased radon in the homes. During these visits, the mitigation systems were inspected and measurements of system performance were made. Maintenance and modifications were performed to improve system performance in these homes

Mitigation options for futurewater scarcity : A case study in Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos Archipelago)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reyes, Maria Fernanda; Trifunović, Nemanja; Sharma, Saroj Kumar; Behzadian, Kourosh; Kapelan, Zoran; Kennedy, M.D.

2017-01-01

Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos Archipelago), like many other tourist islands, is currently experiencing an exponential increase in tourism and local population growth, jeopardizing current and future water supply. An accurate assessment of the future water supply/demand balance is crucial to

Improved performance of the W7-AS stellarator with the new island divertor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brakel, R.; Grigull, P.; McCormick, K.

2003-01-01

The island divertor concept has successfully been realized at W7-AS. The divertor gives access to a new NBI-heated high density regime with densities up to 4x1020 m-3 and energy confinement well above customary scalings (high density H-mode, HDH). In parallel, impurity confinement dramatically decreases. This prevents impurity accumulation, and allows for quasi-stationary high density discharges with excellent confinement and with radiation profiles peaked at the edge. At the highest densities partial detachment occurs with a radiated power fraction up to 90% at a tolerable mitigation of plasma energy. The HDH-mode appears promising with respect to the requirements of both confinement and exhaust. Major experimental results, such as the lack of a high recycling phase preceding detachment, are also predicted by the EMC3/EIRENE code. (author)

Desert heat island study in winter by mobile transect and remote sensing techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Chen-Yi; Brazel, Anthony J.; Chow, Winston T. L.; Hedquist, Brent C.; Prashad, Lela

2009-10-01

A familiar problem in urban environments is the urban heat island (UHI), which potentially increases air conditioning demands, raise pollution levels, and could modify precipitation patterns. The magnitude and pattern of UHI effects have been major concerns of a lot of urban environment studies. Typically, research on UHI magnitudes in arid regions (such as Phoenix, AZ, USA) focuses on summer. UHI magnitudes in Phoenix (more than three million population) attain values in excess of 5°C. This study investigated the early winter period—a time when summer potential evapotranspiration >250 mm has diminished to 8.0°C, comparable to summertime UHI conditions. Through analysis of the Oke (1998) weather factor ΦW, it was determined thermally induced nighttime cool drainage winds could account for inflating the UHI magnitude in winter.

"I Feel Suffocated:" Understandings of Climate Change in an Inner City Heat Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Merrill; Hasemann, Jose; Raynor, Abigail

2016-01-01

Global climate change is contributing to a range of adverse environmental and weather shifts, including more intense and more frequent heatwaves and an intensification of the urban heat island effect. These changes are known to produce a set of significant and differentially distributed health problems, with a particularly high burden among poor and marginalized populations. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of community knowledge, attitudes, health and other concerns, and behavioral responses regarding mounting urban temperatures and related environmental health issues among Latinos living in the city of Hartford, CT in northeast United States. Findings suggest the need for enhanced participation in knowledge dissemination and preparedness planning based on the coproduction of knowledge about climate change and community responses to it. The special role of anthropology in such efforts is highlighted.

Radial electric field and transport near the rational surface and the magnetic island in LHD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida, K.; Inagaki, S.; Tamura, N.

2002-10-01

The structure of the radial electric field and heat transport at the magnetic island in the Large Helical Device is investigated by measuring the radial profile of poloidal flow with charge exchange spectroscopy. The convective poloidal flow inside the island is observed when the n/m=1/1 external perturbation field becomes large enough to increase the magnetic island width above a critical value (15-20% of minor radius) in LHD. This convective poloidal flow results in a non-flat space potential inside the magnetic island. The sign of the curvature of the space potential depends on the radial electric field at the boundary of the magnetic island. The heat transport inside the magnetic island is studied with a cold pulse propagation technique. The experimental results show the existence of the radial electric field shear at the boundary of the magnetic island and a reduction of heat transport inside the magnetic island. (author)

The urban heat island in the city of Poznań as derived from Landsat 5 TM

Science.gov (United States)

Majkowska, Agnieszka; Kolendowicz, Leszek; Półrolniczak, Marek; Hauke, Jan; Czernecki, Bartosz

2017-05-01

To study urban heat island (UHI), Landsat 5 TM data and in situ measurements of air temperature from nine points in Poznań (Poland) for the period June 2008-May 2013 were used. Based on data from measurement points located in different types of land use, the surface urban heat island (SUHI) maps were created. All available and quality-controlled Landsat 5 TM images from 15 unique days were used to obtain the characteristics of land surface temperature (LST) and UHI intensity. In addition, spatial analysis of UHI was conducted on the basis of Corine Land Cover 2006 dataset. In situ measurements at a height of 2 m above ground level show that the UHI is a common occurrence in Poznań with a mean annual intensity of 1.0 °C. The UHI intensity is greater during the warm half of the year. Moreover, results based on the remote sensing data and the Corine Land Cover 2006 indicate that the highest value of the mean LST anomalies (3.4 °C) is attained by the continuous urban fabric, while the lowest value occurs within the broad-leaved forests (-3.1 °C). To re-count from LST to the air temperature at a height of 2 m above ground level ( T agl), linear and non-linear regression models were created. For both models, coefficients of determination equal about 0.80, with slightly higher value for the non-linear approach, which was applied to estimate the T agl spatial variability over the city of Poznań.

Heat island effect on the quality of life in the city; Hitte-eilandeffect zet leefbaarheid in de stad verder onder druk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Harmelen, T.; Klok, L.; Doepp, S.; Dolevo, R.; Janssen, S. [Business Unit Milieu en Leefomgeving, TNO Bouw en Ondergrond, Delft (Netherlands)

2008-12-15

The global rise in temperature as a result of climate change becomes increasingly perceptible. The health effects of these changes, combined with air quality, are extra high in urban areas. It seems worth while to examine the consequences of increasing heat in urban areas in the Netherlands. In order to deal with the consequences in a responsible manner and to prepare for an even warmer future, answers will have to be found for the following two questions: (1) How large is the heat island effect in Dutch cities an what can we expect in the future?; and (2) What are the consequences of the heat island effect that we will have to take into account? [mk]. [Dutch] De mondiale temperatuurstijging ten gevolge van klimaatverandering is ook in Nederland steeds duidelijker waarneembaar. De gezondheidseffecten van deze veranderingen in combinatie met luchtkwaliteit zijn in het stedelijk gebied extra groot. Het lijkt daarom de moeite waard om onderzoek te doen naar de gevolgen van toenemende hitte in stedelijke gebieden in Nederland. Om op verantwoorde wijze met de gevolgen om te gaan en om voorbereid te zijn op een nog warmere toekomst zullen antwoorden moeten worden gevonden op twee wagen: (1) Hoe groot is het hitte-eilandeffect in de Nederlandse stad nu en wat kunnen we verwachten in de toekomst?; en (2) Met welke gevolgen van het hitte-eilandeffect moeten we rekening houden?.

Urban weather data and building models for the inclusion of the urban heat island effect in building performance simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Palme, M; Inostroza, L; Villacreses, G; Lobato, A; Carrasco, C

2017-10-01

This data article presents files supporting calculation for urban heat island (UHI) inclusion in building performance simulation (BPS). Methodology is used in the research article "From urban climate to energy consumption. Enhancing building performance simulation by including the urban heat island effect" (Palme et al., 2017) [1]. In this research, a Geographical Information System (GIS) study is done in order to statistically represent the most important urban scenarios of four South-American cities (Guayaquil, Lima, Antofagasta and Valparaíso). Then, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is done to obtain reference Urban Tissues Categories (UTC) to be used in urban weather simulation. The urban weather files are generated by using the Urban Weather Generator (UWG) software (version 4.1 beta). Finally, BPS is run out with the Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) software (version 17). In this data paper, four sets of data are presented: 1) PCA data (excel) to explain how to group different urban samples in representative UTC; 2) UWG data (text) to reproduce the Urban Weather Generation for the UTC used in the four cities (4 UTC in Lima, Guayaquil, Antofagasta and 5 UTC in Valparaíso); 3) weather data (text) with the resulting rural and urban weather; 4) BPS models (text) data containing the TRNSYS models (four building models).

A Remote Sensing-based Characterization of the Urban Heat Island and its Implications for Modeled Estimates of Urban Biogenic Carbon Fluxes in Boston, MA.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.; Friedl, M. A.; Hutyra, L.; Hardiman, B. S.

2015-12-01

Urban land use occupies a small but critical proportion of global land area for the carbon cycle, and in the coming decades, urban land area is expected to nearly double. Conversion of natural land cover to urban land cover imposes myriad ecological effects, including increased land surface and air temperatures via the urban heat island effect. In this study, we characterize the seasonal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island over Boston, MA and estimate its consequences on biogenic carbon fluxes with a remote sensing-based model. Using a 12-year time series of emissivity- and atmospherically-corrected land surface temperatures from Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery, we find a high degree of spatial heterogeneity and consistent seasonal patterns in the thermal properties of Boston, controlled mainly by variations in vegetative cover. Field measurements of surface air temperature across an urbanization gradient show season- and vegetation-dependent patterns consistent with those observed in the Landsat data. With a fused data set that combines surface air temperature, MODIS, and Landsat observations, we modify and run the Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (VPRM) to explore 1) how elevated temperatures affect diurnal and seasonal patterns of hourly urban biogenic carbon fluxes in Massachusetts in 2013 and 2014 and 2) to what extent these fluxes follow spatial patterns found in the urban heat island. Model modifications simulate the ecological effects of urbanization, including empirical adjustments to reanalysis-driven air temperatures (up to 5 K) and ecosystem respiration reduced by impervious surface area. Model results reveal spatio-temporal patterns consistent with strong land use and vegetation cover controls on biogenic carbon fluxes, with non-trivial biogenic annual net ecosystem exchange occurring in urban and suburban areas (up to -2.5 MgC/ha/yr). We specifically consider the feedbacks between Boston's urban heat island and landscape

Neoclassical islands on COMPASS-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gates, D.A.; Lloyd, B.; Morris, A.W.; McArdle, G.; O'Brien, M.R.; Valovic, M.; Warrick, C.D.; Wilson, H.R.

1997-01-01

Neoclassical magnetic islands are observed to limit the achievable β in COMPASS-D low collisionality single null divertor tokamak plasmas with ITER-like geometry (R 0 = 0.56 m, B 0 1.2 T, I p = 120-180 kA, κ = 1.6, ε = 0.3). The limiting β is typically well below that expected from ideal instabilities with maximum βN in the range of 1.6 to 2.1. The plasma is heated with up to 1.8 MW of 60 GHz electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) at the second harmonic with X mode polarization. The time history of the measured island width is compared with the predictions of neoclassical tearing mode theory, with good agreement between theory and experiment. The measured islands have a threshold width below which the mode will not grow. The density scaling of the point of onset of the measured instabilities is compared with two theories that predict a threshold island width for the onset of neoclassical tearing modes. Applied resonant helical error fields are used to induce islands in collisionality regimes wherein the neoclassical islands do not occur naturally, allowing the study of the behaviour of neoclassical tearing modes in this regime. The critical β for the onset of neoclassical tearing modes is seen to be ∼3 times higher in the naturally stable region. This observation is compared with the predictions of both threshold theories. A simple expression for the q scaling of the maximum achievable β N in the presence of neoclassical tearing modes is derived on the basis of the assumption of a maximum allowable island width. The predicted q scaling of this β limit is compared with data from a q scan, and the results are in good agreement. (author)

Harmonic Mitigation in Islanded Microgrids by Inverter-Interfaced Distributed Energy Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Xiongfei

of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) for both customers and utilities. However, during islanded operations, microgrids are more sensitive to power quality disturbances, owing to the low short-circuit ratio and limited capacity of DER units. As a consequence, harmonic distortion caused by the proliferation...

Tracking macroalgae introductions in North Atlantic oceanic islands

Science.gov (United States)

Micael, Joana; Parente, Manuela I.; Costa, Ana C.

2014-06-01

The Azores archipelago was selected as a case study since there are few studies on macroalgae introduction in oceanic islands. While at a global scale, around 3 % of macroalgae are considered non-indigenous; in the remote oceanic islands of the Azores, over 6 % of the marine algal flora is non-indigenous. The taxa distribution pattern of non-indigenous species in the Azores is significantly different from the distribution pattern in the globe. The most representative group was Rhodophyta species, being 84 % of the total non-indigenous macroalgae, mainly introduced via maritime traffic. This study highlights the vulnerability of remote islands to the introduction of macroalgae and the need to develop further studies on other archipelagos to understand whether the observed vulnerability is generally characteristic of oceanic islands. The development of local monitoring and mitigation programs and the necessity of regulatory and preventive measures for the maritime traffic vector are strongly suggested.

Natural and Man-Made Hazards in the Cayman Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Novelo-Casanova, D. A.; Suarez, G.

2010-12-01

awareness of decision makers for disasters prevention and mitigation plans. Our results constitute the basis of future mitigation risk projects in the islands. Areas showing the level of exposure to natural and man-made hazards at Grand Cayman.

Investigating the vertical dimension of Singapore's urban heat island through quadcopter platforms: an pilot study

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Winston; Ho, Dawn

2016-04-01

In numerous cities, measurements of urban warmth in most urban heat island (UHI) studies are generally constrained towards surface or near-surface (quadcopter platforms to measure urban temperature profiles up to 100 m above ground level in Singapore, which is a rapidly urbanizing major tropical metropolis. Three different land use/land cover categories were sampled; a high-rise residential estate, a university campus, and an urban park/green-space. Sorties were flown repeatedly at four different times - sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight. Initial results indicate significant variations in intra-site stability and inversion development between the urban canopy and boundary layers. These profiles are also temporally dynamic, depending on the time of day and larger-scale weather conditions.

Energy audit data for a resort island in the South China Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Basir Khan, M Reyasudin; Jidin, Razali; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh

2016-03-01

The data consists of actual generation-side auditing including the distribution of loads, seasonal load profiles, and types of loads as well as an analysis of local development planning of a resort island in the South China Sea. The data has been used to propose an optimal combination of hybrid renewable energy systems that able to mitigate the diesel fuel dependency on the island. The resort island selected is Tioman, as it represents the typical energy requirements of many resort islands in the South China Sea. The data presented are related to the research article "Optimal Combination of Solar, Wind, Micro-Hydro and Diesel Systems based on Actual Seasonal Load Profiles for a Resort Island in the South China Sea" [1].

Energy audit data for a resort island in the South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Basir Khan, M. Reyasudin; Jidin, Razali; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh

2015-01-01

The data consists of actual generation-side auditing including the distribution of loads, seasonal load profiles, and types of loads as well as an analysis of local development planning of a resort island in the South China Sea. The data has been used to propose an optimal combination of hybrid renewable energy systems that able to mitigate the diesel fuel dependency on the island. The resort island selected is Tioman, as it represents the typical energy requirements of many resort islands in the South China Sea. The data presented are related to the research article “Optimal Combination of Solar, Wind, Micro-Hydro and Diesel Systems based on Actual Seasonal Load Profiles for a Resort Island in the South China Sea” [1]. PMID:26900590

Energy savings for heat-island reduction strategies in Chicago and Houston (including updates for Baton Rouge, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City); FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konopacki, S.; Akbari, H.

2002-01-01

In 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the ''Heat Island Reduction Initiative'' to quantify the potential benefits of Heat-Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., shade trees, reflective roofs, reflective pavements and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling-energy use in buildings, lower the ambient air temperature and improve urban air quality in cities, and reduce CO2 emissions from power plants. Under this initiative, the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project (UHIPP) was created with the objective of investigating the potential of HIR strategies in residential and commercial buildings in three initial UHIPP cities: Baton Rouge, LA; Sacramento, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. Later two other cities, Chicago, IL and Houston, TX were added to the UHIPP. In an earlier report we summarized our efforts to calculate the annual energy savings, peak power avoidance, and annual CO2 reduction obtainable from the introduction of HIR strategies in the initial three cities. This report summarizes the results of our study for Chicago and Houston. In this analysis, we focused on three building types that offer the highest potential savings: single-family residence, office and retail store. Each building type was characterized in detail by vintage and system type (i.e., old and new building constructions, and gas and electric heat). We used the prototypical building characteristics developed earlier for each building type and simulated the impact of HIR strategies on building cooling- and heating-energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.1E model. Our simulations included the impact of (1) strategically-placed shade trees near buildings[direct effect], (2) use of high-albedo roofing material on the building[direct effect], (3) urban reforestation with high-albedo pavements and building surfaces[indirect effect] and (4) combined strategies 1, 2, and 3[direct and indirect effects]. We then estimated the total roof area of air-conditioned buildings in each

Energy audit data for a resort island in the South China Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Reyasudin Basir Khan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The data consists of actual generation-side auditing including the distribution of loads, seasonal load profiles, and types of loads as well as an analysis of local development planning of a resort island in the South China Sea. The data has been used to propose an optimal combination of hybrid renewable energy systems that able to mitigate the diesel fuel dependency on the island. The resort island selected is Tioman, as it represents the typical energy requirements of many resort islands in the South China Sea. The data presented are related to the research article “Optimal Combination of Solar, Wind, Micro-Hydro and Diesel Systems based on Actual Seasonal Load Profiles for a Resort Island in the South China Sea” [1]. Keywords: Tioman, South China Sea, Load profile, Renewable energy, Resort Island, Energy audit

Urban weather data and building models for the inclusion of the urban heat island effect in building performance simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Palme

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This data article presents files supporting calculation for urban heat island (UHI inclusion in building performance simulation (BPS. Methodology is used in the research article “From urban climate to energy consumption. Enhancing building performance simulation by including the urban heat island effect” (Palme et al., 2017 [1]. In this research, a Geographical Information System (GIS study is done in order to statistically represent the most important urban scenarios of four South-American cities (Guayaquil, Lima, Antofagasta and Valparaíso. Then, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA is done to obtain reference Urban Tissues Categories (UTC to be used in urban weather simulation. The urban weather files are generated by using the Urban Weather Generator (UWG software (version 4.1 beta. Finally, BPS is run out with the Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS software (version 17. In this data paper, four sets of data are presented: 1 PCA data (excel to explain how to group different urban samples in representative UTC; 2 UWG data (text to reproduce the Urban Weather Generation for the UTC used in the four cities (4 UTC in Lima, Guayaquil, Antofagasta and 5 UTC in Valparaíso; 3 weather data (text with the resulting rural and urban weather; 4 BPS models (text data containing the TRNSYS models (four building models.

Generalized Scaling of Urban Heat Island Effect and Its Applications for Energy Consumption and Renewable Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.-W. Lee

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In previous work from this laboratory, it has been found that the urban heat island intensity (UHI can be scaled with the urban length scale and the wind speed, through the time-dependent energy balance. The heating of the urban surfaces during the daytime sets the initial temperature, and this overheating is dissipated during the night-time through mean convection motion over the urban surface. This may appear to be in contrast to the classical work by Oke (1973. However, in this work, we show that if the population density is used in converting the population data into urbanized area, then a good agreement with the current theory is found. An additional parameter is the “urban flow parameter,” which depends on the urban building characteristics and affects the horizontal convection of heat due to wind. This scaling can be used to estimate the UHI intensity in any cities and therefore predict the required energy consumption during summer months. In addition, all urbanized surfaces are expected to exhibit this scaling, so that increase in the surface temperature in large energy-consumption or energy-producing facilities (e.g., solar electric or thermal power plants can be estimated.

Effects of Urbanization and Seasonal Cycle on the Surface Urban Heat Island Patterns in the Coastal Growing Cities: A Case Study of Casablanca, Morocco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hicham Bahi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The urban heat island (UHI phenomenon is a harmful environmental problem in urban areas affecting both climatic and ecological processes. This paper aims to highlight and monitor the spatial distribution of Surface UHI (SUHI in the Casablanca region, Morocco, using remote sensing data. To achieve this goal, a time series of Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI-TIRS images was acquired from 1984 to 2016 and analyzed. In addition, nocturnal MODIS images acquired from 2005 to 2015 were used to evaluate the nighttime SUHI. In order to better analyze intense heat produced by urban core, SUHI intensity (SUHII was computed by quantifying the difference of land surface temperature (LST between urban and rural areas. The urban core SUHII appears more significant in winter seasons than during summer, while the pattern of SUHII becomes moderate during intermediate seasons. During winter, the average daytime SUHII gradually increased in the residential area of Casablanca and in some small peri-urban cities by more than 1 °C from 1984 to 2015. The industrial areas of the Casablanca region were affected by a significant rise in SUHII exceeding 15 °C in certain industrial localities. In contrast, daytime SUHII shows a reciprocal effect during summer with emergence of a heat island in rural areas and development of cool islands in urban and peri-urban areas. During nighttime, the SUHII remains positive in urban areas year-round with higher values in winter as compared to summer. The results point out that the seasonal cycle of daytime SUHII as observed in the Casablanca region is different from other mid-latitude cities, where the highest values are often observed in summer during the day.

Monitoring Urban Heat Island Through Google Earth Engine: Potentialities and Difficulties in Different Cities of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Ravanelli, R.; Nascetti, A.; Cirigliano, R. V.; Di Rico, C.; Monti, P.; Crespi, M.

2018-04-01

The aim of this work is to exploit the large-scale analysis capabilities of the innovative Google Earth Engine platform in order to investigate the temporal variations of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon as a whole. A intuitive methodology implementing a largescale correlation analysis between the Land Surface Temperature and Land Cover alterations was thus developed.The results obtained for the Phoenix MA are promising and show how the urbanization heavily affects the magnitude of the UHI effects with significant increases in LST. The proposed methodology is therefore able to efficiently monitor the UHI phenomenon.

Nuclear power generation and global heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taboada, Horacio

1999-01-01

The Professionals Association and Nuclear Activity of National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) are following with great interest the worldwide discussions on global heating and the role that nuclear power is going to play. The Association has an active presence, as part of the WONUC (recognized by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization) in the COP4, which was held in Buenos Aires in November 1998. The environmental problems are closely related to human development, the way of power production, the techniques for industrial production and exploitation fields. CO 2 is the most important gas with hothouse effects, responsible of progressive climatic changes, as floods, desertification, increase of average global temperature, thermal expansion in seas and even polar casks melting and ice falls. The consequences that global heating will have on the life and economy of human society cannot be sufficiently emphasized, great economical impact, destruction of ecosystems, loss of great coast areas and complete disappearance of islands owing to water level rise. The increase of power retained in the atmosphere generates more violent hurricanes and storms. In this work, the topics presented in the former AATN Meeting is analyzed in detail and different technological options and perspectives to mitigate CO 2 emission, as well as economical-financial aspects, are explored. (author)

Monitoring surface urban heat island formation in a tropical mountain city using Landsat data (1987-2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji

2017-11-01

Since it was first described about two centuries ago and due to its adverse impacts on urban ecological environment and the overall livability of cities, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon has been, and still is, an important research topic across various fields of study. However, UHI studies on cities in mountain regions are still lacking. This study aims to contribute to this endeavor by monitoring and examining the formation of surface UHI (SUHI) in a tropical mountain city of Southeast Asia -Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines- using Landsat data (1987-2015). Based on mean surface temperature difference between impervious surface (IS) and green space (GS1), SUHI intensity (SUHII) in the study area increased from 2.7 °C in 1987 to 3.4 °C in 2015. Between an urban zone (>86% impervious) and a rural zone (<10% impervious) along the urban-rural gradient, it increased from 4.0 °C in 1987 to 8.2 °C in 2015. These results are consistent with the rapid urbanization of the area over the same period, which resulted in a rapid expansion of impervious surfaces and substantial loss of green spaces. Together with landscape composition variables (e.g. fraction of IS), topographic variables (e.g. hillshade) can help explain a significant amount of spatial variations in surface temperature in the area (R2 = 0.56-0.85) (p < 0.001). The relative importance of the 'fraction of IS' variable also increased, indicating that its unique explanatory and predictive power concerning the spatial variations of surface temperature increases as the city size becomes bigger and SUHI gets more intense. Overall, these results indicate that the cool temperature of the study area being situated in a mountain region did not hinder the formation of SUHI. Thus, the formation and effects of UHIs, including possible mitigation and adaptation measures, should be considered in landscape planning for the sustainable urban development of the area.

qEMF3, a novel QTL for the early-morning flowering trait from wild rice, Oryza officinalis, to mitigate heat stress damage at flowering in rice, O. sativa.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirabayashi, Hideyuki; Sasaki, Kazuhiro; Kambe, Takashi; Gannaban, Ritchel B; Miras, Monaliza A; Mendioro, Merlyn S; Simon, Eliza V; Lumanglas, Patrick D; Fujita, Daisuke; Takemoto-Kuno, Yoko; Takeuchi, Yoshinobu; Kaji, Ryota; Kondo, Motohiko; Kobayashi, Nobuya; Ogawa, Tsugufumi; Ando, Ikuo; Jagadish, Krishna S V; Ishimaru, Tsutomu

2015-03-01

A decline in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production caused by heat stress is one of the biggest concerns resulting from future climate change. Rice spikelets are most susceptible to heat stress at flowering. The early-morning flowering (EMF) trait mitigates heat-induced spikelet sterility at the flowering stage by escaping heat stress during the daytime. We attempted to develop near-isogenic lines (NILs) for EMF in the indica-type genetic background by exploiting the EMF locus from wild rice, O. officinalis (CC genome). A stable quantitative trait locus (QTL) for flower opening time (FOT) was detected on chromosome 3. A QTL was designated as qEMF3 and it shifted FOT by 1.5-2.0 h earlier for cv. Nanjing 11 in temperate Japan and cv. IR64 in the Philippine tropics. NILs for EMF mitigated heat-induced spikelet sterility under elevated temperature conditions completing flower opening before reaching 35°C, a general threshold value leading to spikelet sterility. Quantification of FOT of cultivars popular in the tropics and subtropics did not reveal the EMF trait in any of the cultivars tested, suggesting that qEMF3 has the potential to advance FOT of currently popular cultivars to escape heat stress at flowering under future hotter climates. This is the first report to examine rice with the EMF trait through marker-assisted breeding using wild rice as a genetic resource. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Climate change vulnerability to agrarian ecosystem of small Island: evidence from Sagar Island, India

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, S.; Satpati, L. N.; Choudhury, B. U.; Sadhu, S.

2018-04-01

The present study assessed climate change vulnerability in agricultural sector of low-lying Sagar Island of Bay of Bengal. Vulnerability indices were estimated using spatially aggregated biophysical and socio-economic parameters by applying principal component analysis and equal weight method. The similarities and differences of outputs of these two methods were analysed across the island. From the integration of outputs and based on the severity of vulnerability, explicit vulnerable zones were demarcated spatially. Results revealed that life subsistence agriculture in 11.8% geographical area (2829 ha) of the island along the western coast falls under very high vulnerable zone (VHVZ VI of 84-99%) to climate change. Comparatively higher values of exposure (0.53 ± 0.26) and sensitivity (0.78 ± 0.14) subindices affirmed that the VHV zone is highly exposed to climate stressor with very low adaptive capacity (ADI= 0.24 ± 0.16) to combat vulnerability to climate change. Hence, food security for a population of >22 thousands comprising >3.7 thousand agrarian households are highly exposed to climate change. Another 17% area comprising 17.5% population covering 20% villages in north-western and eastern parts of the island also falls under high vulnerable (VI= 61%-77%) zone. Findings revealed large spatial heterogeneity in the degree of vulnerability across the island and thus, demands devising area specific planning (adaptation and mitigation strategies) to address the climate change impact implications both at macro and micro levels.

Energy savings for heat-island reduction strategies in Chicago and Houston (including updates for Baton Rouge, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konopacki, S.; Akbari, H.

2002-02-28

In 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the ''Heat Island Reduction Initiative'' to quantify the potential benefits of Heat-Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., shade trees, reflective roofs, reflective pavements and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling-energy use in buildings, lower the ambient air temperature and improve urban air quality in cities, and reduce CO2 emissions from power plants. Under this initiative, the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project (UHIPP) was created with the objective of investigating the potential of HIR strategies in residential and commercial buildings in three initial UHIPP cities: Baton Rouge, LA; Sacramento, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. Later two other cities, Chicago, IL and Houston, TX were added to the UHIPP. In an earlier report we summarized our efforts to calculate the annual energy savings, peak power avoidance, and annual CO2 reduction obtainable from the introduction of HIR strategies in the initial three cities. This report summarizes the results of our study for Chicago and Houston. In this analysis, we focused on three building types that offer the highest potential savings: single-family residence, office and retail store. Each building type was characterized in detail by vintage and system type (i.e., old and new building constructions, and gas and electric heat). We used the prototypical building characteristics developed earlier for each building type and simulated the impact of HIR strategies on building cooling- and heating-energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.1E model. Our simulations included the impact of (1) strategically-placed shade trees near buildings [direct effect], (2) use of high-albedo roofing material on the building [direct effect], (3) urban reforestation with high-albedo pavements and building surfaces [indirect effect] and (4) combined strategies 1, 2, and 3 [direct and indirect effects]. We then estimated the total roof area of air

The Three Mile Island Disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Emeral

1980-01-01

For the past decade, education has been experiencing meltdown, explosions, radiation leaks, heat pollution, and management crises, just like the Three Mile Island disaster. This article offers suggestions on how to deal with these problems. (Author/LD)

The urban heat island of a city in an arid zone: the case of Eilat, Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Sofer, M.; Potchter, O.

2006-05-01

This study presents the results of a preliminary research that was conducted in the city of Eilat, located in an extreme hot and arid zone on the northern coast of the Red Sea. The purpose was to analyse the characteristics of the local urban heat island (UHI). Diurnal pre-dawn and early-afternoon measurements were taken in winter and summer weather conditions on three separate occasions for two consecutive years. The results show the development of a moderate UHI located around the most intensive area of human activity; the city business centre and dense hotel belt. The UHI is more significant at midday during the summer period, while early morning inversions in winter have a weakening effect on the UHI intensity. It was found that the topography and wind regime have a dominant effect on the location and intensity of the UHI, while the sea has a very marginal effect. Due to the UHI influences on the spatial distribution of the heat stress in the city, it is suggested that further applied UHI research should be focused on the summer period.

The Impact of Urban Growth and Climate Change on Heat Stress in an Australian City

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, S.; Mcalpine, C. A.; Thatcher, M. J.; Salazar, A.; Watson, J. R.

2017-12-01

Over half of the world's population lives in urban areas. Most people will therefore be exposed to climate change in an urban environment. One of the climate risks facing urban residents is heat stress, which can lead to illness and death. Urban residents are at increased risk of heat stress due to the urban heat island effect. The urban heat island is a modification of the urban environment and increases temperatures on average by 2°C, though the increase can be much higher, up to 8°C when wind speeds and cloud cover are low. The urban heat island is also expected to increase in the future due to urban growth and intensification, further exacerbating urban heat stress. Climate change alters the urban heat island due to changes in weather (wind speed and cloudiness) and evapotranspiration. Future urban heat stress will therefore be affected by urban growth and climate change. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of urban growth and climate change on the urban heat island and heat stress in Brisbane, Australia. We used CCAM, the conformal cubic atmospheric model developed by the CSIRO, to examine temperatures in Brisbane using scenarios of urban growth and climate change. We downscaled the urban climate using CCAM, based on bias corrected Sea Surface Temperatures from the ACCESS1.0 projection of future climate. We used Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 for the periods 1990 - 2000, 2049 - 2060 and 2089 - 2090 with current land use and an urban growth scenario. The present day climatology was verified using weather station data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. We compared the urban heat island of the present day with the urban heat island with climate change to determine if climate change altered the heat island. We also calculated heat stress using wet-bulb globe temperature and apparent temperature for the climate change and base case scenarios. We found the urban growth scenario increased present day temperatures by 0.5°C in the

MARINE CONGLOMERATE AND REEF MEGACLASTS AT MAURITUS ISLAND: Evidences of a tsunami generated by a flank collapse of the PITON DE LA Fournaise volcano, Reunion Island?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Paris

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Tsunamis related to volcano flank collapse are typically a high-magnitude, low frequency hazard for which evaluation and mitigation are difficult to address. In this short communication, we present field evidences of a large tsunami along the southern coast of Mauritius Island ca. 4400 years ago. Tsunami deposits described include both marine conglomerates and coral boulders up to 90 m3 (> 100 tons. The most probable origin of the tsunami is a flank collapse of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, Réunion Island.

Genetic determinants of heat resistance in Escherichia coli

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan eMercer

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Escherichia coli AW1.7 is a heat resistant food isolate and the occurrence of pathogenic strains with comparable heat resistance may pose a risk to food safety. To identify the genetic determinants of heat resistance, 29 strains of E. coli that differed in their of heat resistance were analyzed by comparative genomics. Strains were classified as highly heat resistant strains, exhibiting a D60-value of more than 6 min; moderately heat resistant strains, exhibiting a D60-value of more than 1 min; or as heat sensitive. A ~14 kb genomic island containing 16 predicted open reading frames encoding putative heat shock proteins and proteases was identified only in highly heat resistant strains. The genomic island was termed the locus of heat resistance (LHR. This putative operon is flanked by mobile elements and possesses >99% sequence identity to genomic islands contributing to heat resistance in Cronobacter sakazakii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. An additional 41 LHR sequences with >87% sequence identity were identified in 11 different species of β- and γ-proteobacteria. Cloning of the full length LHR conferred high heat resistance to the heat sensitive E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1 and DH5α. The presence of the LHR correlates perfectly to heat resistance in several species of Enterobacteriaceae and occurs at a frequency of 2% of all E. coli genomes, including pathogenic strains. This study suggests the LHR has been laterally exchanged among the β- and γ-proteobacteria and is a reliable indicator of high heat resistance in E. coli.

Designing an Energy Storage System Fuzzy PID Controller for Microgrid Islanded Operation

OpenAIRE

Jong-Yul Kim; Hak-Man Kim; Seul-Ki Kim; Jin-Hong Jeon; Heung-Kwan Choi

2011-01-01

Recently, interest in microgrids, which are composed of distributed generation (DG), distributed storage (DS), and loads, has been growing as a potentially effective clean energy system to mitigate against climate change. The microgrid is operated in the grid-connected mode and the islanded mode according to the conditions of the upstream power grid. The role of the energy storage system (ESS) is especially important to maintain constant the frequency and voltage of an islanded microgrid. For...

Seawater-flooding events and impact on freshwater lenses of low-lying islands: Controlling factors, basic management and mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Gingerich, Stephen B.; Voss, Clifford I.; Johnson, Adam G.

2017-01-01

An unprecedented set of hydrologic observations was collected after the Dec 2008 seawater-flooding event on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. By two days after the seawater flooding that occurred at the beginning of dry season, the observed salinity of water withdrawn by the island’s main skimming well increased to 100% seawater concentration, but by ten days later already decreased to only 10–20% of seawater fraction. However, the damaging impact on the potability of the groundwater supply (when pumped water had concentrations above 1% seawater fraction) lasted 22 months longer. The data collected make possible analyses of the hydrologic factors that control recovery and management of the groundwater-supply quality on Roi-Namur and on similar low-lying islands.With the observed data as a guide, three-dimensional numerical-model simulation analyses reveal how recovery is controlled by the island’s hydrology. These also allow evaluation of the efficacy of basic water-quality management/mitigation alternatives and elucidate how groundwater withdrawal and timing of the seawater-flooding event affect the length of recovery. Simulations show that, as might be expected, by adding surplus captured rainwater as artificial recharge, the freshwater-lens recovery period (after which potable groundwater may again be produced) can be shortened, with groundwater salinity remaining lower even during the dry season, a period during which no artificial recharge is applied. Simulations also show that the recovery period is not lengthened appreciably by groundwater withdrawals during recovery. Simulations further show that had the flooding event occurred at the start of the wet season, the recovery period would have been about 25% (5.5 months) shorter than actually occurred during the monitored flood that occurred at the dry-season start. Finally, analyses show that artificial recharge improves freshwater-lens water quality, making possible longer

A study of the Oklahoma City urban heat island using ground measurements and remote sensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, M. J. (Michael J.); Ivey, A. (Austin); McPherson, T. N. (Timothy N.); Boswell, D. (David); Pardyjak, E. R. (Eric R.)

2004-01-01

Measurements of temperature and position were collected during the night from an instrumented van on routes through Oklahoma City and the rural outskirts. The measurements were taken as part of the Joint URBAN 2003 Tracer Field Experiment conducted in Oklahoma City from June 29, 2003 to July 30, 2003 (Allwine et al., 2004). The instrumented van was driven over four primary routes that included legs from the downtown core to four different 'rural' areas. Each route went through residential areas and most often went by a line of permanently fixed temperature probes (Allwine et al., 2004) for cross-checking purposes. Each route took from 20 to 40 minutes to complete. Based on seven nights of data, initial analyses indicate that there was a temperature difference of 0.5-6.5 C between the urban core and nearby 'rural' areas. Analyses also suggest that there were significant fine scale temperature differences over distances of tens of meters within the city and in the nearby rural areas. The temperature measurements that were collected are intended to supplement the meteorological measurements taken during the Joint URBAN 2003 Field Experiment, to assess the importance of the urban heat island phenomenon in Oklahoma City, and to test new urban canopy parameterizations that have been developed for regional scale meteorological codes (e.g., Chin et al., 2000; Holt and Shi, 2004). In addition to the ground measurements, skin temperature measurements were also analyzed from remotely sensed images taken from the Earth Observing System's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). A surface kinetic temperature thermal infrared image captured by the ASTER of the Oklahoma City area on July 21, 2001 was analyzed within ESRI's ArcGIS 8.3 to correlate variations in temperature with land use type. Analysis of this imagery suggests distinct variations in temperature across different land use categories. Through the use of

A Satellite-Derived Climatological Analysis of Urban Heat Island over Shanghai during 2000–2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijiao Huang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The urban heat island is generally conducted based on ground observations of air temperature and remotely sensing of land surface temperature (LST. Satellite remotely sensed LST has the advantages of global coverage and consistent periodicity, which overcomes the weakness of ground observations related to sparse distributions and costs. For human related studies and urban climatology, canopy layer urban heat island (CUHI based on air temperatures is extremely important. This study has employed remote sensing methodology to produce monthly CUHI climatology maps during the period 2000–2013, revealing the spatiotemporal characteristics of daytime and nighttime CUHI during this period of rapid urbanization in Shanghai. Using stepwise linear regression, daytime and nighttime air temperatures at the four overpass times of Terra/Aqua were estimated based on time series of Terra/Aqua-MODIS LST and other auxiliary variables including enhanced vegetation index, normalized difference water index, solar zenith angle and distance to coast. The validation results indicate that the models produced an accuracy of 1.6–2.6 °C RMSE for the four overpass times of Terra/Aqua. The models based on Terra LST showed higher accuracy than those based on Aqua LST, and nighttime air temperature estimation had higher accuracy than daytime. The seasonal analysis shows daytime CUHI is strongest in summer and weakest in winter, while nighttime CUHI is weakest in summer and strongest in autumn. The annual mean daytime CUHI during 2000–2013 is 1.0 and 2.2 °C for Terra and Aqua overpass, respectively. The annual mean nighttime CUHI is about 1.0 °C for both Terra and Aqua overpass. The resultant CUHI climatology maps provide a spatiotemporal quantification of CUHI with emphasis on temperature gradients. This study has provided information of relevance to urban planners and environmental managers for assessing and monitoring urban thermal environments which are constantly

Role of Passive Safety Features in Prevention And Mitigation of Severe Plant Conditions in Indian Advanced Heavy Water Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jain, Vikas; Nayak, A.; Dhiman, M.; Kulkarni, P. P.; Vijayan, P. K.; Vaze, K. K. [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

2013-10-15

Pressing demands of economic competitiveness, the need for large-scale deployment, minimizing the need of human intervention, and experience from the past events and incidents at operating reactors have guided the evolution and innovations in reactor technologies. Indian innovative reactor 'AHWR' is a pressure-tube type natural circulation based boiling water reactor that is designed to meet such requirements, which essentially reflect the needs of next generation reactors. The reactor employs various passive features to prevent and mitigate accidental conditions, like a slightly negative void reactivity coefficient, passive poison injection to scram the reactor in event of failure of the wired shutdown systems, a large elevated pool of water as a heat sink inside the containment, passive decay heat removal based on natural circulation and passive valves, passive ECC injection, etc. It is designed to meet the fundamental safety requirements of safe shutdown, safe decay heat removal and confinement of activity with no impact in public domain, and hence, no need for emergency planning under all conceivable scenarios. This paper examines the role of the various passive safety systems in prevention and mitigation of severe plant conditions that may arise in event of multiple failures. For the purpose of demonstration of the effectiveness of its passive features, postulated scenarios on the lines of three major severe accidents in the history of nuclear power reactors are considered, namely; the Three Mile Island (TMI), Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents. Severe plant conditions along the lines of these scenarios are postulated to the extent conceivable in the reactor under consideration and analyzed using best estimate system thermal-hydraulics code RELAP5/Mod3.2. It is found that the various passive systems incorporated enable the reactor to tolerate the postulated accident conditions without causing severe plant conditions and core degradation.

ROLE OF PASSIVE SAFETY FEATURES IN PREVENTION AND MITIGATION OF SEVERE PLANT CONDITIONS IN INDIAN ADVANCED HEAVY WATER REACTOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIKAS JAIN

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Pressing demands of economic competitiveness, the need for large-scale deployment, minimizing the need of human intervention, and experience from the past events and incidents at operating reactors have guided the evolution and innovations in reactor technologies. Indian innovative reactor ‘AHWR’ is a pressure-tube type natural circulation based boiling water reactor that is designed to meet such requirements, which essentially reflect the needs of next generation reactors. The reactor employs various passive features to prevent and mitigate accidental conditions, like a slightly negative void reactivity coefficient, passive poison injection to scram the reactor in event of failure of the wired shutdown systems, a large elevated pool of water as a heat sink inside the containment, passive decay heat removal based on natural circulation and passive valves, passive ECC injection, etc. It is designed to meet the fundamental safety requirements of safe shutdown, safe decay heat removal and confinement of activity with no impact in public domain, and hence, no need for emergency planning under all conceivable scenarios. This paper examines the role of the various passive safety systems in prevention and mitigation of severe plant conditions that may arise in event of multiple failures. For the purpose of demonstration of the effectiveness of its passive features, postulated scenarios on the lines of three major severe accidents in the history of nuclear power reactors are considered, namely; the Three Mile Island (TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents. Severe plant conditions along the lines of these scenarios are postulated to the extent conceivable in the reactor under consideration and analyzed using best estimate system thermal-hydraulics code RELAP5/Mod3.2. It is found that the various passive systems incorporated enable the reactor to tolerate the postulated accident conditions without causing severe plant conditions and core degradation.

Assessing the effect of wind speed/direction changes on urban heat island intensity of Istanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Perim Temizoz, Huriye; Unal, Yurdanur S.

2017-04-01

Assessing the effect of wind speed/direction changes on urban heat island intensity of Istanbul. Perim Temizöz, Deniz H. Diren, Cemre Yürük and Yurdanur S. Ünal Istanbul Technical University, Department of Meteorological Engineering, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey City or metropolitan areas are significantly warmer than the outlying rural areas since the urban fabrics and artificial surfaces which have different radiative, thermal and aerodynamic features alter the surface energy balance, interact with the regional circulation and introduce anthropogenic sensible heat and moisture into the atmosphere. The temperature contrast between urban and rural areas is most prominent during nighttime since heat is absorbed by day and emitted by night. The intensity of the urban heat island (UHI) vary considerably depending on the prevailent meteorological conditions and the characteristics of the region. Even though urban areas cover a small fraction of Earth, their climate has greater impact on the world's population. Over half of the world population lives in the cities and it is expected to rise within the coming decades. Today almost one fifth of the Turkey's population resides in Istanbul with the percentage expected to increase due to the greater job opportunities compared to the other cities. Its population has been increased from 2 millions to 14 millions since 1960s. Eventually, the city has been expanded tremendously within the last half century, shifting the landscape from vegetation to built up areas. The observations of the last fifty years over Istanbul show that the UHI is most pronounced during summer season. The seasonal temperature differences between urban and suburban sites reach up to 3 K and roughly haft degree increase in UHI intensity is observed after 2000. In this study, we explore the possible range of heat load and distribution over Istanbul for different prevailing wind conditions by using the non-hydrostatic MUKLIMO3 model developed by DWD

Climate change, heat, and mortality in the tropical urban area of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo A.; Pérez-Cardona, Cynthia M.; Rodríguez, Ernesto; Martínez, Odalys; Taboas, Mariela; Bocanegra, Arelis; Méndez-Tejeda, Rafael

2016-12-01

Extreme heat episodes are becoming more common worldwide, including in tropical areas of Australia, India, and Puerto Rico. Higher frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme heat episodes are triggering public health issues in most mid-latitude and continental cities. With urbanization, land use and land cover have affected local climate directly and indirectly encouraging the Urban Heat Island effect with potential impacts on heat-related morbidity and mortality among urban populations. However, this association is not completely understood in tropical islands such as Puerto Rico. The present study examines the effects of heat in two municipalities (San Juan and Bayamón) within the San Juan metropolitan area on overall and cause-specific mortality among the population between 2009 and 2013. The number of daily deaths attributed to selected causes (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia, and kidney disease) coded and classified according to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases was analyzed. The relations between elevated air surface temperatures on cause-specific mortality were modeled. Separate Poisson regression models were fitted to explain the total number of deaths as a function of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, while adjusting for seasonal patterns. Results show a significant increase in the effect of high temperatures on mortality, during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Stroke (relative risk = 16.80, 95% CI 6.81-41.4) and cardiovascular diseases (relative risk = 16.63, 95% CI 10.47-26.42) were the primary causes of death most associated with elevated summer temperatures. Better understanding of how these heat events affect the health of the population will provide a useful tool for decision makers to address and mitigate the effects of the increasing temperatures on public health. The enhanced temperature forecast may be a crucial component in decision

Climate change, heat, and mortality in the tropical urban area of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo A.; Pérez-Cardona, Cynthia M.; Rodríguez, Ernesto; Martínez, Odalys; Taboas, Mariela; Bocanegra, Arelis; Méndez-Tejeda, Rafael

2018-05-01

Extreme heat episodes are becoming more common worldwide, including in tropical areas of Australia, India, and Puerto Rico. Higher frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme heat episodes are triggering public health issues in most mid-latitude and continental cities. With urbanization, land use and land cover have affected local climate directly and indirectly encouraging the Urban Heat Island effect with potential impacts on heat-related morbidity and mortality among urban populations. However, this association is not completely understood in tropical islands such as Puerto Rico. The present study examines the effects of heat in two municipalities (San Juan and Bayamón) within the San Juan metropolitan area on overall and cause-specific mortality among the population between 2009 and 2013. The number of daily deaths attributed to selected causes (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia, and kidney disease) coded and classified according to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases was analyzed. The relations between elevated air surface temperatures on cause-specific mortality were modeled. Separate Poisson regression models were fitted to explain the total number of deaths as a function of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, while adjusting for seasonal patterns. Results show a significant increase in the effect of high temperatures on mortality, during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Stroke (relative risk = 16.80, 95% CI 6.81-41.4) and cardiovascular diseases (relative risk = 16.63, 95% CI 10.47-26.42) were the primary causes of death most associated with elevated summer temperatures. Better understanding of how these heat events affect the health of the population will provide a useful tool for decision makers to address and mitigate the effects of the increasing temperatures on public health. The enhanced temperature forecast may be a crucial component in decision

Climate change, heat, and mortality in the tropical urban area of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo A; Pérez-Cardona, Cynthia M; Rodríguez, Ernesto; Martínez, Odalys; Taboas, Mariela; Bocanegra, Arelis; Méndez-Tejeda, Rafael

2018-05-01

Extreme heat episodes are becoming more common worldwide, including in tropical areas of Australia, India, and Puerto Rico. Higher frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme heat episodes are triggering public health issues in most mid-latitude and continental cities. With urbanization, land use and land cover have affected local climate directly and indirectly encouraging the Urban Heat Island effect with potential impacts on heat-related morbidity and mortality among urban populations. However, this association is not completely understood in tropical islands such as Puerto Rico. The present study examines the effects of heat in two municipalities (San Juan and Bayamón) within the San Juan metropolitan area on overall and cause-specific mortality among the population between 2009 and 2013. The number of daily deaths attributed to selected causes (cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia, and kidney disease) coded and classified according to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases was analyzed. The relations between elevated air surface temperatures on cause-specific mortality were modeled. Separate Poisson regression models were fitted to explain the total number of deaths as a function of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, while adjusting for seasonal patterns. Results show a significant increase in the effect of high temperatures on mortality, during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Stroke (relative risk = 16.80, 95% CI 6.81-41.4) and cardiovascular diseases (relative risk = 16.63, 95% CI 10.47-26.42) were the primary causes of death most associated with elevated summer temperatures. Better understanding of how these heat events affect the health of the population will provide a useful tool for decision makers to address and mitigate the effects of the increasing temperatures on public health. The enhanced temperature forecast may be a crucial component in decision

Key Parameters for Urban Heat Island Assessment in A Mediterranean Context: A Sensitivity Analysis Using the Urban Weather Generator Model

Science.gov (United States)

Salvati, Agnese; Palme, Massimo; Inostroza, Luis

2017-10-01

Although Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a fundamental effect modifying the urban climate, being widely studied, the relative weight of the parameters involved in its generation is still not clear. This paper investigates the hierarchy of importance of eight parameters responsible for UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. Sensitivity analyses have been carried out using the Urban Weather Generator model, considering the range of variability of: 1) city radius, 2) urban morphology, 3) tree coverage, 4) anthropogenic heat from vehicles, 5) building’s cooling set point, 6) heat released to canyon from HVAC systems, 7) wall construction properties and 8) albedo of vertical and horizontal surfaces. Results show a clear hierarchy of significance among the considered parameters; the urban morphology is the most important variable, causing a relative change up to 120% of the annual average UHI intensity in the Mediterranean context. The impact of anthropogenic sources of heat such as cooling systems and vehicles is also significant. These results suggest that urban morphology parameters can be used as descriptors of the climatic performance of different urban areas, easing the work of urban planners and designers in understanding a complex physical phenomenon, such as the UHI.

Pressure-surge mitigation methods in fluid-conveying piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Y.W.; Youngdahl, C.K.; Wiedermann, A.H.

1991-01-01

Pressure surges in the heat transport system of nuclear reactor plants can affect the safety and reliability of the plants. Hence the pressure surges must be considered in the design, operation, and maintenance of the plants in order to minimize their occurrence and impacts. The objectives of this paper are to review various methods to control or mitigate the pressure surges, to analyze these methods to gain understanding of the mitigation mechanisms, and examine applicability of the methods to nuclear power plants. 6 refs., 13 figs

Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project : Annual Report 2008.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whitney, Richard P.; Berger, Matthew T.; Rushing, Samuel; Peone, Cory

2009-01-01

The Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project (Hellsgate Project) was proposed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) as partial mitigation for hydropower's share of the wildlife losses resulting from Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. At present, the Hellsgate Project protects and manages 57,418 acres (approximately 90 miles2) for the biological requirements of managed wildlife species; most are located on or near the Columbia River (Lake Rufus Woods and Lake Roosevelt) and surrounded by Tribal land. To date we have acquired about 34,597 habitat units (HUs) towards a total 35,819 HUs lost from original inundation due to hydropower development. In addition to the remaining 1,237 HUs left unmitigated, 600 HUs from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that were traded to the Colville Tribes and 10 secure nesting islands are also yet to be mitigated. This annual report for 2008 describes the management activities of the Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project (Hellsgate Project) during the past year.

Evaluation of mitigation effect of the upland field on the regional environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuge, K.; Oohira, Y.; Hao, A.; Nakano, Y.

2005-01-01

The objective of this study is the evaluation of the mitigation effect of the upland field on the regional intrinsic environment, considering the crop growth stages. FAO Penman-Monteith method is introduced for calculation of the reference evapotranspiration. The crop transpiration and the soil surface evaporation in the upland fields are separately estimated using the crop coefficients, considering the crop growth stages. The ratios of the crop transpiration and the soil surface evaporation in the water consumption change drastically with the crop growth stages. To evaluate the mitigation, effect of the upland field, the latent heat fluxes in the sugar cane field and bare field are estimated during the crop growth period. The deference of the latent heat fluxes in the sugar cane field and the bare field is not marked in the initial crop growth stages. However, in the sugar cane field, the latent heat flux increases drastically, with the sugar cane growing. In the mid-season stage, the latent heat flux is larger than the net radiation. These results indicate that the crop field has the large mitigation effect on the environment, and the efficiency changes with the various factors, including the crop types, the crop growth stages, the cultivation condition, and so on

Mitigating Climate Change with Earth Orbital Sunshades

Science.gov (United States)

Coverstone, Victoria; Johnson, Les

2015-01-01

An array of rotating sunshades based on emerging solar sail technology will be deployed in a novel Earth orbit to provide near-continuous partial shading of the Earth, reducing the heat input to the atmosphere by blocking a small percentage of the incoming sunlight, and mitigating local weather effects of anticipated climate change over the next century. The technology will provide local cooling relief during extreme heat events (and heating relief during extreme cold events) thereby saving human lives, agriculture, livestock, water and energy needs. A synthesis of the solar sail design, the sails' operational modes, and the selected orbit combine to provide local weather modification.

Mitigating the Security Risks in the South China Sea Island Disputes

Science.gov (United States)

2014-02-13

third of the global crude oil and more than half of global gas shipping passes through the South China Sea. 2 For the United States, $1.2 trillion...China Sea. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia , and Brunei contest the sovereignty of these islands. In recent years, China has become...Administration estimates that the South China Sea holds approximately 11 billion barrels of oil 2 and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas

Can increased organic consumption mitigate climate changes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heerwagen, Lennart Ravn; Andersen, Laura Mørch; Christensen, Tove

2014-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evidence for a positive correlation between increased consumption of organic products and potential climate change mitigation via decreased consumption of meat and it is discussed to what extent organic consumption is motivated by climate...... and household heating are perceived as more important strategies. Research limitations/implications – Other food-related mitigation strategies could be investigated. The climate effect of different diets – and how to motivate consumers to pursue them – could be investigated. Individual as opposed to household...... consumers. As some consumers believe that climate change can be mitigated by consuming organic food, the authors propose that this is taken into account in the development of organic farming. Originality/value – The authors propose a shift from analysing the climate-friendliness of production to addressing...

Report to the Minister of Environment Affairs on an environmental impact assessment of a proposed emergency landing facility on Marion Island - 1987

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Heymann, G

1987-01-01

Full Text Available of the Islands, with emphasis on the area of Marion Island which would be most seriously influenced, are described in some detail and mitigating measures discussed. The report concludes that the facility should not be constructed and so recommends...

A TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN HEAT ISLAND IN BASIN CITY UTILIZING REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.-T. Chang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Urban Heat Island (UHI has been becoming a key factor in deteriorating the urban ecological environment. Spatial-temporal analysis on its prototype of basin city’s UHI and quantitatively evaluating effect from rapid urbanization will provide theoretical foundation for relieving UHI effect. Based on Landsat 8, ETM+ and TM images of Taipei basin areas from 1900 to 2015, this article has retrieved the land surface temperature (LST at summer solstice of each year, and then analysed spatial-temporal pattern and evolution characters of UHI in Taipei basin in this decade. The results showed that the expansion built district, UHI area constantly expanded from centre city to the suburb areas. The prototype of UHI in Taipei basin that showed in addition to higher temperatures in the centre city also were relatively high temperatures gathered boundaries surrounded by foot of mountains side. It calls “sinking heat island”. From 1900 to 2000, the higher UHI areas were different land use type change had obvious difference by public infrastructure works. And then, in next 15 years till 2015, building density of urban area has been increasing gradually. It has the trend that UHI flooding raises follow urban land use density. Hot spot of UHI in Taipei basin also has the same characteristics. The results suggest that anthropogenic heat release probably plays a significant role in the UHI effect, and must be considered in urban planning adaptation strategies.

Mitigation of Harmonics in Grid-Connected and Islanded Microgrids via Virtual Admittances and Impedances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Micallef, Alexander; Apap, Maurice; Spiteri-Staines, Cyril

2017-01-01

Optimization of the islanded and grid-connected operation of microgrids is important to achieve a high degree of reliability. In this paper, the authors consider the effect of current harmonics in single phase microgrids during both modes of operation. A detailed analysis of the effect of the out......Optimization of the islanded and grid-connected operation of microgrids is important to achieve a high degree of reliability. In this paper, the authors consider the effect of current harmonics in single phase microgrids during both modes of operation. A detailed analysis of the effect...... of the output impedance of the considered primary control loops on the harmonic output of the considered voltage source inverters is initially carried out. A virtual admittance loop is proposed to attenuate the current harmonic output in grid-connected operation that is generated due to the grid voltage...... distortion present at the point of common coupling (PCC) and due to local non-linear loads. This paper also considers the harmonic current sharing and resulting voltage harmonics at the PCC during islanded operation of the microgrid. A capacitive virtual impedance loop was implemented to improve the harmonic...

A heat vulnerability index to improve urban public health management in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo; Muller-Karger, Frank E; Otis, Daniel; McCarthy, Matthew J; Rodríguez, Ernesto

2018-05-01

Increased frequency and length of high heat episodes are leading to more cardiovascular issues and asthmatic responses among the population of San Juan, the capital of the island of Puerto Rico, USA. An urban heat island effect, which leads to foci of higher temperatures in some urban areas, can raise heat-related mortality. The objective of this research is to map the risk of high temperature in particular locations by creating heat maps of the city of San Juan. The heat vulnerability index (HVI) maps were developed using images collected by satellite-based remote sensing combined with census data. Land surface temperature was assessed using images from the Thermal Infrared Sensor flown on Landsat 8. Social determinants (e.g., age, unemployment, education and social isolation, and health insurance coverage) were analyzed by census tract. The data were examined in the context of land cover maps generated using products from the Puerto Rico Terrestrial Gap Analysis Project (USDA Forest Service). All variables were set in order to transform the indicators expressed in different units into indices between 0 and 1, and the HVI was calculated as sum of score. The tract with highest index was considered to be the most vulnerable and the lowest to be the least vulnerable. Five vulnerability classes were mapped (very high, high, moderate, low, and very low). The hottest and the most vulnerable tracts corresponded to highly built areas, including the Luis Munoz International Airport, seaports, parking lots, and high-density residential areas. Several variables contributed to increased vulnerability, including higher rates of the population living alone, disabilities, advanced age, and lack of health insurance coverage. Coolest areas corresponded to vegetated landscapes and urban water bodies. The urban HVI map will be useful to health officers, emergency preparedness personnel, the National Weather Service, and San Juan residents, as it helps to prepare for and to mitigate

A heat vulnerability index to improve urban public health management in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Otis, Daniel; McCarthy, Matthew J.; Rodríguez, Ernesto

2018-05-01

Increased frequency and length of high heat episodes are leading to more cardiovascular issues and asthmatic responses among the population of San Juan, the capital of the island of Puerto Rico, USA. An urban heat island effect, which leads to foci of higher temperatures in some urban areas, can raise heat-related mortality. The objective of this research is to map the risk of high temperature in particular locations by creating heat maps of the city of San Juan. The heat vulnerability index (HVI) maps were developed using images collected by satellite-based remote sensing combined with census data. Land surface temperature was assessed using images from the Thermal Infrared Sensor flown on Landsat 8. Social determinants (e.g., age, unemployment, education and social isolation, and health insurance coverage) were analyzed by census tract. The data were examined in the context of land cover maps generated using products from the Puerto Rico Terrestrial Gap Analysis Project (USDA Forest Service). All variables were set in order to transform the indicators expressed in different units into indices between 0 and 1, and the HVI was calculated as sum of score. The tract with highest index was considered to be the most vulnerable and the lowest to be the least vulnerable. Five vulnerability classes were mapped (very high, high, moderate, low, and very low). The hottest and the most vulnerable tracts corresponded to highly built areas, including the Luis Munoz International Airport, seaports, parking lots, and high-density residential areas. Several variables contributed to increased vulnerability, including higher rates of the population living alone, disabilities, advanced age, and lack of health insurance coverage. Coolest areas corresponded to vegetated landscapes and urban water bodies. The urban HVI map will be useful to health officers, emergency preparedness personnel, the National Weather Service, and San Juan residents, as it helps to prepare for and to mitigate

Runaway electrons and magnetic island confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boozer, Allen H.

2016-01-01

The breakup of magnetic surfaces is a central feature of ITER planning for the avoidance of damage due to runaway electrons. Rapid thermal quenches, which lead to large accelerating voltages, are thought to be due to magnetic surface breakup. Impurity injection to avoid and to mitigate both halo and runaway electron currents utilizes massive gas injection or shattered pellets. The actual deposition is away from the plasma center, and the breakup of magnetic surfaces is thought to spread the effects of the impurities across the plasma cross section. The breakup of magnetic surfaces would prevent runaway electrons from reaching relativistic energies were it not for the persistence of non-intercepting flux tubes. These are tubes of magnetic field lines that do not intercept the walls. In simulations and in magnetic field models, non-intercepting flux tubes are found to persist near the magnetic axis and in the cores of magnetic islands even when a large scale magnetic surface breakup occurs. As long as a few magnetic surfaces reform before all of the non-intercepting flux tubes dissipate, energetic electrons confined and accelerated in these flux tubes can serve as the seed electrons for a transfer of the overall plasma current from thermal to relativistic carriers. The acceleration of electrons is particularly strong because of the sudden changes in the poloidal flux that naturally occur in a rapid magnetic relaxation. The physics of magnetic islands as non-intercepting flux tubes is studied. Expressions are derived for (1) the size of islands required to confine energetic runaway electrons, (2) the accelerating electric field in an island, (3) the increase or reduction in the size of an island by the runaway electron current, (4) the approximate magnitude of the runaway current in an island, and (5) the time scale for the evolution of an island.

Runaway electrons and magnetic island confinement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boozer, Allen H., E-mail: ahb17@columbia.edu [Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)

2016-08-15

The breakup of magnetic surfaces is a central feature of ITER planning for the avoidance of damage due to runaway electrons. Rapid thermal quenches, which lead to large accelerating voltages, are thought to be due to magnetic surface breakup. Impurity injection to avoid and to mitigate both halo and runaway electron currents utilizes massive gas injection or shattered pellets. The actual deposition is away from the plasma center, and the breakup of magnetic surfaces is thought to spread the effects of the impurities across the plasma cross section. The breakup of magnetic surfaces would prevent runaway electrons from reaching relativistic energies were it not for the persistence of non-intercepting flux tubes. These are tubes of magnetic field lines that do not intercept the walls. In simulations and in magnetic field models, non-intercepting flux tubes are found to persist near the magnetic axis and in the cores of magnetic islands even when a large scale magnetic surface breakup occurs. As long as a few magnetic surfaces reform before all of the non-intercepting flux tubes dissipate, energetic electrons confined and accelerated in these flux tubes can serve as the seed electrons for a transfer of the overall plasma current from thermal to relativistic carriers. The acceleration of electrons is particularly strong because of the sudden changes in the poloidal flux that naturally occur in a rapid magnetic relaxation. The physics of magnetic islands as non-intercepting flux tubes is studied. Expressions are derived for (1) the size of islands required to confine energetic runaway electrons, (2) the accelerating electric field in an island, (3) the increase or reduction in the size of an island by the runaway electron current, (4) the approximate magnitude of the runaway current in an island, and (5) the time scale for the evolution of an island.

Urban heat island investigations in Arctic cities of northwestern Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Shumilov, Oleg I.; Kasatkina, Elena A.; Kanatjev, Alexander G.

2017-12-01

Urban microclimate peculiarities in two Arctic cities in northwestern Russia—Kirovsk (67.62°N, 33.67°E) and Apatity (67.57°N, 33.38°E)—were investigated by using mobile temperature records. The experiment was carried out in and around Apatity and Kirovsk in February 2014 and December 2016. The DS18B20 digital thermometer was installed on the roof of a car (height: approximately 1.2 m) to measure and record temperature variations automatically. In addition to the digital thermometer, the car was also equipped with an onboard global positioning system, allowing every temperature measurement to be referenced with an altitude and a latitude/longitude position. The possibility of urban heat island formation in these polar cities, above the Arctic Circle, was studied. Our analysis indicated that on 11 February 2014, the temperature varied in accordance with the background environmental lapse rate (-0.0045°C m-1), and nearly corresponded to it (-0.0165°C m-1) on 12 February 2014. On 6 December 2016, a strong local temperature inversion with a positive value of 0.032°C m-1 was detected, seemingly caused by the formation of a cold air pool in the valley near Kirovsk. It was found that the temperature variations within and outside these cities are strongly influenced by local topographic effects and the physical conditions of the atmospheric boundary layer.

Integrating local urban climate modelling and mobile sensor data for personal exposure assessments in the context of urban heat island effect

Science.gov (United States)

Ueberham, Maximilian; Hertel, Daniel; Schlink, Uwe

2017-04-01

Deeper knowledge about urban climate conditions is getting more important in the context of climate change, urban population growth, urban compaction and continued surface sealing. Especially the urban heat island effect (UHI) is one of the most significant human induced alterations of Earth's surface climate. According to this the appearance frequency of heat waves in cities will increase with deep impacts on personal thermal comfort, human health and local residential quality of citizens. UHI can be very heterogenic within a city and research needs to focus more on the neighborhood scale perspective to get further insights about the heat burden of individuals. However, up to now, few is known about local thermal environmental variances and personal exposure loads. To monitor these processes and the impact on individuals, improved monitoring approaches are crucial, complementing data recorded at conventional fixed stations. Therefore we emphasize the importance of micro-meteorological modelling and mobile measurements to shed new light on the nexus of urban human-climate interactions. Contributing to this research we jointly present the approaches of our two PhD-projects. Firstly we illustrate on the basis of an example site, how local thermal conditions in an urban district can be simulated and predicted by a micro-meteorological model. Secondly we highlight the potentials of personal exposure measurements based on an evaluation of mobile micro-sensing devices (MSDs) and analyze and explain differences between model predictions and mobile records. For the examination of local thermal conditions we calculated ENVI-met simulations within the "Bayerischer Bahnhof" quarter in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany; 51°20', 12°22'). To accomplish the maximum temperature contrasts within the diverse built-up structures we chose a hot summer day (25 Aug 2016) under autochthonous weather conditions. From these simulations we analyzed a UHI effect between the model core (urban area

Energy Transition Initiative, Island Energy Snapshot - Bahamas (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2015-02-01

This profile provides a snapshot of the electricity generation or reduction technologies, including solar hot water heating, available to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas - a country consisting of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets - of which only 30 are actually inhabited. Heating and transportation fuels are not addressed.

High-heat tank safety issue resolution program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, O.S.

1993-12-01

The purpose of this program plan is to provide a guide for selecting corrective actions that will mitigate and/or remediate the high-heat waste tank safety issue for single-shell tank (SST) 241-C-106. This program plan also outlines the logic for selecting approaches and tasks to mitigate and resolve the high-heat safety issue. The identified safety issue for high-heat tank 241-C-106 involves the potential release of nuclear waste to the environment as the result of heat-induced structural damage to the tank's concrete, if forced cooling is interrupted for extended periods. Currently, forced ventilation with added water to promote thermal conductivity and evaporation cooling is used to cool the waste. At this time, the only viable solution identified to resolve this safety issue is the removal of heat generating waste in the tank. This solution is being aggressively pursued as the permanent solution to this safety issue and also to support the present waste retrieval plan. Tank 241-C-106 has been selected as the first SST for retrieval. The program plan has three parts. The first part establishes program objectives and defines safety issues, drivers, and resolution criteria and strategy. The second part evaluates the high-heat safety issue and its mitigation and remediation methods and alternatives according to resolution logic. The third part identifies major tasks and alternatives for mitigation and resolution of the safety issue. Selected tasks and best-estimate schedules are also summarized in the program plan

Seasonal Variations of the Surface Urban Heat Island in a Semi-Arid City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sirous Haashemi

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The process of the surface urban heat island (SUHI varies with latitude, climate, topography and meteorological conditions. This study investigated the seasonal variability of SUHI in the Tehran metropolitan area, Iran, with respect to selected surface biophysical variables. Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST was retrieved as nighttime LST data, while daytime LST was retrieved from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS using the split-window algorithm. Both data covered the time period from September 2013 to September 2015. To assess SUHI intensity, we employed three SUHI indicators, i.e., the LST difference of urban-rural, that of urban-agriculture and that of urban-water. Physical and biophysical surface variables, including land use and land cover (LULC, elevation, impervious surface (IS, fractional vegetation cover (FVC and albedo, were selected to estimate the relationship between LST seasonal variability and the surface properties. Results show that an inversion of the SUHI phenomenon (i.e., surface urban cool island existed at daytime with the maximal value of urban-rural LST difference of −4 K in March; whereas the maximal value of SUHI at nighttime yielded 3.9 K in May. When using the indicators of urban-agriculture and urban-water LST differences, the maximal value of SUHI was found to be 8.2 K and 15.5 K, respectively. Both results were observed at daytime, suggesting the role of bare soils in the inversion of the SUHI phenomenon with the urban-rural indicator. Maximal correlation was observed in the relationship between night LST and elevation in spring (coefficient: −0.76, night LST and IS in spring (0.60, night LST and albedo in winter (−0.53 and day LST with fractional vegetation cover in summer (−0.41. The relationship between all surface properties with LST possessed large seasonal variations, and thus, using these relationships for SUHI modeling may not be

Study of the Relationships between the Spatial Extent of Surface Urban Heat Islands and Urban Characteristic Factors Based on Landsat ETM+ Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinqu Zhang

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Ten cities with different population and urban sizes located in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Province, P.R. China were selected to study the relationships between the spatial extent of surface urban heat islands (SUHI and five urban characteristic factors such as urban size, development area, water proportion, mean NDVI (Normalized Vegetation Index and population density, etc. The spatial extent of SUHI was quantified by using the hot island area (HIA. All the cities are almost at the same latitude, showing similar climate and solar radiation, the influence of which could thus be eliminated during our computation and comparative study. The land surface temperatures (LST were retrieved from the data of Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+ band 6 using a mono-window algorithm. A variance-segmenting method was proposed to compute HIA for each city from the retrieved LST. Factors like urban size, development area and water proportion were extracted directly from the classification images of the same ETM+ data and the population density factor is from the official census. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to study the relationships between the HIA and the related factors, and the results show that HIA is highly correlated to urban size (r=0.95, population density (r=0.97 and development area (r=0.83 in this area. It was also proved that a weak negative correlation existed between HIA and both mean NDVI and water proportion for each city. Linear functions between HIA and its related factors were established, respectively. The HIA can reflect the spatial extent and magnitude of the surface urban heat island effect, and can be used as reference in the urban planning.

Effect of urbanization activities towards the formation of urban heat island in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, M. H.; Latiff, N. A. A.; Ismail, K.; Isa, N. K. M.

2018-04-01

This study carried out to study the effect of urbanization activities towards the formation of Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in Cameron Highlands (CH).The aim of this study is to identify the formation of UHI in CH following the urbanization activities. This study also involved two main data that are primary through field survey and secondary data from collection data. In addition, this study was used qualitative and quantitative method. The data was taken two times a day, at a day and night between the hours of 12:00 to 14:00 and 19:00 to 21:00. Data in this study analyzed by using correlation analysis and analysis of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which known as interpolation. Result found the formation of UHI in CH was concentrated at city centre namely in Pekan Tanah Rata. From the whole average value, city centre was recorded the highest reading of temperatures which is 30.5°C, while reading of temperature for subtown and suburban was recorded 28.6°C and 23.8°C. Average of humidity in CH during the day was recorded as highest reading in the suburban area namely Tringkap Bee Farm (station 11) which is 58.4%. Then, average of humidity in CH at night was recorded highest reading in the suburban area namely Habu Mini Market 91 (station 9) which the value is 83.2%. The reading of wind speed in CH during the day recorded the highest reading day at the suburban namely Tringkap Bee Farm (station 11) which the value is 2.3 m/s. While, following the reading of wind speed in CH at night, suburban namely Habu Mini Market 91(station 9) was recorded the highest reading which is 0.8 m/s. The Intensity of Urban Heat Island in CH during the day was recorded 2.8°C, while at night intensity of UHI was recorded 1.4°C. Overall, the urbanization activities in CH had caused the formation of UHI. Therefore, measures of legislation such as protect forest from development by control the urbanization activities need to be implemented so that the formation of UHI can be reduced and

Energy Transition Initiative, Island Energy Snapshot - Turks & Caicos (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2015-02-01

This profile presents a snapshot of the electricity generation and reduction technologies, including solar hot water heating, available to Turks and Caicos - a British overseas territory consisting of two groups of islands located southeast of the Bahamas. Heating and transportation fuels are not addressed.

Green Roofs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2004-08-01

A New Technology Demonstration Publication Green roofs can improve the energy performance of federal buildings, help manage stormwater, reduce airborne emissions, and mitigate the effects of urban heat islands.

Tsunami hazard mitigation in tourism in the tropical and subtropical coastal areas: a case study in the Ryukyu Islands, southwest of Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, T.

2006-12-01

Life and economy (including tourism) in tropical and subtropical coastal areas, such as Okinawa Prefecture (Ryukyu) are highly relying on the sea. The sea has both "gentle" side to give people healing and "dangerous" side to kill people. If we are going to utilise the sea for marine tourism such as constructing resort facilities on the oceanfront, we should know all of the sea, including the both sides of the sea: especially the nature of tsunamis. And also we islanders should issue accurate information about the sea towards outsiders, especially tourists visiting the island. We have already learned a lesson about this issue from the Sumatra tsunami in 2004. However, measures against the tsunami disaster by marine tourism industry are still inadequate in these areas. The goal of tsunami hazard mitigation for those engaged in tourism industry in tropical and subtropical coastal areas should be as follows. (1) Preparedness against tsunamis: "Be aware of the characteristics of tsunamis." "Prepare tsunamis when you feel an earthquake." "Prepare tsunamis when an earthquake takes place somewhere in the world." (2) Maintenance of an exact tsunami hazard map under quantitative analyses of the characteristics of tsunamis: "Flooding areas by tsunami attacks are dependent not only on altitude but also on amplification and inundation due to the seafloor topography near the coast and the onland topographic relief." "Tsunami damage happens repeatedly." (3) Maintenance of a tsunami disaster prevention manual and training after the manual: "Who should do what in case of tsunamis?" "How should the resort hotel employees lead the guests to the safe place?" Such a policy for disaster prevention is discussed in the class of the general education of "Ocean Sciences" in University of the Ryukyus (UR) and summer school for high school students. The students (most of them are from Okinawa Prefecture) consider, discuss and make reports about what to do in case of tsunamis as an islander

Do green roofs cool the air?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solcerova, A.; van de Ven, F.H.M.; Wang, Mengyu; Rijsdijk, Michiel; van de Giesen, N.C.

2017-01-01

Rapid urbanization and an increasing number and duration of heat waves poses a need to mitigate extremely high temperatures. One of the repeatedly suggested measures to moderate the so called urban heat island are green roofs. This study investigates several extensive sedum-covered green roofs in

Isolation of thermotolerant Vermamoeba vermiformis strains from water sources in Lanzarote Island, Canary Islands, Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-Batlle, María; Wagner, Carolina; Zamora-Herrera, Jonadab; Vargas-Mesa, Alejandro; Sifaoui, Ines; González, Ana C; López-Arencibia, Atteneri; Valladares, Basilio; Martínez-Carretero, Enrique; Piñero, José E; Lorenzo-Morales, Jacob

2016-09-01

In this study, twenty water samples were collected in the island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain in order to check for the presence of V. vermiformis strains in these samples. Water samples were cultured on 2% Non-Nutrient Agar (NNA) plates covered with a thin layer of heat killed E. coli and checked daily for the presence of Vermamoeba. After a week, V. vermiformis amoebae were observed in 2 of the 20 processed samples (10%) incubated at room temperature and 37°C. Molecular characterization was carried out by amplifying the 18S rDNA gene and DNA sequencing in order to confirm the identity of the isolated amoebic strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of FLA in environmental sources in Lanzarote Island and the first report of Vermamoeba vermiformis in water sources in this island. Furthermore, the two strains isolated in this study were collected in recreational areas with close contact with humans and thus awareness should be raised.

Fermentation products as feed additives mitigate some ill-effects of heat stress in pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S; Bass, B E; Bandrick, M; Loving, C L; Brockmeier, S L; Looft, T; Trachsel, J; Madson, D M; Thomas, M; Casey, T A; Frank, J W; Stanton, T B; Allen, H K

2017-01-01

Heat stress (HS) may result in economic losses to pig producers across the USA and worldwide. Despite significant advancements in management practices, HS continues to be a challenge. In this study, an in-feed antibiotic (carbadox, CBX) and antibiotic alternatives ( [XPC], and [SGX] fermentation products) were evaluated in a standard pig starter diet as mitigations against the negative effects of HS in pigs. A total of 100 gilts were obtained at weaning (6.87 ± 0.82 kg BW, 19.36 ± 0.72 d of age) and randomly assigned to dietary treatments (2 rooms/treatment, 2 pens/room, 6 to 7 pigs/pen). After 4 wk of dietary acclimation, half of the pigs in each dietary group (1 room/dietary treatment) were exposed to repeated heat stress conditions (RHS; daily cycles of 19 h at 25°C and 5 h at 40°C, repeated for 9 d), and the remaining pigs were housed at constant thermal neutral temperature (25°C, [NHS]). Pigs subjected to RHS had elevated skin surface temperature ( treatment. Independent of diet, RHS pigs had significantly shorter ( stress resulted in decreased villus height to crypt depth ratio (V:C) in pigs fed with control diet with no added feed additive (NON) and CBX diets at d 3, whereas the pigs fed diets containing XPC or SGX showed no decrease. Transcriptional expression of genes involved in cellular stress (, , , ), tight junction integrity (, , ), and immune response (, , and ) were measured in the ileum mucosa. Pigs in all dietary treatments subjected to RHS had significantly higher ( natural killer () cell numbers or NK cell lytic activity. In conclusion, pigs subjected to RHS had decreased performance, and supplementation with fermentation products in the feed (XPC and SGX) protected pigs from injury to the jejunum mucosa.

Mitigation of stress corrosion cracking in boiling water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanneman, R.E.; Cowan, R.L. II

1980-01-01

Intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) has occurred in a statistically small number of weld heat affected zones (HAZ) of 304 SS piping in BWR's. A range of mitigating actions have been developed and qualified that provide viable engineering solutions to the unique aspects of (1) operating plants, (2) plants under various stages of construction, and (3) future plants. This paper describes the technical development of each mitigating concept, relates it to the fundamental causal factors for IGSCC, and discusses its applicability to operating, in-construction and new BWR's. 31 refs

Effects of landscape composition and pattern on land surface temperature: An urban heat island study in the megacities of Southeast Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Estoque, Ronald C; Murayama, Yuji; Myint, Soe W

2017-01-15

Due to its adverse impacts on urban ecological environment and the overall livability of cities, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon has become a major research focus in various interrelated fields, including urban climatology, urban ecology, urban planning, and urban geography. This study sought to examine the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the abundance and spatial pattern of impervious surface and green space in the metropolitan areas of Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines). Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data and various geospatial approaches, including urban-rural gradient, multiresolution grid-based, and spatial metrics-based techniques, were used to facilitate the analysis. We found a significant strong correlation between mean LST and the density of impervious surface (positive) and green space (negative) along the urban-rural gradients of the three cities, depicting a typical UHI profile. The correlation of impervious surface density with mean LST tends to increase in larger grids, whereas the correlation of green space density with mean LST tends to increase in smaller grids, indicating a stronger influence of impervious surface and green space on the variability of LST in larger and smaller areas, respectively. The size, shape complexity, and aggregation of the patches of impervious surface and green space also had significant relationships with mean LST, though aggregation had the most consistent strong correlation. On average, the mean LST of impervious surface is about 3°C higher than that of green space, highlighting the important role of green spaces in mitigating UHI effects, an important urban ecosystem service. We recommend that the density and spatial pattern of urban impervious surfaces and green spaces be considered in landscape and urban planning so that urban areas and cities can have healthier and more comfortable living urban environments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Can small island mountains provide relief from the Subtropical Precipitation Decline? Simulating future precipitation regimes for small island nations using high resolution Regional Climate Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowden, J.; Terando, A. J.; Misra, V.; Wootten, A.

2017-12-01

Small island nations are vulnerable to changes in the hydrologic cycle because of their limited water resources. This risk to water security is likely even higher in sub-tropical regions where anthropogenic forcing of the climate system is expected to lead to a drier future (the so-called `dry-get-drier' pattern). However, high-resolution numerical modeling experiments have also shown an enhancement of existing orographically-influenced precipitation patterns on islands with steep topography, potentially mitigating subtropical drying on windward mountain sides. Here we explore the robustness of the near-term (25-45 years) subtropical precipitation decline (SPD) across two island groupings in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These islands, forming the boundary between the Greater and Lesser Antilles, significantly differ in size, topographic relief, and orientation to prevailing winds. Two 2-km horizontal resolution regional climate model simulations are used to downscale a total of three different GCMs under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario. Results indicate some possibility for modest increases in precipitation at the leading edge of the Luquillo Mountains in Puerto Rico, but consistent declines elsewhere. We conclude with a discussion of potential explanations for these patterns and the attendant risks to water security that subtropical small island nations could face as the climate warms.

Roles of Urban Tree Canopy and Buildings in Urban Heat Island Effects: Parameterization and Preliminary Results

Science.gov (United States)

Loughner, Christopher P.; Allen, Dale J.; Zhang, Da-Lin; Pickering, Kenneth E.; Dickerson, Russell R.; Landry, Laura

2012-01-01

Urban heat island (UHI) effects can strengthen heat waves and air pollution episodes. In this study, the dampening impact of urban trees on the UHI during an extreme heat wave in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area is examined by incorporating trees, soil, and grass into the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model and an urban canopy model (WRF-UCM). By parameterizing the effects of these natural surfaces alongside roadways and buildings, the modified WRF-UCM is used to investigate how urban trees, soil, and grass dampen the UHI. The modified model was run with 50% tree cover over urban roads and a 10% decrease in the width of urban streets to make space for soil and grass alongside the roads and buildings. Results show that, averaged over all urban areas, the added vegetation decreases surface air temperature in urban street canyons by 4.1 K and road-surface and building-wall temperatures by 15.4 and 8.9 K, respectively, as a result of tree shading and evapotranspiration. These temperature changes propagate downwind and alter the temperature gradient associated with the Chesapeake Bay breeze and, therefore, alter the strength of the bay breeze. The impact of building height on the UHI shows that decreasing commercial building heights by 8 m and residential building heights by 2.5 m results in up to 0.4-K higher daytime surface and near-surface air temperatures because of less building shading and up to 1.2-K lower nighttime temperatures because of less longwave radiative trapping in urban street canyons.

Suburban heat island effect in groundwater energy utilisation in Nordic climate - case study

Science.gov (United States)

Arola, Teppo

2017-04-01

We present the preliminary results from the initial thermogeological characterization of Finland's first-ever planned large-scale aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) facility. The site is located in the Asko area (Lahti), at a latitude of 60°59'N. In particular, emphasis is put on the results from an aquifer's pumping test performed in July / August 2016 to investigate the potential implication of suburban heat island (SUHI) effect to ATES system on the naturally cold groundwater area. The site has been under geological investigation since July 2015. At a regional scale, the groundwater's natural temperature is about 5.8- 6°C. However, preliminary measurements during the investigations revealed that local groundwater temperature ranged between 7.5 to 8.7 °C in Asko area. The highest temperature was observed underneath buildings, suggesting that higher-than-average temperature is most likely influenced due to anthropogenic heat flux into the ground. The pumping test was performed for 39 days, of which 28 days with groundwater withdrawal and 11 days of heads recovery. The pumped volumes range from 350 to 540 m3/d leading the total volume of 10400 m3 of groundwater. Groundwater temperatures were continuously measured from pumping test well and two observation piezometers during the entire test. The results indicated that aquifer's temperature remained nearly constant being between 7.4 to 7.9 °C during the test period. Heat pulses with temperature variation of 0.1 to 0.3 °C were observed in the pumping well and nearest monitoring well (19 meters from pumping well) during the pumping test and recovery phase. We estimate that the pulses were due to rapidly changed groundwater flowing conditions and pulse indicate "new groundwater" flow to the well. Overall, the preliminary test suggests that groundwater temperature are expected to remain elevated during the ATES system operation. Elevated temperature due the SUHI effect increases groundwater heating potential

Heat flow and radioactivity studies in the Ross Island-dry valley area, Antarctica and their tectonic implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bucher, G.J.

1980-01-01

In conjunction with the Dry Valley Drilling Project, the University of Wyoming conducted heat flow and basement radioactivity studies in the Ross Island-dry valley area of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. This part of Antarctica is characterized by late Cenozoic alkaline basaltic volcanism and uplift. Six heat flow (q) values for the area range from 1.4 to 2.0 HFU, with a mean value of 1.7 HFU. Radioactive heat production (A) values for basement rocks from the dry valleys range from 2.2 to 4.1 HGU, with a mean value of 3.0 HGU. The combined q-A data imply that this area is a zone of high reduced heat flow, similar to the Basin and Range province in the western United States and other zones of late Cenozoic tectonof Antarctica is probably in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 HFU, which is about 50 to 100% higher than the reduced flux which characterizes stable continental areas. The results of the transient conductive models presented herein imply that the high flux in this part of Antarctica cannot be explained by the residual thermal effects of a major episode of lithospheric thinning associated with the generation of the Ferrar Dolerites. The correlation between steady conductive thermal models and the late Cenozoic, silica-undersaturated, alkaline basalts of the region is similarly obscure. For example, purely conductive steady-state temperature-depth models predict partial melting at depths of only 45 to 50 km in the mantle, whereas geochemical data for the volcanic units are consistent with the basalts being generated at depths of at least 60 to 80 km

Effect of heating on the suppression of tearing modes in tokamaks.

Science.gov (United States)

Classen, I G J; Westerhof, E; Domier, C W; Donné, A J H; Jaspers, R J E; Luhmann, N C; Park, H K; van de Pol, M J; Spakman, G W; Jakubowski, M W

2007-01-19

The suppression of (neoclassical) tearing modes is of great importance for the success of future fusion reactors like ITER. Electron cyclotron waves can suppress islands, both by driving noninductive current in the island region and by heating the island, causing a perturbation to the Ohmic plasma current. This Letter reports on experiments on the TEXTOR tokamak, investigating the effect of heating, which is usually neglected. The unique set of tools available on TEXTOR, notably the dynamic ergodic divertor to create islands with a fully known driving term, and the electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic to provide detailed 2D electron temperature information, enables a detailed study of the suppression process and a comparison with theory.

Detailed profile of m=2 islands with TVTS on JFT-2M

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamauchi, T.; Grek, B.; Hoshino, K.; Le Blanc, B.; Johnson, D.; Felt, J.; Shiina, T.; Kurita, G.; Ishige, Y.; Kozawa, H.

1996-01-01

The detailed electron temperature profile (spatial resolution: 0.86 cm) of a low density JFT-2M plasma is measured with the TV Thomson scattering system (TVTS). Flat profiles showing the electron temperature shapes of m=2/n=1 islands are presented, which are in contrast to that without islands. On the other hand, the m=2/n=1 islands are effectively suppressed with local ECRH heating. (orig.)

On the use of wearable physiological monitors to assess heat strain during occupational heat stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Notley, Sean R; Flouris, Andreas D; Kenny, Glen P

2018-05-04

Workers in many industries are required to perform arduous work in high heat stress conditions, which can lead to rapid increases in body temperature that elevate the risk of heat-related illness or even death. Traditionally, effort to mitigate work-related heat injury has been directed to the assessment of environmental heat stress (e.g., wet-bulb globe temperature), rather than the associated physiological strain responses (e.g., heart rate, skin and core temperatures). However, since a workers physiological response to a given heat stress is modified independently by inter-individual factors (e.g., age, sex, chronic disease, others) and intra-individual factors both within (e.g., medication use, fitness, acclimation and hydration state, others) and beyond a workers control (e.g., shift duration, illness, others), it becomes challenging to protect workers on an individual basis from heat-related injury without assessing those physiological responses. Recent advancements in wearable technology have made it possible to monitor one or more physiological indices of heat strain. Nonetheless, information on the utility of the wearable systems available for assessing occupational heat strain is unavailable. This communication is therefore directed at identifying the physiological indices of heat strain that may be quantified in the workplace and evaluating the wearable monitoring systems available for assessing those responses. Finally, emphasis is directed to the barriers associated with implementing these devices to assist in mitigating work-related heat injury. This information is fundamental for protecting worker health and could also be utilized to prevent heat illnesses in vulnerable people during leisure or athletic activities in the heat.

Numerical simulations of heat transfer considering hydraulic discontinuity for an enhanced geothermal system development in Seokmo Island, Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, J.; Kim, K.; Hyun, Y.; Lee, K.; Lee, T.

2011-12-01

The construction of the first geothermal plant in Korea is under planning in Seokmo Island, where a few artesian wells showing relatively high water temperature of around 70 degrees were discovered lately. Geologic structure in this region is characterized by the fractured granite. Numerical simulations for the temperature evolution in a fractured geothermal reservoir in Seokmo Island under the supposed injection-extraction operating conditions were carried out using TOUGH2. A MINC model including a hydraulic discontinuity in Seokmo Island region, which reflected the analysis from several geophysical explorations and drilled rock core, was generated. Supposing the N05°E, NW83° fracture zone containing the pumping range, the numerical simulation results show that temperature of the extracted geothermal water decreases after 15 years of operation, which decreases the overall efficiency of the expected geothermal plant. This is because the colder water from the injection well, which is 400 m apart, begins to flow into the more permeable fracture zone from the 15th year, resulting in a decrease in temperature near the pumping well. Temperature distribution calculated from the simulation also shows a rise of relatively hot geothermal water along the fracture plane. All of the results are different from the non-fracture MINC model, which shows a low temperature contour in concentric circle shape around the injection well and relatively consistent extracting temperature. This demonstrates that the distribution and the structure of fracture system influence the major mass and heat flow mechanisms in geologic medium. Therefore, an intensive geologic investigation for the fractures including their structure, permeability and connecting relation is important. Acknowledgement This study was financially supported by KIGAM, KETEP and BK21.

Numerical Simulation of Tsunami Hazard Mitigation by Mangrove Forest in North Coast Bali, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putu Harry Gunawan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Mangrove forest or known as bakau forest is important forest as a natural wave barrier or tsunami wave mitigation. Some advantages of mangrove forest to reduce the water waves are already studied. Mangrove forest in north coast of Bali’s island, Buleleng regency, Indonesia is in damaged condition. The aim of this paper is to present the importance of mangrove forest as the water wave mitigation in numerical simulation point of view. Moreover, the results also show the effect of tsunami propagation to the coastal area with and without mangrove resistance. Here, the nonlinear shallow water equations are used to govern the model of numerical simulation.

Numerical Simulation of Tsunami Hazard Mitigation by Mangrove Forest in North Coast Bali, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putu Harry Gunawan

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Mangrove forest or known as bakau forest is important forest as a natural wave barrier or tsunami wave mitigation. Some advantages of mangrove forest to reduce the water waves are already studied. Mangrove forest in north coast of Bali’s island, Buleleng regency, Indonesia is in damaged condition. The aim of this paper is to present the importance of mangrove forest as the water wave mitigation in numerical simulation point of view. Moreover, the results also show the effect of tsunami propagation to the coastal area with and without mangrove resistance. Here, the nonlinear shallow water equations are used to govern the model of numerical simulation.

Mitigation method of thermal transient stress by thermalhydraulic-structure total analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasahara, Naoto; Jinbo, Masakazu; Hosogai, Hiromi

2003-01-01

This study proposes a rational evaluation and mitigation method of thermal transient loads in fast reactor components by utilizing relationships among plant system parameters and stresses induced by thermal transients of plants. A thermalhydraulic-structure total analysis procedure helps us to grasp relationship among system parameters and thermal stresses. Furthermore, it enables mitigation of thermal transient loads by adjusting system parameters. In order to overcome huge computations, a thermalhydraulic-structure total analysis code and the Design of Experiments methodology are utilized. The efficiency of the proposed mitigation method is validated through thermal stress evaluation of an intermediate heat exchanger in Japanese demonstration fast reactor. (author)

Effective Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Public Health Impacts of Heatwaves for Brookline, MA

Science.gov (United States)

Jalalzadeh Fard, B.; Hassanzadeh, H.; Bhatia, U.; Ganguly, A. R.

2016-12-01

Studies on urban areas show a significant increase in frequency and intensity of heatwaves over the past decades, and predict the same trend for future. Since heatwaves have been responsible for a large number of life losses, urgent adaptation and mitigation strategies are required in the policy and decision making level for a sustainable urban planning. The Sustainability and Data Sciences Laboratory at Northeastern University, under the aegis of Thriving Earth Exchange of AGU, is working with the town of Brookline to understand the potential public health impacts of anticipated heatwaves. We consider the most important social and physical factors to obtain vulnerability and exposure parameters for each census block group of the town. Utilizing remote sensing data, we locate Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) during a recent heatwave event, as the hazard parameter. We then create priority risk map using the risk framework. Our analyses show spatial correlations between the UHIs and social factors such as poverty, and physical factors such as land cover variations. Furthermore, we investigate the future heatwave frequency and intensity increases by analyzing the climate models predictions. For future changes of UHIs, land cover changes are investigated using available predictive data. Also, socioeconomic predictions are carried out to complete the futuristic models of heatwave risks. Considering plausible scenarios for Brookline, we develop different risk maps based on the vulnerability, exposure and hazard parameters. Eventually, we suggest guidelines for Heatwave Action Plans for prioritizing effective mitigation and adaptation strategies in urban planning for the town of Brookline.

Effects of anthropogenic heat due to air-conditioning systems on an extreme high temperature event in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y.; Li, Y.; Di Sabatino, S.; Martilli, A.; Chan, P. W.

2018-03-01

Anthropogenic heat flux is the heat generated by human activities in the urban canopy layer, which is considered the main contributor to the urban heat island (UHI). The UHI can in turn increase the use and energy consumption of air-conditioning systems. In this study, two effective methods for water-cooling air-conditioning systems in non-domestic areas, including the direct cooling system and central piped cooling towers (CPCTs), are physically based, parameterized, and implemented in a weather research and forecasting model at the city scale of Hong Kong. An extreme high temperature event (June 23-28, 2016) in the urban areas was examined, and we assessed the effects on the surface thermal environment, the interaction of sea-land breeze circulation and urban heat island circulation, boundary layer dynamics, and a possible reduction of energy consumption. The results showed that both water-cooled air-conditioning systems could reduce the 2 m air temperature by around 0.5 °C-0.8 °C during the daytime, and around 1.5 °C around 7:00-8:00 pm when the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height was confined to a few hundred meters. The CPCT contributed around 80%-90% latent heat flux and significantly increased the water vapor mixing ratio in the atmosphere by around 0.29 g kg-1 on average. The implementation of the two alternative air-conditioning systems could modify the heat and momentum of turbulence, which inhibited the evolution of the PBL height (a reduction of 100-150 m), reduced the vertical mixing, presented lower horizontal wind speed and buoyant production of turbulent kinetic energy, and reduced the strength of sea breeze and UHI circulation, which in turn affected the removal of air pollutants. Moreover, the two alternative air-conditioning systems could significantly reduce the energy consumption by around 30% during extreme high temperature events. The results of this study suggest potential UHI mitigation strategies and can be extended to

Recent Atlantic Hurricanes, Pacific Super Typhoons, and Tropical Storm Awareness in Underdeveloped Island and Coastal Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Plondke, D. L.

2017-12-01

Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the continental U.S. in 12 years. The next tropical storm in the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season was Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm and the strongest storm to strike the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. These two storms were the third and fourth in a sequence of 10 consecutive storms to reach hurricane status in this season that ranks at least seventh among the most active seasons as measured by the Accumulate Cyclone Energy (ACE) index. Assessment of damage from Harvey may prove it to be the costliest storm in U.S. history, approaching $190 billion. Irma was the first category 5 hurricane to hit the Leeward Islands, devastating island environments including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Barbuda, Saint Barthelemy, and Anguilla with sustained winds reaching at times 185 mph. Together with the two super typhoons of the 2017 Pacific season, Noru and Lan, the two Atlantic hurricanes rank among the strongest, longest-lasting tropical cyclones on record. How many more billions of dollars will be expended in recovery and reconstruction efforts following future mega-disasters comparable to those of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma? Particularly on Caribbean and tropical Pacific islands with specialized and underdeveloped economies, aging and substandard infrastructure often cannot even partially mitigate against the impacts of major hurricanes. The most frequently used measurements of storm impact are insufficient to assess the economic impact. Analysis of the storm tracks and periods of greatest storm intensity of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and Super Typhoons Lan and Noru, in spatial relationship with island and coastal administrative regions, shows that rainfall totals, flooded area estimates, and property/infrastructure damage dollar estimates are all quantitative indicators of storm impact, but do not measure the costs that result from lack of storm preparedness and education of residents

Proactive conservation management of an island-endemic bird species in the face of global change

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, S.A.; Sillett, T. Scott; Ghalambor, Cameron K.; Fitzpatrick, J.W.; Graber, D.M.; Bakker, V.J.; Bowman, R.; Collins, C.T.; Collins, P.W.; Delaney, K.S.; Doak, D.F.; Koenig, Walter D.; Laughrin, L.; Lieberman, A.A.; Marzluff, J.M.; Reynolds, M.D.; Scott, J.M.; Stallcup, J.A.; Vickers, W.; Boyce, W.M.

2011-01-01

Biodiversity conservation in an era of global change and scarce funding benefits from approaches that simultaneously solve multiple problems. Here, we discuss conservation management of the island scrub-jay (Aphelocoma insularis), the only island-endemic passerine species in the continental United States, which is currently restricted to 250-square-kilometer Santa Cruz Island, California. Although the species is not listed as threatened by state or federal agencies, its viability is nonetheless threatened on multiple fronts. We discuss management actions that could reduce extinction risk, including vaccination, captive propagation, biosecurity measures, and establishing a second free-living population on a neighboring island. Establishing a second population on Santa Rosa Island may have the added benefit of accelerating the restoration and enhancing the resilience of that island's currently highly degraded ecosystem. The proactive management framework for island scrub-jays presented here illustrates how strategies for species protection, ecosystem restoration, and adaptation to and mitigation of climate change can converge into an integrated solution. ?? 2011 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved.

Mapping the Influence of Land Use/Land Cover Changes on the Urban Heat Island Effect—A Case Study of Changchun, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaobin Yang

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The spatio-temporal patterns of land use/land cover changes (LUCC can significantly affect the distribution and intensity of the urban heat island (UHI effect. However, few studies have mapped a clear picture of the influence of LUCC on UHI. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative models are employed to explore the effect of LUCC on UHI. UHI and LUCC maps were retrieved from Landsat data acquired from 1984, 1992, 2000, 2007, and 2014 to show their spatiotemporal patterns. The results showed that: (1 both the patterns of LUCC and UHI have had dramatic changes in the past 30 years. The urban area of Changchun increased more than four times, from 143.15 km2 in 1984 to 577.45 km2 in 2014, and the proportion of UHI regions has increased from 15.27% in 1984 to 29.62% in 2014; (2 the spatiotemporal changes in thermal environment were consistent with the process of urbanization. The average LST of the study area has been continuously increasing as many other land use types have been transformed to urban regions. The mean temperatures were higher in urban regions than rural areas over all of the periods, but the UHI intensity varied based on different measurements; and (3 the thermal environment inside the city varied widely even within a small area. The LST possesses a very strong positive relationship with impervious surface area (ISA, and the relationship has become stronger in recent years. The UHI we employ, specifically in this study, is SUHI (surface urban heat island.

New terrestrial heat flow measurements on the Nazca Plate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, R N [Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY; Langseth, M G; Vacquier, V; Francheteau, J

1976-03-01

Sixty-seven new heat flow measurements on the Nazca Plate are reported, and the thermal regimes of three specific areas on the plate are examined. The Nazca Ridge is an aseismic ridge which may have been generated as an ''island trail'' from the Easter Island ''hot spot'' and/or may be a fossil transform fault. The Nazca Ridge has lower heat flow than the surrounding sea floor implying that the ridge might have low ''effective'' thermal conductivity causing heat to preferentially flow or refract to surrounding ocean crust which has higher conductivity, or, the low heat flow values may be caused by hydrothermal circulation on the ridge. The Carnegie Plateau is an elevated region south of the Carnegie Ridge on the northeastern Nazca Plate with high heat flow and shallow topography consistent with an age of less than 20 m.y. B.P. The central Nazca Plate is an area of highly variable heat flow which is possibly related to thin sediment and to rough regional topography.

Tree-crown-resolving large-eddy simulation for evaluating greenery effects on urban heat environments

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuda, K.; Onishi, R.; Takahashi, K.

2017-12-01

Urban high temperatures due to the combined influence of global warming and urban heat islands increase the risk of heat stroke. Greenery is one of possible countermeasures for mitigating the heat environments since the transpiration and shading effect of trees can reduce the air temperature and the radiative heat flux. In order to formulate effective measures, it is important to estimate the influence of the greenery on the heat stroke risk. In this study, we have developed a tree-crown-resolving large-eddy simulation (LES) model that is coupled with three-dimensional radiative transfer (3DRT) model. The Multi-Scale Simulator for the Geoenvironment (MSSG) is used for performing building- and tree-crown-resolving LES. The 3DRT model is implemented in the MSSG so that the 3DRT is calculated repeatedly during the time integration of the LES. We have confirmed that the computational time for the 3DRT model is negligibly small compared with that for the LES and the accuracy of the 3DRT model is sufficiently high to evaluate the radiative heat flux at the pedestrian level. The present model is applied to the analysis of the heat environment in an actual urban area around the Tokyo Bay area, covering 8 km × 8 km with 5-m grid mesh, in order to confirm its feasibility. The results show that the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), which is an indicator of the heat stroke risk, is predicted in a sufficiently high accuracy to evaluate the influence of tree crowns on the heat environment. In addition, by comparing with a case without the greenery in the Tokyo Bay area, we have confirmed that the greenery increases the low WBGT areas in major pedestrian spaces by a factor of 3.4. This indicates that the present model can predict the greenery effect on the urban heat environment quantitatively.

Mechanisms driving variability in the ocean forcing of Pine Island Glacier.

Science.gov (United States)

Webber, Benjamin G M; Heywood, Karen J; Stevens, David P; Dutrieux, Pierre; Abrahamsen, E Povl; Jenkins, Adrian; Jacobs, Stanley S; Ha, Ho Kyung; Lee, Sang Hoon; Kim, Tae Wan

2017-02-17

Pine Island Glacier (PIG) terminates in a rapidly melting ice shelf, and ocean circulation and temperature are implicated in the retreat and growing contribution to sea level rise of PIG and nearby glaciers. However, the variability of the ocean forcing of PIG has been poorly constrained due to a lack of multi-year observations. Here we show, using a unique record close to the Pine Island Ice Shelf (PIIS), that there is considerable oceanic variability at seasonal and interannual timescales, including a pronounced cold period from October 2011 to May 2013. This variability can be largely explained by two processes: cumulative ocean surface heat fluxes and sea ice formation close to PIIS; and interannual reversals in ocean currents and associated heat transport within Pine Island Bay, driven by a combination of local and remote forcing. Local atmospheric forcing therefore plays an important role in driving oceanic variability close to PIIS.

Energy Transition Initiative: Island Energy Snapshot - St. Lucia (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2015-02-01

This profile provides a snapshot of the electricity generation or reduction technologies, including solar hot water heating, available to Saint Lucia, one of six Caribbean countries that make up the Windward Islands - the southern arc of the Lesser Antilles chain - at the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea. Heating and transportation fuels are not addressed.

Active transport and heat.

Science.gov (United States)

Tait, Peter W

2011-07-01

Increasing heat may impede peoples' ability to be active outdoors thus limiting active transport options. Co-benefits from mitigation of and adaptation to global warming should not be assumed but need to be actively designed into strategies.

Using single-step genomic best linear unbiased predictor to enhance the mitigation of seasonal losses due to heat stress in pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fragomeni, B O; Lourenco, D A L; Tsuruta, S; Bradford, H L; Gray, K A; Huang, Y; Misztal, I

2016-12-01

between heat loads were as weak as 0.36, with heat load ranging from 0 to 12. Accuracies with ssGBLUP were, on average, 25% greater than with BLUP. Accuracies were greater in 2-trait reaction norm models and at extreme heat load values. Impacts of seasonality are evident only for crossbred animals. Genomic information can help producers mitigate heat stress in swine by identifying superior sires that are more resistant to heat stress.

Divertor heat flux mitigation in the National Spherical Torus Experimenta)

Science.gov (United States)

Soukhanovskii, V. A.; Maingi, R.; Gates, D. A.; Menard, J. E.; Paul, S. F.; Raman, R.; Roquemore, A. L.; Bell, M. G.; Bell, R. E.; Boedo, J. A.; Bush, C. E.; Kaita, R.; Kugel, H. W.; Leblanc, B. P.; Mueller, D.; NSTX Team

2009-02-01

Steady-state handling of divertor heat flux is a critical issue for both ITER and spherical torus-based devices with compact high power density divertors. Significant reduction of heat flux to the divertor plate has been achieved simultaneously with favorable core and pedestal confinement and stability properties in a highly shaped lower single null configuration in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 2000] using high magnetic flux expansion at the divertor strike point and the radiative divertor technique. A partial detachment of the outer strike point was achieved with divertor deuterium injection leading to peak flux reduction from 4-6MWm-2to0.5-2MWm-2 in small-ELM 0.8-1.0MA, 4-6MW neutral beam injection-heated H-mode discharges. A self-consistent picture of the outer strike point partial detachment was evident from divertor heat flux profiles and recombination, particle flux and neutral pressure measurements. Analytic scrape-off layer parallel transport models were used for interpretation of NSTX detachment experiments. The modeling showed that the observed peak heat flux reduction and detachment are possible with high radiated power and momentum loss fractions, achievable with divertor gas injection, and nearly impossible to achieve with main electron density, divertor neutral density or recombination increases alone.

High-heat tank safety issue resolution program plan. Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, O.S.

1994-12-01

The purpose of this program plan is to provide a guide for selecting corrective actions that will mitigate and/or remediate the high-heat waste tank safety issue for single-shell tank 241-C-106. The heat source of approximately 110,000 Btu/hr is the radioactive decay of the stored waste material (primarily 90 Sr) inadvertently transferred into the tank in the later 1960s. Currently, forced ventilation, with added water to promote thermal conductivity and evaporation cooling, is used for heat removal. The method is very effective and economical. At this time, the only viable solution identified to permanently resolve this safety issue is the removal of heat-generating waste in the tank. This solution is being aggressively pursued as the only remediation method to this safety issue, and tank 241-C-106 has been selected as the first single-shell tank for retrieval. The current cooling method and other alternatives are addressed in this program as means to mitigate this safety issue before retrieval. This program plan has three parts. The first part establishes program objectives and defines safety issue, drivers, and resolution criteria and strategy. The second part evaluates the high-heat safety issue and its mitigation and remediation methods and other alternatives according to resolution logic. The third part identifies major tasks and alternatives for mitigation and resolution of the safety issue. A table of best-estimate schedules for the key tasks is also included in this program plan

On the merits of heating and current drive for tearing mode stabilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Lazzari, D.; Westerhof, E.

2009-01-01

Neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) are magnetohydrodynamic modes that can limit the performance of high β discharges in a tokamak, leading eventually to a plasma disruption. A NTM is sustained by the perturbation of the 'bootstrap' current, which is a consequence of the pressure flattening across a magnetic island. Control and suppression of this mode can be achieved by means of electron cyclotron waves (ECWs) which allow the deposition of highly localized power at the island location. The ECW power replenishes the missing bootstrap current by generating a current perturbation either inductively, through a temperature perturbation (electron cyclotron resonance heating), or non-inductively by direct current drive (electron cyclotron current drive). Although both methods have been applied successfully to experiments showing a predominance of ECRH for medium-sized limiter tokamaks (TEXTOR, T-10) and of ECCD for mid-to-large-sized divertor tokamaks (AUG, DIII-D, JT-60), conditions determining their relative importance are still unclear. We address this problem with a numerical study focused on the contributions of heating and current drive to the temporal evolution of NTMs as described by the modified Rutherford equation. For the effects of both heating as well as current drive, simple analytical expressions have been found in terms of an efficiency fore-factor times a 'geometrical' term depending on the power deposition width w dep , location and modulation. When the magnetic island width w equals the width of the deposition profile, w ∼ w dep , both geometric terms are practically identical. Whereas for current drive the geometric term approaches a constant for small island widths and is inversely proportional to (w/w dep ) 2 for large island widths, the heating term approaches a constant for large island widths and is proportional to (w/w dep ) for small island widths. For medium-sized tokamaks (TEXTOR, AUG) the heating and current drive efficiencies are of the

Monitoring bank erosion at the Locke Island Archaeological National Register District: Summary of 1996/1997 field activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nickens, P.R. [ed.; Bjornstad, B.N.; Nickens, P.R.; Cadoret, N.A.; Wright, M.K.

1998-08-01

Locke Island is located in the Columbia River in south-central Washington. The US Department of Energy (DOE) owns Locke Island as part of its Hanford Site. In the 1960s and 1970s, as a result of intensive irrigation developments on the inland shoreline to the east of the island, the White Bluffs, which form the eastern boundary of the Columbia River channel in this area, began to show geological failures as excess irrigation water seeped out along the bluffs. One of the largest such failures, known as the Locke Island Landslide, is located just east of Locke Island. By the early 1980s, this landslide mass had moved westward into the river channel toward the island and was diverting the current at the island`s eastern perimeter. Erosion of the bank in the center of the island accelerated, threatening the cultural resources. By the early 1990s, the erosion had exposed cultural features and artifacts along the bank, leading to the beginning of intermittent monitoring of the cutbank. In 1994, DOE initiated more scheduled, systematic monitoring of island erosion to better understand the physical processes involved as well as mitigate ongoing loss of the archaeological record.

Diurnal and Seasonal Variation of Surface Urban Cool and Heat Islands in the Semi-Arid City of Erbil, Iraq

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azad Rasul

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The influence of land surface temperature (LST makes the near-surface layer of the troposphere a key driver of urban climate. This paper assesses the temporal formation of the daytime Surface Urban Cool Island (SUCI and night-time Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI effect in Erbil, Iraq, situated in a semi-arid climate region. LST retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS Aqua and Terra and MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI from January 2003 to December 2014 are analysed. The relationships of LST with NDVI and the Normalized Multi-band Drought Index (NMDI are investigated in order to assess the influence of vegetation and moisture on the observed patterns of LST and the SUCI/SUHI. The results indicate that during the daytime, in summer, autumn and winter, densely built-up areas had lower LST acting as a SUCI compared to the non-urbanised area around the city. In contrast, at night-time, Erbil experienced higher LST and demonstrated a significant SUHI effect. The relationship between LST and NDVI is affected by seasonality and is strongly inverted during spring (r2 = 0.73; p < 0.01. Contrary to previous studies of semi-arid cities, a SUCI was detected, not only in the morning, but also during the afternoon.

Mapping urban heat islands of arctic cities using combined data on field measurements and satellite images based on the example of the city of Apatity (Murmansk Oblast)

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantinov, P. I.; Grishchenko, M. Y.; Varentsov, M. I.

2015-12-01

This article presents the results of a study of the urban heat island (UHI) in the city of Apatity during winter that were obtained according to the data of field meteorological measurements and satellite images. Calculations of the surface layer temperature have been made based on the surface temperature data obtained from satellite images. The experimental data on air temperature were obtained as a result of expeditionary meteorological observations, and the experimental data on surface temperature were obtained based on the data of the space hyperspectral Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) system, channels 31 and 32 (10.78-11.28 and 11.77-12.27 micrometers, respectively). As a result of the analysis of temperature fields, an intensive heat island (up to 3.2°C) has been identified that was estimated based on the underlying surface temperature, and its mean intensity over the observation period significantly exceeds the representative data for European cities in winter. It has also been established that the air temperature calculated according to the MODIS data is systematically higher under winter conditions than the air temperature from direct measurement data.

Seasonal and Spatial Variation of Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity in a Small Urban Agglomerate in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elis Dener Lima Alves

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, SUHIs (surface urban heat islands have been greatly emphasized in urban climate studies, since it is one of the climate phenomena most influenced by human action. In this study, temporal and spatial variations of SUHIs in the cities of Ceres and Rialma (Brazil were investigated; satellite Landsat 8 TIRS/OLI images from 2013 to 2016 were used for this purpose. The results showed that in all seasons, two relationships were observed, one positive and one negative. An N D V I (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index of 0.2 is the divider of this relationship: up to this value, the relationship is positive, that is, the higher the N D V I value, the higher the surface temperature, while the relationship is negative at an N D V I greater than 0.2. There was high seasonal variation in the SUHIs, with the highest intensities recorded in the spring and summer (±12 °C, and the lowest in the winter. These temporal variations were attributed to the annual cycle of precipitation, which directly involves the robustness of the Cerrado vegetation. SUHIs occupied, on average, an area three times larger than the area of SUCIs (surface urban cool islands. The highest values of SUCIs were observed in water bodies and in valley bottoms. Overall, SUHIs showed high intensities; however, a more intense core area, such as in large cities, was not observed.

Experimental evaluation of optical crosstalk mitigation using phase scrambling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tangdiongga, E.; Tafur Monroy, I.; Jonker, R.J.W.; Waardt, de H.

2000-01-01

We report an experimental study of mitigation of optical homodyne crosstalk by phase scrambling. This is obtained by frequency shifting the signal-crosstalk heating noise power out of the receiver bandwidth. An increased tolerance to crosstalk of 7 and 5 dB is measured in a 2.5-Gb/s link of result

Archipelago-wide island restoration in the Galápagos Islands: reducing costs of invasive mammal eradication programs and reinvasion risk.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Carrion

Full Text Available Invasive alien mammals are the major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation on islands. Over the past three decades, invasive mammal eradication from islands has become one of society's most powerful tools for preventing extinction of insular endemics and restoring insular ecosystems. As practitioners tackle larger islands for restoration, three factors will heavily influence success and outcomes: the degree of local support, the ability to mitigate for non-target impacts, and the ability to eradicate non-native species more cost-effectively. Investments in removing invasive species, however, must be weighed against the risk of reintroduction. One way to reduce reintroduction risks is to eradicate the target invasive species from an entire archipelago, and thus eliminate readily available sources. We illustrate the costs and benefits of this approach with the efforts to remove invasive goats from the Galápagos Islands. Project Isabela, the world's largest island restoration effort to date, removed >140,000 goats from >500,000 ha for a cost of US$10.5 million. Leveraging the capacity built during Project Isabela, and given that goat reintroductions have been common over the past decade, we implemented an archipelago-wide goat eradication strategy. Feral goats remain on three islands in the archipelago, and removal efforts are underway. Efforts on the Galápagos Islands demonstrate that for some species, island size is no longer the limiting factor with respect to eradication. Rather, bureaucratic processes, financing, political will, and stakeholder approval appear to be the new challenges. Eradication efforts have delivered a suite of biodiversity benefits that are in the process of revealing themselves. The costs of rectifying intentional reintroductions are high in terms of financial and human resources. Reducing the archipelago-wide goat density to low levels is a technical approach to reducing reintroduction risk in the short

Archipelago-wide island restoration in the Galápagos Islands: reducing costs of invasive mammal eradication programs and reinvasion risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrion, Victor; Donlan, C Josh; Campbell, Karl J; Lavoie, Christian; Cruz, Felipe

2011-05-11

Invasive alien mammals are the major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation on islands. Over the past three decades, invasive mammal eradication from islands has become one of society's most powerful tools for preventing extinction of insular endemics and restoring insular ecosystems. As practitioners tackle larger islands for restoration, three factors will heavily influence success and outcomes: the degree of local support, the ability to mitigate for non-target impacts, and the ability to eradicate non-native species more cost-effectively. Investments in removing invasive species, however, must be weighed against the risk of reintroduction. One way to reduce reintroduction risks is to eradicate the target invasive species from an entire archipelago, and thus eliminate readily available sources. We illustrate the costs and benefits of this approach with the efforts to remove invasive goats from the Galápagos Islands. Project Isabela, the world's largest island restoration effort to date, removed >140,000 goats from >500,000 ha for a cost of US$10.5 million. Leveraging the capacity built during Project Isabela, and given that goat reintroductions have been common over the past decade, we implemented an archipelago-wide goat eradication strategy. Feral goats remain on three islands in the archipelago, and removal efforts are underway. Efforts on the Galápagos Islands demonstrate that for some species, island size is no longer the limiting factor with respect to eradication. Rather, bureaucratic processes, financing, political will, and stakeholder approval appear to be the new challenges. Eradication efforts have delivered a suite of biodiversity benefits that are in the process of revealing themselves. The costs of rectifying intentional reintroductions are high in terms of financial and human resources. Reducing the archipelago-wide goat density to low levels is a technical approach to reducing reintroduction risk in the short-term, and is being

Mitigation of Global Warming with Focus on Personal Carbon Allowances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meyer, Niels I

2008-01-01

The mitigation of global warming requires new efficient systems and methods. The paper presents a new proposal called personal carbon allowances with caps on the CO2 emission from household heating and electricity and on emission from transport in private cars and in personal air flights. Results...

Scenarios for sustainable heat supply and heat savings in municipalities - the case of Helsingør, Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ben Amer-Allam, Sara; Münster, Marie; Petrovic, Stefan

2017-01-01

Local climate action is not only a domain of large cities, but also smaller urban areas that increasingly address climate change mitigation in their policy. The Danish municipality of Helsingør can achieve a substantial CO2 emissions reduction by transforming its heat supply and deploying heat...... savings. In this paper, we model the heating system of Helsingør, assess it from a simple socio- and private-economic perspective, develop future scenarios, and conduct an iterative process to derive a cost-optimal mix between district heating, individual heating and heat savings. The results show...... of heating and/or cooling supply for different demand configurations, geographical region and scale....

CO{sub 2} mitigation costs of large-scale bioenergy technologies in competitive electricity markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustavsson, L [Mid-Sweden University, Ostersund (Sweden). Dept. of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Ecotechnology; Madlener, R [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (Switzerland). CEPE

2003-11-01

In this study, we compare and contrast the impact of recent technological developments in large biomass-fired and natural-gas-fired cogeneration and condensing plants in terms of CO{sub 2} mitigation costs and under the conditions of a competitive electricity market. The CO{sub 2} mitigation cost indicates the minimum economic incentive required (e.g. in the form of a carbon tax) to equal the cost of a less carbon extensive system with the cost of a reference system. The results show that CO{sub 2} mitigation costs are lower for biomass systems than for natural gas systems with decarbonization. However, in liberalized energy markets and given the sociopolitical will to implement carbon extensive energy systems, market-based policy measures are still required to make biomass and decarbonization options competitive and thus help them to penetrate the market. This cost of cogeneration plants, however, depends on the evaluation method used. If we account for the limitation of heat sinks by expanding the reference entity to include both heat and power, as is typically recommended in life-cycle analysis, then the biomass-based gasification combined cycle (BIG/CC) technology turns out to be less expensive and to exhibit lower CO{sub 2} mitigation costs than biomass-fired steam turbine plants. However, a heat credit granted to cogeneration systems that is based on avoided cost of separate heat production, puts the steam turbine technology despite its lower system efficiency at an advantage. In contrast, when a crediting method based on avoided electricity production in natural gas fired condensing plants is employed, the BIG/CC technology turns out to be more cost competitive than the steam turbine technology for carbon tax levels beyond about $150/t C. Furthermore, steam turbine plants are able to compete with natural gas fired cogeneration plants at carbon tax levels higher than about $90/tC. (author)

Radon mitigation choices in the United States: A comparison of private- and public-sector developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witter, K.A.; Sanchez, D.C.; Craig, A.B.

1988-01-01

This paper compares private- and public-sector developments relating to radon mitigation in the U.S. In response to elevated radon levels in many U.S. houses, the Federal and State governments and the private sector have undertaken many varied mitigation and public-information efforts resulting in a range of radon reduction installations in the U.S. Government-sponsored research and development of radon-mitigation techniques in single-family detached houses is compared with radon mitigation approaches undertaken by the private sector. An attempt is also made to compare premitigation diagnostics, the application of mitigation techniques to various substructure types, the performance of mitigation installations, and the cost of the installations. The information collected indicates that subslab ventilation is the most common technique in both public- and private-sector radon mitigation; however, air-to-air heat exchangers and sealing are employed more frequently in the private sector than in government-sponsored mitigation

Radon-mitigation choices in the United States: a comparison of private- and public-sector developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witter, K.A.; Sanchez, D.C.; Craig, A.B.

1988-01-01

This paper compares private- and public-sector developments relating to radon mitigation in the U.S. In response to elevated radon levels in many U.S. houses, the Federal and State governments and the private sector have undertaken many varied mitigation and public-information efforts resulting in a range of radon-reduction installations in the U.S. Government-sponsored research and development of radon-mitigation techniques in single-family detached houses is compared with radon mitigation approaches undertaken by the private sector. An attempt is also made to compare premitigation diagnostics, the application of mitigation techniques to various substructure types, the performance of mitigation installations, and the cost of the installations. The information collected indicates that subslab ventilation is the most common technique in both public and private sector radon mitigation; however, air-to-air heat exchangers and sealing are employed more frequently in the private sector than in government-sponsored mitigation

Design features of ACR in severe accident mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, H.; Krishnan, V.S.; Santamaura, P.; Lekakh, B.; Blahnik, C.

2007-01-01

New reactor designs require the evaluation of design alternatives to reduce the radiological risk by preventing severe accidents or by limiting releases from the plant in the event of such accidents. The Advanced CANDU Reactor TM (ACR TM ) design has provisions to prevent and mitigate severe accidents. This paper describes key ACR design features for severe accident mitigation. It provides a high-level overview of the findings to date. Several design provisions have not yet been finalized or decided, but the designers are keenly aware of the SAM concepts and their requirements. The active heat sinks for 'vessels' (i.e., the fuel channels, the calandria vessel, the calandria end-shields and the calandria vault) are all amply capable of dissipating the severe accident heat loads. These heat sinks are designed to be operable under severe accident environmental conditions; however, their operability is yet to be confirmed by assessments. The active heat sinks for the various process vessels are 'backed up' by passive heat sinks (i.e., steaming plus water make-up from the RWS). The supply side of passive heat sinks is simple, rugged, and not vulnerable to failures of plant systems. The importance of the steam relief side is recognized, and the adequate relief capacity will be provided. The passive heat sinks will give the SAM more than 1 day (likely several days) to diagnose the accident and to establish the ultimate heat sinks. The spray system for containment pressure suppression is designed for high reliability and has ample capacity to ensure low containment leakage without external intervention, after which time alternative supply to the sprays can be brought on line manually. The sprays are backed up by the LACs which are assessed for operability following a severe accident. The strong ACR containment will provide a long time of completely passive protection for any severe accident at decay power. Its characteristics are not prone to catastrophic failures. The

Climate-smart technologies. Integrating renewable energy and energy efficiency in mitigation and adaptation responses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leal Filho, Walter; Mannke, Franziska; Schulte, Veronika [Hamburg Univ. of Applied Sciences (Germany). Faculty of Life Sciences; Mohee, Romeela; Surroop, Dinesh (eds.) [Mauritius Univ., Reduit (Mauritius). Chemical and Environmental Engineering Dept.

2013-11-01

Explores the links between climate change and technologies. Relates to the links between renewable energy and climate change. Documents and promotes a collection of experiences from island nations. Has a strong international focus and value to developing countries. The book addresses the perceived need for a publication with looks at both, climate smart technologies and the integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency in mitigation and adaptation responses. Based on a set of papers submitted as part of the fifth on-line climate conference (CLIMATE 2012) and a major conference on renewable energy on island States held in Mauritius in 2012, the book provides a wealth of information on climate change strategies and the role of smart technologies. The book has been produced in the context of the project ''Small Developing Island Renewable Energy Knowledge and Technology Transfer Network'' (DIREKT), funded by the ACP Science and Technology Programme, an EU programme for cooperation between the European Union and the ACP region.

Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Canbing; Cao, Yijia; Zhang, Mi; Wang, Jianhui; Liu, Jianguo; Shi, Haiqing; Geng, Yinghui

2015-03-19

There is an increasingly hot debate on whether the replacement of conventional vehicles (CVs) by electric vehicles (EVs) should be delayed or accelerated since EVs require higher cost and cause more pollution than CVs in the manufacturing process. Here we reveal two hidden benefits of EVs for addressing climate change to support the imperative acceleration of replacing CVs with EVs. As EVs emit much less heat than CVs within the same mileage, the replacement can mitigate urban heat island effect (UHIE) to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioners, benefitting local and global climates. To demonstrate these effects brought by the replacement of CVs by EVs, we take Beijing, China, as an example. EVs emit only 19.8% of the total heat emitted by CVs per mile. The replacement of CVs by EVs in 2012 could have mitigated the summer heat island intensity (HII) by about 0.94°C, reduced the amount of electricity consumed daily by air conditioners in buildings by 14.44 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), and reduced daily CO2 emissions by 10,686 tonnes.

Hacia un modelo dinámico para la isla de calor urbana de Madrid = Towards a Dynamic Model for the Urban Heat Island of Madrid.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Núñez Peiró

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Esta investigación se enmarca dentro del proyecto MODIFICA (modelo predictivo - Edificios - Isla de Calor Urbano, financiado por el Programa de I + D + i Orientada a los Retos de la sociedad 'Retos Investigación' de 2013. Está dirigido a desarrollar un modelo predictivo de eficiencia energética para viviendas, bajo el efecto de isla de calor urbano (AUS con el fin de ponerla en práctica en la evaluación de la demanda de energía real y el consumo en las viviendas. A pesar de los grandes avances que se han logrado durante los últimos años en el rendimiento energético de edificios, los archivos de tiempo utilizados en la construcción de simulaciones de energía se derivan generalmente de estaciones meteorológicas situadas en las afueras de la ciudad. Por lo tanto, el efecto de la Isla de Calor Urbano (ICU no se considera en estos cálculos, lo que implica una importante falta de precisión. Centrado en explorar cómo incluir los fenómenos ICU, el presente trabajo recopila y analiza la dinámica por hora de la temperatura en diferentes lugares dentro de la ciudad de Madrid. Abstract This research is framed within the project MODIFICA (Predictive model - Buildings - Urban Heat Island, funded by Programa de I+D+i orientada a los retos de la sociedad 'Retos Investigación' 2013. It is aimed at developing a predictive model for dwelling energy performance under the Urban Heat Island (UHI effect in order to implement it in the evaluation of real energy demand and consumption in dwellings. Despite great advances on building energy performance have been achieved during the last years, weather files used in building energy simulations are usually derived from weather stations placed in the outskirts of the city. Hence, Urban Heat Island (UHI effect is not considered in this calculations, which implies an important lack of accuracy. Focused on exploring how to include the UHI phenomena, the present paper compiles and analyses the hourly dynamics

Radon mitigation choices in the United States - a comparison of private and public sector developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leovic, K.W.; Sanchez, D.C.; Craig, A.B.

1988-01-01

The paper compares private and public sector developments relating to radon mitigation in the US. In response to elevated levels of radon in many houses throughout the U.S., the Federal and State governments and the private sector have undertaken many varied mitigation and public information efforts resulting in a range of radon reduction installations in the U.S. Government sponsored research and development of radon mitigation techniques in single-family detached houses is compared with radon mitigation approaches undertaken by the private sector. An attempt is also made to compare premitigation diagnostics, the performance of mitigation installations, and the cost of the installations. The information collected indicates that sub-slab ventilation is the most common technique in both public and private sector radon mitigation; however, air-to-air heat exchangers and sealing are employed more frequently in the private sector than in government sponsored mitigation. (author)

Mitigation of Syngas Cooler Plugging and Fouling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bockelie, Michael J. [Reaction Engineering International, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2015-06-29

This Final Report summarizes research performed to develop a technology to mitigate the plugging and fouling that occurs in the syngas cooler used in many Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants. The syngas cooler is a firetube heat exchanger located downstream of the gasifier. It offers high thermal efficiency, but its’ reliability has generally been lower than other process equipment in the gasification island. The buildup of ash deposits that form on the fireside surfaces in the syngas cooler (i.e., fouling) lead to reduced equipment life and increased maintenance costs. Our approach to address this problem is that fouling of the syngas cooler cannot be eliminated, but it can be better managed. The research program was funded by DOE using two budget periods: Budget Period 1 (BP1) and Budget Period 2 (BP2). The project used a combination of laboratory scale experiments, analysis of syngas cooler deposits, modeling and guidance from industry to develop a better understanding of fouling mechanisms and to develop and evaluate strategies to mitigate syngas cooler fouling and thereby improve syngas cooler performance. The work effort in BP 1 and BP 2 focused on developing a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to syngas cooler plugging and fouling and investigating promising concepts to mitigate syngas cooler plugging and fouling. The work effort focused on the following: • analysis of syngas cooler deposits and fuels provided by an IGCC plant collaborating with this project; • performing Jet cleaning tests in the University of Utah Laminar Entrained Flow Reactor to determine the bond strength between an ash deposit to a metal plate, as well as implementing planned equipment modifications to the University of Utah Laminar Entrained Flow Reactor and the one ton per day, pressurized Pilot Scale Gasifier; • performing Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling of industrially relevant syngas cooler configurations to develop a better

Spatio-temporal variance and meteorological drivers of the urban heat island in a European city

Science.gov (United States)

Arnds, Daniela; Böhner, Jürgen; Bechtel, Benjamin

2017-04-01

Urban areas are especially vulnerable to high temperatures, which will intensify in the future due to climate change. Therefore, both good knowledge about the local urban climate as well as simple and robust methods for its projection are needed. This study has analysed the spatio-temporal variance of the mean nocturnal urban heat island (UHI) of Hamburg, with observations from 40 stations from different suppliers. The UHI showed a radial gradient with about 2 K in the centre mostly corresponding to the urban densities. Temporarily, it has a strong seasonal cycle with the highest values between April and September and an inter-annual variability of approximately 0.5 K. Further, synoptic meteorological drivers of the UHI were analysed, which generally is most pronounced under calm and cloud-free conditions. Considered were meteorological parameters such as relative humidity, wind speed, cloud cover and objective weather types. For the stations with the highest UHI intensities, up to 68.7 % of the variance could be explained by seasonal empirical models and even up to 76.6 % by monthly models.

Assessing District-Heating Sustainability. Case Studies of CO{sub 2} Mitigation Strategies and Environmental Cost Accounting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fahlen, Elsa

2012-11-01

District heating (DH) may play an important role in achieving the EU goal of a secure, competitive and sustainable energy supply. Integrated energy solutions based on technologies, such as biomass gasification for transport fuel, electricity and heat production and heat-driven absorption cooling, create new optimisation possibilities through the linkage between heat, power, cooling and transport fuel markets which may reduce the global warming contribution of the energy sector. With increasing focus on climate change impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, the environmental effects of other air pollutants should not be neglected. To achieve both a competitive and a sustainable energy supply, it is necessary to integrate environmental considerations into economic policies. Through accounting for external costs of air pollution in energy system modelling and analysis, sustainability aspects may be integrated into DH assessments. The aim of this thesis is to develop, apply and evaluate methodologies for assessing conventional and new technology solutions in a DH system; the assessments are made from a DH perspective with respect to two factors - cost-effectiveness and environmental impacts - which are either assessed separately or integrated through external cost accounting. Various CO{sub 2} mitigation strategies are evaluated with regard to the robustness of the DH system in meeting future developments of energy market prices and policies. The studies are performed using a systems approach by using the simulating DH supply model MARTES as applied to the DH system Sweden. This thesis concludes that the integration of biomass gasification technology and absorption cooling technology in DH systems has the potential for cost-effective CO{sub 2} emission reduction, in line with other EU goals to increase the share of renewable sources in energy use and to increase energy efficiency. Accounting for external costs of not only climate change but also other environmental

ESTABLISHMENT OF A SEVERE ACCIDENT MITIGATION STRATEGY FOR AN SBO AT WOLSONG UNIT 1 NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUNGMIN KIM

2013-08-01

Full Text Available During a station blackout (SBO, the initiating event is a loss of Class IV and Class III power, causing the loss of the pumps, used in systems such as the primary heat transporting system (PHTS, moderator cooling, shield cooling, steam generator feed water, and re-circulating cooling water. The reference case of the SBO case does not credit any of these active heat sinks, but only relies on the passive heat sinks, particularly the initial water inventories of the PHTS, moderator, steam generator secondary side, end shields, and reactor vault. The reference analysis is followed by a series of sensitivity cases assuming certain system availabilities, in order to assess their mitigating effects. This paper also establishes the strategies to mitigate SBO accidents. Current studies and strategies use the computer code of the Integrated Severe Accident Analysis Code (ISAAC for Wolsong plants. The analysis results demonstrate that appropriate strategies to mitigate SBO accidents are established and, in addition, the symptoms of the SBO processes are understood.

Green infrastructure and urban sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Hagishima, Aya

2018-02-01

Temperature increase in urban areas due to the urban heat island as well as the global climate change inevitably raises the peak load supply for space cooling as well as the risk of heat-related illness in hot climate. This paper provides the comprehensive review of the thermal mitigation effect of urban vegetation based on the field observations.

Long-term volcanic hazard assessment on El Hierro (Canary Islands)

Science.gov (United States)

Becerril, L.; Bartolini, S.; Sobradelo, R.; Martí, J.; Morales, J. M.; Galindo, I.

2014-07-01

Long-term hazard assessment, one of the bastions of risk-mitigation programs, is required for land-use planning and for developing emergency plans. To ensure quality and representative results, long-term volcanic hazard assessment requires several sequential steps to be completed, which include the compilation of geological and volcanological information, the characterisation of past eruptions, spatial and temporal probabilistic studies, and the simulation of different eruptive scenarios. Despite being a densely populated active volcanic region that receives millions of visitors per year, no systematic hazard assessment has ever been conducted on the Canary Islands. In this paper we focus our attention on El Hierro, the youngest of the Canary Islands and the most recently affected by an eruption. We analyse the past eruptive activity to determine the spatial and temporal probability, and likely style of a future eruption on the island, i.e. the where, when and how. By studying the past eruptive behaviour of the island and assuming that future eruptive patterns will be similar, we aim to identify the most likely volcanic scenarios and corresponding hazards, which include lava flows, pyroclastic fallout and pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Finally, we estimate their probability of occurrence. The end result, through the combination of the most probable scenarios (lava flows, pyroclastic density currents and ashfall), is the first qualitative integrated volcanic hazard map of the island.

Pulse mitigation and heat transfer enhancement techniques. Volume 3: Liquid sodium heat transfer facility and transient response of sodium heat pipe to pulse forward and reverse heat load

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, L. C.; Hahn, O. J.; Nguyen, H. X.

1992-08-01

This report presents the description of a liquid sodium heat transfer facility (sodium loop) constructed to support the study of transient response of heat pipes. The facility, consisting of the loop itself, a safety system, and a data acquisition system, can be safely operated over a wide range of temperature and sodium flow rate. The transient response of a heat pipe to pulse heat load at the condenser section was experimentally investigated. A 0.457 m screen wick, sodium heat pipe with an outer diameter of 0.127 m was tested under different heat loading conditions. A major finding was that the heat pipe reversed under a pulse heat load applied at the condenser. The time of reversal was approximately 15 to 25 seconds. The startup of the heat pipe from frozen state was also studied. It was found that during the startup process, at least part of the heat pipe was active. The active region extended gradually down to the end of the condenser until all of the working fluid in the heat pipe was molten.

Industrial fouling: problem characterization, economic assessment, and review of prevention, mitigation, and accommodation techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garrett-Price, B.A.; Smith, S.A.; Watts, R.L.

1984-02-01

A comprehensive overview of heat exchanger fouling in the manufacturing industries is provided. Specifically, this overview addresses: the characteristics of industrial fouling problems; the mitigation and accommodation techniques currently used by industry; and the types and magnitude of costs associated with industrial fouling. A detailed review of the fouling problems, costs and mitigation techniques is provided for the food, textile, pulp and paper, chemical, petroleum, cement, glass and primary metals industries.

Climate change, nuclear power, and the adaptation-mitigation dilemma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopytko, Natalie; Perkins, John

2011-01-01

Many policy-makers view nuclear power as a mitigation for climate change. Efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, however, interact with existing and new nuclear power plants, and these installations must contend with dilemmas between adaptation and mitigation. This paper develops five criteria to assess the adaptation-mitigation dilemma on two major points: (1) the ability of nuclear power to adapt to climate change and (2) the potential for nuclear power operation to hinder climate change adaptation. Sea level rise models for nine coastal sites in the United States, a review of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents, and reports from France's nuclear regulatory agency provided insights into issues that have arisen from sea level rise, shoreline erosion, coastal storms, floods, and heat waves. Applying the criteria to inland and coastal nuclear power plants reveals several weaknesses. Safety stands out as the primary concern at coastal locations, while inland locations encounter greater problems with interrupted operation. Adapting nuclear power to climate change entails either increased expenses for construction and operation or incurs significant costs to the environment and public health and welfare. Mere absence of greenhouse gas emissions is not sufficient to assess nuclear power as a mitigation for climate change. - Research Highlights: → The adaptation-mitigation criteria reveal nuclear power's vulnerabilities. → Climate change adaptation could become too costly at many sites. → Nuclear power operation jeopardizes climate change adaptation. → Extreme climate events pose a safety challenge.

The Morphology, Dynamics and Potential Hotspots of Land Surface Temperature at a Local Scale in Urban Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiong Wang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Current characterization of the Urban Heat Island (UHI remains insufficient to support the effective mitigation and adaptation of increasing temperatures in urban areas. Planning and design strategies are restricted to the investigation of temperature anomalies at a city scale. By focusing on Land Surface Temperature of Wuhan, China, this research examines the temperature variations locally where mitigation and adaptation would be more feasible. It shows how local temperature anomalies can be identified morphologically. Technically, the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite image products are used. They are first considered as noisy observations of the latent temperature patterns. The continuous latent patterns of the temperature are then recovered from these discrete observations by using the non-parametric Multi-Task Gaussian Process Modeling. The Multi-Scale Shape Index is then applied in the area of focus to extract the local morphological features. A triplet of shape, curvedness and temperature is formed as the criteria to extract local heat islands. The behavior of the local heat islands can thus be quantified morphologically. The places with critical deformations are identified as hotpots. The hotspots with certain yearly behavior are further associated with land surface composition to determine effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. This research can assist in the temperature and planning field on two levels: (1 the local land surface temperature patterns are characterized by decomposing the variations into fundamental deformation modes to allow a process-based understanding of the dynamics; and (2 the characterization at local scale conforms to planning and design conventions where mitigation and adaptation strategies are supposed to be more practical. The weaknesses and limitations of the study are addressed in the closing section.

Seasonal and Spatial Characteristics of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs in Northern West Siberian Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Miles

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Anthropogenic heat and modified landscapes raise air and surface temperatures in urbanized areas around the globe. This phenomenon is widely known as an urban heat island (UHI. Previous UHI studies, and specifically those based on remote sensing data, have not included cities north of 60°N. A few in situ studies have indicated that even relatively small cities in high latitudes may exhibit significantly amplified UHIs. The UHI characteristics and factors controlling its intensity in high latitudes remain largely unknown. This study attempts to close this knowledge gap for 28 cities in northern West Siberia (NWS. NWS cities are convenient for urban intercomparison studies as they have relatively similar cold continental climates, and flat, rather homogeneous landscapes. We investigated the UHI in NWS cities using the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS MOD 11A2 land surface temperature (LST product in 8-day composites. The analysis reveals that all 28 NWS cities exhibit a persistent UHI in summer and winter. The LST analysis found differences in summer and winter regarding the UHI effect, and supports the hypothesis of seasonal differences in the causes of UHI formation. Correlation analysis found the strongest relationships between the UHI and population (log P. Regression models using log P alone could explain 65–67% of the variability of UHIs in the region. Additional explanatory power—at least in summer—is provided by the surrounding background temperatures, which themselves are strongly correlated with latitude. The performed regression analysis thus confirms the important role of the surrounding temperature in explaining spatial–temporal variation of UHI intensity. These findings suggest a climatological basis for these phenomena and, given the importance of climatic warming, an aspect that deserves future study.

Occupational Heat Stress and Kidney Health: From Farms to Factories.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerbass, Fabiana B; Pecoits-Filho, Roberto; Clark, William F; Sontrop, Jessica M; McIntyre, Christopher W; Moist, Louise

2017-11-01

Millions of workers around the world are exposed to high temperatures, intense physical activity, and lax labor practices that do not allow for sufficient rehydration breaks. The extent and consequences of heat exposure in different occupational settings, countries, and cultural contexts is not well studied. We conducted an in-depth review to examine the known effects of occupational heat stress on the kidney. We also examined methods of heat-stress assessment, strategies for prevention and mitigation, and the economic consequences of occupational heat stress. Our descriptive review summarizes emerging evidence that extreme occupational heat stress combined with chronic dehydration may contribute to the development of CKD and ultimately kidney failure. Rising global temperatures, coupled with decreasing access to clean drinking water, may exacerbate the effects of heat exposure in both outdoor and indoor workers who are exposed to chronic heat stress and recurrent dehydration. These changes create an urgent need for health researchers and industry to identify work practices that contribute to heat-stress nephropathy, and to test targeted, robust prevention and mitigation strategies. Preventing occupational heat stress presents a great challenge for a concerted multidisciplinary effort from employers, health authorities, engineers, researchers, and governments.

Comparison of laser-based mitigation of fused silica surface damage using mid- versus far-infrared lasers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, S T; Matthews, M J; Elhadj, S; Cooke, D; Guss, G M; Draggoo, V G; Wegner, P J

2009-12-16

Laser induced growth of optical damage can limit component lifetime and therefore operating costs of large-aperture fusion-class laser systems. While far-infrared (IR) lasers have been used previously to treat laser damage on fused silica optics and render it benign, little is known about the effectiveness of less-absorbing mid-IR lasers for this purpose. In this study, they quantitatively compare the effectiveness and efficiency of mid-IR (4.6 {micro}m) versus far-IR (10.6 {micro}m) lasers in mitigating damage growth on fused silica surfaces. The non-linear volumetric heating due to mid-IR laser absorption is analyzed by solving the heat equation numerically, taking into account the temperature-dependent absorption coefficient {alpha}(T) at {lambda} = 4.6 {micro}m, while far-IR laser heating is well-described by a linear analytic approximation to the laser-driven temperature rise. In both cases, the predicted results agree well with surface temperature measurements based on infrared radiometry, as well as sub-surface fictive temperature measurements based on confocal Raman microscopy. Damage mitigation efficiency is assessed using a figure of merit (FOM) relating the crack healing depth to laser power required, under minimally-ablative conditions. Based on their FOM, they show that for cracks up to at least 500 {micro}m in depth, mitigation with a 4.6 {micro}m mid-IR laser is more efficient than mitigation with a 10.6 {micro}m far-IR laser. This conclusion is corroborated by direct application of each laser system to the mitigation of pulsed laser-induced damage possessing fractures up to 225 {micro}m in depth.

Passive heat removal in CANDU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hart, R S; Snell, V G [AECL CANDU, Sheridan Park Research Community, Mississauga, ON (Canada)

1996-12-01

The Three Mile Island accident spurred a world-wide interest in severe accidents. The initial reaction was to increase the preventative measures in existing designs, followed by development of predictive capabilities to improve the management of severe accidents. Recently, emphasis has been placed in new designs on mitigative measures which slow down or contain the progression of a severe accidents. U.S. requirements for Advanced Light Water Reactor designs must now: provide reactor cavity floor space to enhance debris spreading; provide a means to flood the reactor cavity to assist in the cooling process. The paper describes how CANDU Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) have severe accident prevention and mitigation inherent in the design; in particular, the U.S. severe accident requirements can be met without significant change to the design of current CANDUs. (author). 32 refs, 7 figs, 1 tab.

Passive heat removal in CANDU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hart, R.S.; Snell, V.G.

1996-01-01

The Three Mile Island accident spurred a world-wide interest in severe accidents. The initial reaction was to increase the preventative measures in existing designs, followed by development of predictive capabilities to improve the management of severe accidents. Recently, emphasis has been placed in new designs on mitigative measures which slow down or contain the progression of a severe accidents. U.S. requirements for Advanced Light Water Reactor designs must now: provide reactor cavity floor space to enhance debris spreading; provide a means to flood the reactor cavity to assist in the cooling process. The paper describes how CANDU Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) have severe accident prevention and mitigation inherent in the design; in particular, the U.S. severe accident requirements can be met without significant change to the design of current CANDUs. (author). 32 refs, 7 figs, 1 tab

Urban Heat Wave Hazard Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Jedlovec, Gary; Meyer, Paul J.; LaFontaine, Frank J.; Crane, Dakota L.

2016-01-01

Heat waves are the largest cause of environment-related deaths globally. On average, over 6,000 people in the United States alone are hospitalized each summer due to excessive heat. Key elements leading to these disasters are elevated humidity and the urban heat island effect, which act together to increase apparent temperature and amplify the effects of a heat wave. Urban demographics and socioeconomic factors also play a role in determining individual risk. Currently, advisories of impending heat waves are often too generalized, with limited or no spatial variability over urban regions. This frequently contributes to a lack of specific response on behalf of the population. A goal of this project is to develop a product that has the potential to provide more specific heat wave guidance invoking greater awareness and action.

Study of shielding options for lower ports for mitigation of neutron environment and shutdown dose inside the ITER cryostat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pampin, Raul; Suarez, Alejandro; Arnould, Anne; Casal, Natalia; Juarez, Rafael; Martin, Alex; Moro, Fabio; Mota, Fernando; Polunovskiy, Eduard; Sabourin, Flavien

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Mitigation of the radiation environment inside the cryostat needed to reduce ITER coil heating and occupational exposure. • Cryopump and diagnostics lower ports are significant contributors, shielding options for both are explored. • Shielding performance studied in terms of neutron transmission and nuclear heating to coils for a range of options. • Benefits/constraints discussed together with other engineering parameters. - Abstract: Mitigation of the neutron environment inside the cryostat, and of the subsequent decay gamma dose field from activated materials, is necessary in order to reduce heating of coils and occupational exposure, thereby facilitating smooth operation and maintenance of ITER. Several lines of action are currently being explored to mitigate crucial contributions, such as the leakage through the lower ports. Results are presented here for the two types of lower ports in ITER: cryopump ports and remote-handling ports. Different shielding configurations and material options are investigated and compared in terms of neutron attenuation, coil heating and shutdown dose rate reduction, whilst also considering other engineering constraints such as weight or pumping power. Results enable informed decision-making of best compromise solutions for subsequent design and integration.

Study of shielding options for lower ports for mitigation of neutron environment and shutdown dose inside the ITER cryostat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pampin, Raul, E-mail: raul.pampin@f4e.europa.eu [Fusion For Energy, Josep Pla 2, Barcelona 08019 (Spain); Suarez, Alejandro; Arnould, Anne; Casal, Natalia [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13067 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex (France); Juarez, Rafael [UNED, Juan del Rosal 12, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Martin, Alex [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13067 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex (France); Moro, Fabio [ENEA, Via Enrico Fermi, Frascati, Rome (Italy); Mota, Fernando [CIEMAT, Avenida Complutense 40, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Polunovskiy, Eduard; Sabourin, Flavien [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13067 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex (France)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Mitigation of the radiation environment inside the cryostat needed to reduce ITER coil heating and occupational exposure. • Cryopump and diagnostics lower ports are significant contributors, shielding options for both are explored. • Shielding performance studied in terms of neutron transmission and nuclear heating to coils for a range of options. • Benefits/constraints discussed together with other engineering parameters. - Abstract: Mitigation of the neutron environment inside the cryostat, and of the subsequent decay gamma dose field from activated materials, is necessary in order to reduce heating of coils and occupational exposure, thereby facilitating smooth operation and maintenance of ITER. Several lines of action are currently being explored to mitigate crucial contributions, such as the leakage through the lower ports. Results are presented here for the two types of lower ports in ITER: cryopump ports and remote-handling ports. Different shielding configurations and material options are investigated and compared in terms of neutron attenuation, coil heating and shutdown dose rate reduction, whilst also considering other engineering constraints such as weight or pumping power. Results enable informed decision-making of best compromise solutions for subsequent design and integration.

Effects of heat stress on some reproductive parameters of male cavie (Cavia porcellus) and mitigation strategies using guava (Psidium guajava) leaves essential oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngoula, Ferdinand; Guemdjo Tekam, Maryvonne; Kenfack, Augustave; Tadondjou Tchingo, Cyrille D'Alex; Nouboudem, Sandrine; Ngoumtsop, Herman; Tsafack, Borice; Teguia, Alexis; Kamtchouing, Pierre; Galeotti, Marco; Tchoumboue, Joseph

2017-02-01

Climate changes, particularly the increase of temperature are among the main causes behind the decline of fertility in humans as well as animals. In this study, the effects of heat stress on some reproductive parameters of male cavies and mitigation strategies using guava leaves essential oil (GLEO) were studied. For this purpose, 40 male cavies aged 2.5-3 months and weighing between 348 and 446g were divided into 4 groups of 10 animals each and subjected to the following temperatures: Ambient temperature (20-25°C) for the control group, 35°C for group 1, 45°C for group 2 and 45°C+100µl GLEO/kg body weight, administered by gavage to animals for group 3. Exposure time of heat was 7h per day for 60 days. Results reveal that the relative weights of testes, epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles were hardly affected by the temperature levels considered (P>0.05). The mass and individual sperm motility was significantly lower (Pleaves essential oil. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterizing Urban Heat Islands of Global Settlements Using MODIS and Nighttime Lights Products

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ping; Imhoff, Marc L.; Wolfe, Robert E.; Bounoua, Lahouari

2010-01-01

Impervious surface area (ISA) from the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and land surface temperature (LST) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) averaged over three annual cycles (2003-2005) are used in a spatial analysis to assess the urban heat island (UHI) signature on LST amplitude and its relationship with development intensity, size, and ecological setting for more than 3000 urban settlements globally. Development intensity zones based on fractional ISA are defined for each urban area emanating outward from the urban core to the nearby nonurban rural areas and used to stratify sampling for LST. Sampling is further constrained by biome type and elevation data to ensure objective intercomparisons between zones and between cities in different biomes. We find that the ecological context and settlement size significantly influence the amplitude of summer daytime UHI. Globally, an average of 3.8 C UHI is found in cities built in biomes dominated by forests; 1.9 C UHI in cities embedded in grass shrubs biomes; and only a weak UHI or sometimes an urban heat sink (UHS) in cities in arid and semi-arid biomes. Overall, the amplitude of the UHI is negatively correlated (R = -0.66) with the difference in vegetation density between urban and rural zones represented by the MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Globally averaged, the daytime UHI amplitude for all settlements is 2.6 C in summer and 1.4 C in winter. Globally, the average summer daytime UHI is 4.7 C for settlements larger than 500 square kilometers compared with 2.5 C for settlements smaller than 50 square kilometers and larger than 10 square kilometers. The stratification of cities by size indicates that the aggregated amount of ISA is the primary driver of UHI amplitude, with variations between ecological contexts and latitudinal zones. More than 60% of the total LST variance is explained by ISA for urban settlements within forests at mid to high latitudes. This

Adaptation and mitigation: synergies and trade-offs

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Thambiran, Tirusha

2017-10-01

Full Text Available ) that indicates that there are many complex interactions and interdependencies between climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation. It is increasingly recognised that decisions that are made now could lock in development trajectories for a long time... parks and tree planting along streets), which promotes adaptation to heat stress due to warming while also leading to carbon sequestration in trees and soil. A multi-species, multi-purpose approach would help reduce the vulnerability of trees...

A 3000 yr paleostorm record from St. Catherines Island, Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Erick; Meyer, Brian; Deocampo, Daniel; Kiage, Lawrence M.

2017-09-01

Tropical cyclones (hurricanes in the northern hemisphere) are amongst the most devastating of the world's natural disasters and cause billions of dollars in damage every year. Data on the likelihood of a coastal site being struck by a major hurricane strike can potentially aid in planning and mitigation efforts that could save money and lives. However, forecasting requires data that are currently insufficient for the Georgia Bight. This study provides information to enhance the paleohurricane record by analysis of a 467 cm thick vibracore raised from St. Catherines Island, GA. Sediment geochemistry and foraminiferal assemblages indicate deposits attributable to seven paleohurricane events, five of which were likely major hurricanes when they made landfall on St. Catherines. Magnitudes were estimated by comparison to the overwash deposit left by ;The Sea Islands hurricane of 1893;, a major hurricane recorded by the recent sediment of St. Catherines Island. The St. Catherines record also shows a change in the activity levels on the Georgia coast with two distinct activity regimes over the past 3000 years.

Different Patterns of the Urban Heat Island Intensity from Cluster Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, F. B.; Longo, K.

2014-12-01

This study analyzes the different variability patterns of the Urban Heat Island intensity (UHII) in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), one of the largest urban agglomerations in Brazil. The UHII is defined as the difference in the surface air temperature between the urban/suburban and rural/vegetated areas. To choose one or more stations that represent those areas we used the technique of cluster analysis on the air temperature observations from 14 surface weather stations in the MARJ. The cluster analysis aims to classify objects based on their characteristics, gathering similar groups. The results show homogeneity patterns between air temperature observations, with 6 homogeneous groups being defined. Among those groups, one might be a natural choice for the representative urban area (Central station); one corresponds to suburban area (Afonsos station); and another group referred as rural area is compound of three stations (Ecologia, Santa Cruz and Xerém) that are located in vegetated regions. The arithmetic mean of temperature from the three rural stations is taken to represent the rural station temperature. The UHII is determined from these homogeneous groups. The first UHII is estimated from urban and rural temperature areas (Case 1), whilst the second UHII is obtained from suburban and rural temperature areas (Case 2). In Case 1, the maximum UHII occurs in two periods, one in the early morning and the other at night, while the minimum UHII occurs in the afternoon. In Case 2, the maximum UHII is observed during afternoon/night and the minimum during dawn/early morning. This study demonstrates that the stations choice reflects different UHII patterns, evidencing that distinct behaviors of this phenomenon can be identified.

Dynamic analysis and ecological evaluation of urban heat islands in Raipur city, India

Science.gov (United States)

Guha, Subhanil; Govil, Himanshu; Mukherjee, Sandip

2017-07-01

Spatial-temporal distribution of the urban heat islands (UHI) and their changes over Raipur city have been analyzed using multitemporal Landsat satellite data from 1995 to 2016. Land surface temperature (LST) was retrieved through a mono-window algorithm. Some selected land use/land cover (LU-LC) indices were analyzed with LST using linear regression. The urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI) was applied to measure the thermal comfort level of the city. Results show that during the observed period, the study area experienced a gradual increasing rate in mean LST (>1% per annum). The UHI developed especially along the north-western industrial area and south-eastern bare land of the city. A difference in mean LST between UHI and non-UHI for different time periods (2.6°C in 1995, 2.85°C in 2006, 3.42°C in 2009, and 3.63°C in 2016) reflects the continuous warming status of the city. The LST map also shows the existence of a few urban hot spots near the industrial areas, metal roofs, and high density transport parking lots, which are more abundant in the north-western part of the city. The UTFVI map associated with UHI indicates that the inner parts of the city are ecologically more comfortable than the outer peripheries.

Substitution of pig feed preparation using firewood with biogas in Samosir Island: transforming an environmental catastrophe into environmental, social, economic benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Ginting, N.

2018-02-01

In Samosir Island, Indonesia pigs care was not environmentally friendly as people were used firewood in pig feed preparation. A series of research has been conducted from March until September 2017 which was preceded by survey. It was found that people cut tree for firewood. As Samosir Island was under Toba Go Green Project which was a tree planting project so feed pig preparation was in contrast to the project. More over, Indonesia has been committed to reduce its green house gases (GHG) by 26% in 2020, any mitigation on GHG was strongly recommended. One way of mitigation in Samosir was by installing biogas for pig feed preparation. 5 biodigesters 500 liters capacity each were installed in Parbaba Village, Samosir Island and biodigester input were pig manure, water hyacinth. Research design was Randomized Completely Design. Parameters were gas production, pH, temperature and C/N ratio. Biogas than used to cook feed pig. It was known that to cook for 5 finisher pigs, 3 kg firewood could be substituted by 250 liters of biogas.

Landscape Classifications for Landscape Metrics-based Assessment of Urban Heat Island: A Comparative Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, X F; Deng, L; Wang, H N; Chen, F; Hua, L Z

2014-01-01

In recent years, some studies have been carried out on the landscape analysis of urban thermal patterns. With the prevalence of thermal landscape, a key problem has come forth, which is how to classify thermal landscape into thermal patches. Current researches used different methods of thermal landscape classification such as standard deviation method (SD) and R method. To find out the differences, a comparative study was carried out in Xiamen using a 20-year winter time-serial Landsat images. After the retrieval of land surface temperature (LST), the thermal landscape was classified using the two methods separately. Then landscape metrics, 6 at class level and 14 at landscape level, were calculated and analyzed using Fragstats 3.3. We found that: (1) at the class level, all the metrics with SD method were evened and did not show an obvious trend along with the process of urbanization, while the R method could. (2) While at the landscape level, 6 of the 14 metrics remains the similar trends, 5 were different at local turn points of the curve, 3 of them differed completely in the shape of curves. (3) When examined with visual interpretation, SD method tended to exaggerate urban heat island effects than the R method

Landscape Evolution of the Oil Spill Mitigation Sand Berm in the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

Survey (USGS) National Wetlands Research Center 700 Cajundome Boulevard Lafayette, LA 70506 Adrienne L. Garber University of Louisiana at Lafayette...amount of oil from reaching the Chandeleur Islands and inland wetlands ; thereby protecting these sensitive ecosystem resources. This study was...change from as- built to 360–day post-construction. The berm boundary represents the berm footprint above the -2 ft NAVD (Figure 2

LEED, Its Efficacy and Fallacy in a Regional Context—An Urban Heat Island Case in California

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Ho Shin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The use of energy in the building sector has increased rapidly over the past two decades. Accordingly, various building assessment methods have developed in green building practices. However, the questions still remain in regard to how positively green buildings affect regional surroundings. This study investigates the possible relationship between LEED-certified buildings and urban heat island effect. Using GIS with spatial regression, the study found that constructing an LEED building in a 30-m boundary could possibly lower the temperature of the surrounding environment by 0.35 °C. Also, having a higher certification level, such as Gold or Platinum, increased the lowering effect by 0.48 °C, while a lower certification level, such as Certified or Silver, had a lowering effect of 0.26 °C. Although LEED has gained a substantial amount of interest and skepticism at the same time, the study results could be a potential sign that the Sustainable Sites Credits or energy-efficient materials play a positive role in lowering the temperature.

Furan: A critical heat induced dietary contaminant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mariotti, María S.; Granby, Kit; Rozowski, Jaime

2013-01-01

The presence of furan in a broad range of heat processed foods (0-6000 μg kg-1) has received considerable attention due to the fact that this heat induced contaminant is considered as a "possible carcinogenic compound to humans". Since a genotoxic mode of action could be associated with furan...... of some critical factors such as heating conditions, pH and matrix microstructure are discussed in order to propose some potential methodologies for furan mitigation in a wide range of heated foods. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry....

Quantitative Study of Green Area for Climate Sensitive Terraced Housing Area Design in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeo, O T S; Saito, K; Said, I

2014-01-01

Neighbourhood plays a significant role in peoples' daily lives. Nowadays, terraced housing is common in Malaysia, and green areas in the neighborhood are not used to their maximum. The aim of the research is to quantify the types of green area that are most efficient for cooling the environment for thermal comfort and mitigation of Urban Heat Island. Spatial and environmental inputs are manipulated for the simulation using Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated with computational microclimate simulation. The outcome of this research is a climate sensitive housing environment model framework on the green area to solve the problem of Urban Heat Island

环境风对直接空冷岛换热的影响%The Effects of Environment Wind on Heat Transfer of Direct Air Cooled Island

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

丁振宇; 陈巍; 田永兴; 李学智

2011-01-01

以国内蒙达电厂600MW直接空冷机组为例,针对当前直接空冷机组运行中的突出问题--环境风的不利影响,利用CFD数值模拟软件Fluent,对空冷岛外部流场进行数值模拟.发现炉后来风、热风回流、倒灌是造成空冷岛换热效率下降的主要因素,分析了炉后来风、热风回流、倒灌等对空冷岛外部流场和换热性能的影响机理,并得到环境风速与热风回流和倒灌的关系.%Taking Mengda 600MW direct air-cooled units ii our country into consideration,in view of serious hurdles of air-cooled units available-the unfavorable influences of Ambient Wind,we tentatively proceeds to making numerical simulation research on external flow field of direct air-cooled island by using CFD software Fluent. Found that the wind generating from the boiler house afterwards,hot air re-circulation and air inverse flow are the main factors of decline in the efficiency of air-cooled island heat. This paper proposed the mechanism of ambient wind impacts,and the analysis on such effects of the wind generating from the boiler house afterwards,hot air re-circulation and air inverse flow on external flow field and heat exchange efficiency of air-cooled island was thus been within reach, found out hot air re-circulation and air inverse flow relationship between the wind speed.

Avoided heat-related mortality through climate adaptation strategies in three US cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Brian; Vargo, Jason; Liu, Peng; Habeeb, Dana; DeLucia, Anthony; Trail, Marcus; Hu, Yongtao; Russell, Armistead

2014-01-01

Heat-related mortality in US cities is expected to more than double by the mid-to-late 21st century. Rising heat exposure in cities is projected to result from: 1) climate forcings from changing global atmospheric composition; and 2) local land surface characteristics responsible for the urban heat island effect. The extent to which heat management strategies designed to lessen the urban heat island effect could offset future heat-related mortality remains unexplored in the literature. Using coupled global and regional climate models with a human health effects model, we estimate changes in the number of heat-related deaths in 2050 resulting from modifications to vegetative cover and surface albedo across three climatically and demographically diverse US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Phoenix, Arizona. Employing separate health impact functions for average warm season and heat wave conditions in 2050, we find combinations of vegetation and albedo enhancement to offset projected increases in heat-related mortality by 40 to 99% across the three metropolitan regions. These results demonstrate the potential for extensive land surface changes in cities to provide adaptive benefits to urban populations at risk for rising heat exposure with climate change.

Avoided heat-related mortality through climate adaptation strategies in three US cities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Stone

Full Text Available Heat-related mortality in US cities is expected to more than double by the mid-to-late 21st century. Rising heat exposure in cities is projected to result from: 1 climate forcings from changing global atmospheric composition; and 2 local land surface characteristics responsible for the urban heat island effect. The extent to which heat management strategies designed to lessen the urban heat island effect could offset future heat-related mortality remains unexplored in the literature. Using coupled global and regional climate models with a human health effects model, we estimate changes in the number of heat-related deaths in 2050 resulting from modifications to vegetative cover and surface albedo across three climatically and demographically diverse US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Phoenix, Arizona. Employing separate health impact functions for average warm season and heat wave conditions in 2050, we find combinations of vegetation and albedo enhancement to offset projected increases in heat-related mortality by 40 to 99% across the three metropolitan regions. These results demonstrate the potential for extensive land surface changes in cities to provide adaptive benefits to urban populations at risk for rising heat exposure with climate change.

Extended blackout mitigation strategy for PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prošek, Andrej; Volkanovski, Andrija

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Equipment for mitigation of the extended blackout is investigated. • Analysis is done with deterministic safety analysis methods. • Strategy to prevent core heatup and not overfill steam generator is proposed. • Six types of reactor coolant system loss scenarios are investigated. • Pump flowrates and available start time to feed steam generators is determined. - Abstract: The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demonstrated the vulnerability of the plants on the loss of electrical power and loss of the ultimate heat sink events. A set of measures are proposed and currently implemented in response of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Those measures include diverse and flexible mitigation strategies that increase the defence-in-depth for beyond-design-basis scenarios. Mitigation strategies are based on the utilization of the portable equipment to provide power and water to the nuclear power plants in order to maintain or restore key safety functions. The verification of the proposed measures with the plant specific safety analyses is endorsed in the mitigation strategies. This paper investigates utilization of the turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump (TD-AFW) or portable water injection pump for the mitigation of the event of loss of all alternate current sources and batteries (extended station blackout). Methodology for assessment of the required pump injection flow rate with the application of the standard deterministic safety analysis code is developed and presented. The required injection rate to the steam generators is calculated from the cumulative water mass injected by the turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump in the analysed scenarios, when desired normal level is maintained automatically. The developed methodology allows assessment of the required injections rates of pump, TD-AFW or portable, for different plant configurations and number of flow rate changes. The methodology is applied

Extended blackout mitigation strategy for PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prošek, Andrej, E-mail: andrej.prosek@ijs.si; Volkanovski, Andrija, E-mail: andrija.volkanovski@ijs.si

2015-12-15

Highlights: • Equipment for mitigation of the extended blackout is investigated. • Analysis is done with deterministic safety analysis methods. • Strategy to prevent core heatup and not overfill steam generator is proposed. • Six types of reactor coolant system loss scenarios are investigated. • Pump flowrates and available start time to feed steam generators is determined. - Abstract: The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demonstrated the vulnerability of the plants on the loss of electrical power and loss of the ultimate heat sink events. A set of measures are proposed and currently implemented in response of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Those measures include diverse and flexible mitigation strategies that increase the defence-in-depth for beyond-design-basis scenarios. Mitigation strategies are based on the utilization of the portable equipment to provide power and water to the nuclear power plants in order to maintain or restore key safety functions. The verification of the proposed measures with the plant specific safety analyses is endorsed in the mitigation strategies. This paper investigates utilization of the turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump (TD-AFW) or portable water injection pump for the mitigation of the event of loss of all alternate current sources and batteries (extended station blackout). Methodology for assessment of the required pump injection flow rate with the application of the standard deterministic safety analysis code is developed and presented. The required injection rate to the steam generators is calculated from the cumulative water mass injected by the turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump in the analysed scenarios, when desired normal level is maintained automatically. The developed methodology allows assessment of the required injections rates of pump, TD-AFW or portable, for different plant configurations and number of flow rate changes. The methodology is applied

Urban heat island research of Novi Sad (Serbia: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savić Stevan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the second part of the 20th century, urbanization accelerated and reached enormous magnitude, which results more and more people live in urbanized regions. Nowadays, about half of the human population is affected by the burdens of urban environments and furthermore the modified parameters of the urban atmosphere compared to the natural environment. Novi Sad (45°15’N, 19°50’E is located in the northern part of Serbia, i.e. on the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and it is the second largest city in the country with a population of about 320,000 in a built-up area of approximately 80 km2. The geographical area is plain, from 80 to 86 m a.s.l., with a gentle relief, so its climate is free from orographic effects. According to Köppen-Geiger climate classification, this region is categorised as Cfa climate (temperate warm climate with a rather uniform annual distribution of precipitation. In the last 20 years, a few papers have been published considering urban heat island (UHI investigations of Novi Sad. The first publication in 1994 is theoretically based and presents all parameters, methods and measurements, which have to be used in order to work on UHI research of Novi Sad. The next studies from 1995 and 2006 analyzed various temperature parameters based on 30-40 year long time series and used rural and urban stations in order to get urban-rural temperature differences. Based on meteorological parameters and the structure of urban area, in 2010 the necessity of defining locations of an urban climate network was showed in order to advance further UHI research. In the last two publications from 2011 a new empirical modeling method, adjusted for cities located on plains, has been used in order to determine locations for representative stations of an urban climate network in Novi Sad.

Disruption mitigation studies on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thornton, A.J., E-mail: at546@york.ac.uk [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, University of York, Helsington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Gibson, K.J. [Department of Physics, University of York, Helsington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Harrison, J.R. [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, University of York, Helsington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Kirk, A. [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Lisgo, S.W. [ITER Organisation, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon, St. Paul-lez-Durance, Cedex (France); Lehnen, M. [Institute for Energy Research - Plasma Physics, FZJ, Association EURATOM/FZJ, D-52425 Julich (Germany); Martin, R.; Naylor, G.; Scannell, R.; Cullen, A. [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)

2011-08-01

Disruptions pose a significant challenge in future devices where the increased stored energy can lead to unacceptably large transient heat loads on plasma facing components (PFCs). One means of mitigating disruptions is that of massive gas injection (MGI), which produces a radiative collapse of the plasma discharge through the injection of impurity gases. The MAST disruption mitigation system is capable of injecting up to 1.95 bar litres into the MAST vacuum vessel over a timescale of 1-2 ms, corresponding to a particle inventory of 5 x 10{sup 22}, around 100 times the plasma particle inventory. High speed infrared thermography, offering full divertor coverage, has shown a 60-70% reduction in divertor power loads during mitigation. A combination of high temporal (0.2 ms) and spatial resolution (1 cm) Thomson scattering and soft X-ray camera array data show evidence for a cooling front associated with the inward propagation of the injected impurities.

Limitations of transient power loads on DEMO and analysis of mitigation techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maviglia, F., E-mail: francesco.maviglia@euro-fusion.org [EUROfusion Consortium, PPPT Department, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Consorzio CREATE, University Napoli Federico II – DIETI, 80125 Napoli (Italy); Federici, G. [EUROfusion Consortium, PPPT Department, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Strohmayer, G. [Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Wenninger, R. [EUROfusion Consortium, PPPT Department, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Bachmann, C. [EUROfusion Consortium, PPPT Department, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Albanese, R. [Consorzio CREATE, University Napoli Federico II – DIETI, 80125 Napoli (Italy); Ambrosino, R. [Consorzio CREATE University Napoli Parthenope, Naples (Italy); Li, M. [Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Loschiavo, V.P. [Consorzio CREATE, University Napoli Federico II – DIETI, 80125 Napoli (Italy); You, J.H. [Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, Garching (Germany); Zani, L. [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 St Paul-Lez-Durance (France)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • A parametric thermo-hydraulic analysis of the candidate DEMO divertor is presented. • The operational space assessment is presented under static and transient heat loads. • Strike points sweeping is analyzed as a divertor power exhaust mitigation technique. • Results are presented on sweeping installed power required, AC losses and thermal fatigue. - Abstract: The present European standard DEMO divertor target technology is based on a water-cooled tungsten mono-block with a copper alloy heat sink. This paper presents the assessment of the operational space of this technology under static and transient heat loads. A transient thermo-hydraulic analysis was performed using the code RACLETTE, which allowed a broad parametric scan of the target geometry and coolant conditions. The limiting factors considered were the coolant critical heat flux (CHF), and the temperature limits of the materials. The second part of the work is devoted to the study of the plasma strike point sweeping as a mitigation technique for the divertor power exhaust. The RACLETTE code was used to evaluate the impact of a large range of sweeping frequencies and amplitudes. A reduced subset of cases, which complied with the constraints, was benchmarked with a 3D FEM model. A reduction of the heat flux to the coolant, up to a factor ∼4, and lower material temperatures were found for an incident heat flux in the range (15–30) MW/m{sup 2}. Finally, preliminary assessments were performed on the installed power required for the sweeping, the AC losses in the superconductors and thermal fatigue analysis. No evident show stoppers were found.

Mass coral bleaching due to unprecedented marine heatwave in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).

Science.gov (United States)

Couch, Courtney S; Burns, John H R; Liu, Gang; Steward, Kanoelani; Gutlay, Tiffany Nicole; Kenyon, Jean; Eakin, C Mark; Kosaki, Randall K

2017-01-01

2014 marked the sixth and most widespread mass bleaching event reported in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, home to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), the world's second largest marine reserve. This event was associated with an unusual basin-scale warming in the North Pacific Ocean, with an unprecedented peak intensity of around 20°C-weeks of cumulative heat stress at Lisianksi Island. In situ bleaching surveys and satellite data were used to evaluate the relative importance of potential drivers of bleaching patterns in 2014, assess the subsequent morality and its effects on coral communities and 3D complexity, test for signs of regional acclimation, and investigate long-term change in heat stress in PMNM. Surveys conducted at four island/atoll (French Frigate Shoals, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, and Midway Atoll) showed that in 2014, percent bleaching varied considerably between islands/atolls and habitats (back reef/fore reef and depth), and was up to 91% in shallow habitats at Lisianski. The percent bleaching during the 2014 event was best explained by a combination of duration of heat stress measured by Coral Reef Watch's satellite Degree Heating Week, relative community susceptibility (bleaching susceptibility score of each taxon * the taxon's abundance relative to the total number of colonies), depth and region. Mean coral cover at permanent Lisianski monitoring sites decreased by 68% due to severe losses of Montipora dilatata complex, resulting in rapid reductions in habitat complexity. Spatial distribution of the 2014 bleaching was significantly different from the 2002 and 2004 bleaching events likely due to a combination of differences in heat stress and local acclimatization. Historical satellite data demonstrated heat stress in 2014 was unlike any previous event and that the exposure of corals to the bleaching-level heat stress has increased significantly in the northern PMNM since 1982, highlighting the increasing

Mass coral bleaching due to unprecedented marine heatwave in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Courtney S Couch

Full Text Available 2014 marked the sixth and most widespread mass bleaching event reported in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, home to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM, the world's second largest marine reserve. This event was associated with an unusual basin-scale warming in the North Pacific Ocean, with an unprecedented peak intensity of around 20°C-weeks of cumulative heat stress at Lisianksi Island. In situ bleaching surveys and satellite data were used to evaluate the relative importance of potential drivers of bleaching patterns in 2014, assess the subsequent morality and its effects on coral communities and 3D complexity, test for signs of regional acclimation, and investigate long-term change in heat stress in PMNM. Surveys conducted at four island/atoll (French Frigate Shoals, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, and Midway Atoll showed that in 2014, percent bleaching varied considerably between islands/atolls and habitats (back reef/fore reef and depth, and was up to 91% in shallow habitats at Lisianski. The percent bleaching during the 2014 event was best explained by a combination of duration of heat stress measured by Coral Reef Watch's satellite Degree Heating Week, relative community susceptibility (bleaching susceptibility score of each taxon * the taxon's abundance relative to the total number of colonies, depth and region. Mean coral cover at permanent Lisianski monitoring sites decreased by 68% due to severe losses of Montipora dilatata complex, resulting in rapid reductions in habitat complexity. Spatial distribution of the 2014 bleaching was significantly different from the 2002 and 2004 bleaching events likely due to a combination of differences in heat stress and local acclimatization. Historical satellite data demonstrated heat stress in 2014 was unlike any previous event and that the exposure of corals to the bleaching-level heat stress has increased significantly in the northern PMNM since 1982, highlighting

RADON MITIGATION IN SCHOOLS: HVAC SYTEMS IN SCHOOLS TEND TO HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ON RADON LEVELS THAN HVAC SYSTEMS IN HOMES

Science.gov (United States)

The first part of this two-part paper discusses radon entry into schools, radon mitigation approaches for schools, and school characteristics (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air conditioing -- HVAC-- system design and operationg) that influence radon entry and mitigation system ...

Benthic substrate classification map: Gulf Islands National Seashore

Science.gov (United States)

Lavoie, Dawn; Flocks, James; Twichell, Dave; Rose, Kate

2013-01-01

The 2005 hurricane season was devastating for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina caused significant degradation of the barrier islands that compose the Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS). Because of the ability of coastal barrier islands to help mitigate hurricane damage to the mainland, restoring these habitats prior to the onset of future storms will help protect the islands themselves and the surrounding habitats. During Hurricane Katrina, coastal barrier islands reduced storm surge by approximately 10 percent and moderated wave heights (Wamsley and others, 2009). Islands protected the mainland by preventing ocean waves from maintaining their size as they approached the mainland. In addition to storm protection, it is advantageous to restore these islands to preserve the cultural heritage present there (for example, Fort Massachusetts) and because of the influence that these islands have on marine ecology. For example, these islands help maintain a salinity regime favorable to oysters in the Mississippi Sound and provide critical habitats for many migratory birds and endangered species such as sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, and Dermochelys coriacea), Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi), and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2009a). As land manager for the GUIS, the National Park Service (NPS) has been working with the State of Mississippi and the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a set of recommendations to the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) that will guide restoration planning. The final set of recommendations includes directly renourishing both West Ship Island (to protect Fort Massachusetts) and East Ship Island (to restore the French Warehouse archaeological site); filling Camille Cut to recreate a continuous Ship Island; and restoring natural regional sediment transport processes by placing sand in the littoral zone just east of Petit Bois

Turbulent circulation above the surface heat source in stably stratified atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Kurbatskii, A. F.; Kurbatskaya, L. I.

2016-10-01

The 3-level RANS approach for simulating a turbulent circulation over the heat island in a stably stratified environment under nearly calm conditions is formulated. The turbulent kinetic energy its spectral consumption (dissipation) and the dispersion of turbulent fluctuations of temperature are found from differential equations, thus the correct modeling of transport processes in the interface layer with the counter-gradient heat flux is assured. The three-parameter turbulence RANS approach minimizes difficulties in simulating the turbulent transport in a stably stratified environment and reduces efforts needed for the numerical implementation of the 3-level RANS approach. Numerical simulation of the turbulent structure of the penetrative convection over the heat island under conditions of stably stratified atmosphere demonstrates that the three-equation model is able to predict the thermal circulation induced by the heat island. The temperature distribution, root-mean-square fluctuations of the turbulent velocity and temperature fields and spectral turbulent kinetic energy flux are in good agreement with the experimental data. The model describes such thin physical effects, as a crossing of vertical profiles of temperature of a thermal plume with the formation of the negative buoyancy area testifying to development of the dome-shaped form at the top part of a plume in the form of "hat".

Characterizing the intra-urban spatiotemporal dynamics of High Heat Stress Zones (Hotspots)

Science.gov (United States)

Shreevastava, A.; Rao, P. S.; McGrath, G. S.

2017-12-01

In this study, we present an innovative framework to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of High Heat Stress Zones (Hot spots) created within an Urban area in the event of a Heat Wave. Heat waves are one of the leading causes of weather-related human mortality in many countries, and cities receive its worst brunt. The extreme heat stress within urban areas is often a synergistic combination of large-scale meteorological events, and the locally exacerbated impacts due to Urban Heat Islands (UHI). UHI is typically characterized as the difference between mean temperature of the urban and rural area. As a result, it fails to capture the significant variability that exists within the city itself. This variability arises from the diverse and complex spatial geometries of cities. Previous studies that have attempted to quantify the heat stress at an intra-urban scale are labor intensive, expensive, and difficult to emulate globally as they rely on availability of extensive data and their assimilation. The proposed study takes advantage of the well-established notion of fractal properties of cities to make the methods scalable to other cities where in-situ observational data might not be available. As an input, land surface temperatures are estimated using Landsat data. Using clustering analysis, we probe the emergence of thermal hotspots. The probability distributions (PD) of these hotspots are found to follow a power-law distribution in agreement with fractal characteristics of the city. PDs of several archetypical cities are then investigated to compare the effect of different spatial structures (e.g. monocentric v/s polycentric, sprawl v/s compact). Further, the temporal variability of the distributions on a diurnal as well as a seasonal scale is discussed. Finally, the spatiotemporal dynamics of the urban hotspots under a heat-wave (E.g. Delhi Heat wave, 2015) are compared against the non-heat wave scenarios. In summary, a technique that is globally adaptive and

Atlanta households’ willingness to increase urban forests to mitigate cimate change

Science.gov (United States)

Y. Tran; J. P.  Siry; J. M.  Bowker; N. C.  Poudyal

2017-01-01

Investments in urban forests have been increasing in many US cities. Urban forests have been shownto provide countless ecosystem benefits with many addressing climate change issues, such as seques-tering carbon, reducing air pollution, and decreasing the heat island effect. Individual groups within theAmerican public may not respond to the issue of climate change in...

The electrochemistry of IGSCC mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, D.D.

2002-01-01

A brief review is presented of the electrochemical mitigation of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in watercooled reactor heat transport circuit structural materials. Electrochemical control and mitigation is possible because of the existence of a critical potential for intergranular stress corrosion cracking and due to the feasibility of modifying the environment to displace the corrosion potential to a value that is more negative than the critical value. However, even in cases where the corrosion potential cannot be displaced sufficiently in the negative direction to become more negative than the critical potential, considerable advantage is accrued, because of the roughly exponential dependence of the crack growth rate on potential. The most important parameters in affecting electrochemical control over the corrosion potential and crack growth rate are the kinetic parameters (exchange current densities and Tafel constants) for the redox reactions involving the principal radiolysis products of water (O 2 , H 2 H 2 O 2 ), external solution composition (concentrations of O 2 , H 2 O 2 , and H 2 ), flow velocity, and the conductivity of the bulk environment. The kinetic parameters for the redox reactions essentially determine the charge transfer impedance of the steel surface, which is shown to be one of the key parameters in affecting the magnitude of the coupling current and hence the crack growth rate. The exchange current densities, in particular, are amenable to control by catalysis or inhibition, with the result that surface modification techniques are highly effective in controlling and mitigating intergranular stress corrosion cracking in reactor coolant circuit materials. (orig.)

TREND ASSESSMENT OF SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHANGE OF TEHRAN HEAT ISLAND USING SATELLITE IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. R. Saradjian

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Numerous investigations on Urban Heat Island (UHI show that land cover change is the main factor of increasing Land Surface Temperature (LST in urban areas, especially conversion of vegetation and bare soil to concrete, asphalt and other man-made structures. On the other hand, other human activities like those which cause to burning fossil fuels, that increase the amount of carbon dioxide, may raise temperature in global scale in comparison with small scales (urban areas. In this study, multiple satellite images with different spatial and temporal resolutions have been used to determine Land Surface Temperature (LST variability in Tehran metropolitan area. High temporal resolution of AVHRR images have been used as the main data source when investigating temperature variability in the urban area. The analysis shows that UHI appears more significant at afternoon and night hours. But the urban class temperature is almost equal to its surrounding vegetation and bare soil classes at around noon. It also reveals that there is no specific difference in UHI intense during the days throughout the year. However, it can be concluded that in the process of city expansion in years, UHI has been grown both spatially and in magnitude. In order to locate land-cover types and relate them to LST, Thematic Mapper (TM images have been exploited. The influence of elevation on the LST has also been studied, using digital elevation model derived from SRTM database.

Trait Acclimation Mitigates Mortality Risks of Tropical Canopy Trees under Global Warming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sterck, Frank; Anten, Niels P.R.; Schieving, Feike; Zuidema, Pieter A.

2016-01-01

There is a heated debate about the effect of global change on tropical forests. Many scientists predict large-scale tree mortality while others point to mitigating roles of CO2 fertilization and – the notoriously unknown – physiological trait acclimation of trees. In this opinion article we provided

Radon mitigation experience in difficult-to-mitigate schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leovic, K.W.; Craig, A.B.

1990-01-01

Initial radon mitigation experience in schools has shown sub-slab depressurization (SSD) to be generally effective in reducing elevated levels of radon in schools that have a continuous layer of clean, coarse aggregate underneath the slab. However, mitigation experience is limited in schools without sub-slab aggregate and in schools with characteristics such as return-air ductwork underneath the slab or unducted return-air plenums in the drop ceiling that are open to the sub-slab area (via open tops of block walls). Mitigation of schools with utility tunnels and of schools constructed over crawl spaces is also limited. Three Maryland schools exhibiting some of the above characteristics are being researched to help understand the mechanisms that control radon entry and mitigation in schools where standard SSD systems are not effective. This paper discusses specific characteristics of potentially difficult-to-mitigate schools and, where applicable, details examples from the three Maryland schools

Can the household sector reduce global warming mitigation costs? sensitivity to key parameters in a TIMES techno-economic energy model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astudillo, Miguel F.; Vaillancourt, Kathleen; Pineau, Pierre-Olivier; Amor, Ben

2017-01-01

Highlights: •An energy system model of Quebec is combined with building simulation software. •Greenhouse gas emission reductions efforts increase annual electricity peak demand. •Alternative heating tech. And building envelopes can effectively reduce peak demand. •Denser urban developments massively reduced costs of global warming mitigation. •CO 2 emissions from hydropower reservoirs are relevant in global warming mitigation. -- Abstract: The transition to low carbon societies may increase peak electricity demand, which can be costly to supply with renewable energy, whose availability is uncertain. Buildings are often the main cause of peak demand, and they are believed to hold a large unrealised energy-efficiency potential. If realised, this potential could considerably mitigate the transition costs to low carbon societies, reducing average and peak electricity demands. We explore this potential in several cost-optimal global warming (GW) mitigation scenarios using a multi-sector TIMES energy system model of the province of Quebec for the period 2011–2050. Heating and conservation measures in the residential sector are modelled using building simulations and parameters’ values from the literature. The intra-annual availability of renewable energy and electricity imports is derived from time-series analysis. Additionally, the influence of key parameters such as the projections of primary energy demand and emissions from reservoir impoundment is evaluated. Finally, we discuss some of the barriers that could hamper the energy transition and how they can be overcome. Results indicate that peak demand would rise by 30% due to GW mitigation efforts, but it can be effectively reduced by interventions in the residential sector. Heat pumps are the most cost effective heating technology, despite their lower efficiencies in cold climates. Better-insulated building envelopes have an important role in new houses, reducing by 14% the GW mitigation costs and

Prediction of Heat Removal Capacity of Horizontal Condensation Heat Exchanger submerged in Pool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeon, Seong-Su; Hong, Soon-Joon [FNC Tech., Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Hyoung-Kyu [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Goon-Cherl [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

As representative passive safety systems, there are the passive containment cooling system (PCCS) of ESBWR, the emergency condenser system (ECS) of the SWR-1000, the passive auxiliary feed-water system (PAFS) of the APR+ and etc. During the nuclear power plant accidents, these passive safety systems can cool the nuclear system effectively via the heat transfer through the steam condensation, and then mitigate the accidents. For the optimum design and the safety analysis of the passive safety system, it is essential to predict the heat removal capacity of the heat exchanger well. The heat removal capacity of the horizontal condensation heat exchanger submerged in a pool is determined by a combination of a horizontal in-tube condensation heat transfer and a boiling heat transfer on the horizontal tube. Since most correlations proposed in the previous nuclear engineering field were developed for the vertical tube, there is a certain limit to apply these correlations to the horizontal tube. Therefore, this study developed the heat transfer model for the horizontal Ushaped condensation heat exchanger submerged in a pool to predict well the horizontal in-tube condensation heat transfer, the boiling heat transfer on the horizontal tube and the overall heat removal capacity of the heat exchanger using the best-estimate system analysis code, MARS.

Bimodal volcanism in northeast Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Greater Antilles Island Arc): Genetic links with Cretaceous subduction of the mid-Atlantic ridge Caribbean spur

Science.gov (United States)

Jolly, Wayne T.; Lidiak, Edward G.; Dickin, Alan P.

2008-07-01

Bimodal extrusive volcanic rocks in the northeast Greater Antilles Arc consist of two interlayered suites, including (1) a predominantly basaltic suite, dominated by island arc basalts with small proportions of andesite, and (2) a silicic suite, similar in composition to small volume intrusive veins of oceanic plagiogranite commonly recognized in oceanic crustal sequences. The basaltic suite is geochemically characterized by variable enrichment in the more incompatible elements and negative chondrite-normalized HFSE anomalies. Trace element melting and mixing models indicate the magnitude of the subducted sediment component in Antilles arc basalts is highly variable and decreases dramatically from east to west along the arc. In the Virgin Islands, the sediment component ranges between 4% during the Cenomanian-Campanian interval. The silicic suite, consisting predominantly of rhyolites, is characterized by depleted Al 2O 3 (average Virgin Islands on the east, rhyolites comprise up to 80% of Lower Albian strata (112 to 105 Ma), and about 20% in post-Albian strata (105 to 100 Ma). Farther west, in Puerto Rico, more limited proportions (Atlantic Ridge, which was located approximately midway between North and South America until Campanian times. Within this hypothetical setting the centrally positioned Virgin Islands terrain remained approximately fixed above the subducting ridge as the Antilles arc platform swept northeastward into the slot between the Americas. Accordingly, heat flow in the Virgin Islands was elevated throughout the Cretaceous, giving rise to widespread crustal melting, whereas the subducted sediment flux was limited. Conversely, toward the west in central Puerto Rico, which was consistently more remote from the subducting ridge, heat flow was relatively low and produced limited crustal melting, while the sediment flux was comparatively elevated.

The Role of Vegetation in Mitigating Urban Land Surface Temperatures: A Case Study of Munich, Germany during the Warm Season

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadroddin Alavipanah

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The Urban Heat Island (UHI is the phenomenon of altered increased temperatures in urban areas compared to their rural surroundings. UHIs grow and intensify under extreme hot periods, such as during heat waves, which can affect human health and also increase the demand for energy for cooling. This study applies remote sensing and land use/land cover (LULC data to assess the cooling effect of varying urban vegetation cover, especially during extreme warm periods, in the city of Munich, Germany. To compute the relationship between Land Surface Temperature (LST and Land Use Land Cover (LULC, MODIS eight-day interval LST data for the months of June, July and August from 2002 to 2012 and the Corine Land Cover (CLC database were used. Due to similarities in the behavior of surface temperature of different CLCs, some classes were reclassified and combined to form two major, rather simplified, homogenized classes: one of built-up area and one of urban vegetation. The homogenized map was merged with the MODIS eight-day interval LST data to compute the relationship between them. The results revealed that (i the cooling effect accrued from urban vegetation tended to be non-linear; and (ii a remarkable and stronger cooling effect in terms of LST was identified in regions where the proportion of vegetation cover was between seventy and almost eighty percent per square kilometer. The results also demonstrated that LST within urban vegetation was affected by the temperature of the surrounding built-up and that during the well-known European 2003 heat wave, suburb areas were cooler from the core of the urbanized region. This study concluded that the optimum green space for obtaining the lowest temperature is a non-linear trend. This could support urban planning strategies to facilitate appropriate applications to mitigate heat-stress in urban area.

Impacts of city-block-scale countermeasures against urban heat-island phenomena upon a building's energy-consumption for air-conditioning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kikegawa, Yukihiro [Department of Environmental Systems, Meisei University, 2-1-1 Hodokubo, Hino-shi, Tokyo 191-8506 (Japan); Genchi, Yutaka [Research Center for Life Cycle Assessment, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569 (Japan); Kondo, Hiroaki [Institute for Environmental Management Technology, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569 (Japan); Hanaki, Keisuke [Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)

2006-06-15

This study quantifies the possible impacts of urban heat-island countermeasures upon buildings' energy use during summer in Tokyo metropolis. Considering the dependency of the buildings air temperature upon the local urban canopy structure, Tokyo urban canopies were classified in the city-block-scale using the sky-view factor (svf). Then, a multi-scale model system describing the interaction between buildings' energy use and urban meteorological conditions was applied to each classified canopy. In terms of urban warming alleviation and cooling energy saving, simulations suggested that the reduction in the air-conditioning anthropogenic heat could be the most effective measure in office buildings' canopies, and that vegetative fraction increase on the side walls of buildings in residential canopies. Both measures indicated daily and spatially averaged decreases in near-ground summer air temperature of 0.2-1.2{sup o}C. The simulations also suggested these temperature decreases could result in the buildings' cooling energy-savings of 4-40%, indicating remarkable savings in residential canopies. These temperature drops and energy savings tended to increase with the decrease of the svf of urban canopies. (author)

Comparing the use of 4.6 um lasers versus 10.6 um lasers for mitigating damage site growth on fused silica surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, S T; Matthews, M J; Elhadj, S; Cooke, D; Guss, G M; Draggoo, V G; Wegner, P J

2010-10-21

The advantage of using mid-infrared (IR) 4.6 {micro}m lasers, versus far-infrared 10.6 {micro}m lasers, for mitigating damage growth on fused silica is investigated. In contrast to fused silica's high absorption at 10.6 {micro}m, silica absorption at 4.6 {micro}m is two orders of magnitude less. The much reduced absorption at 4.6 {micro}m enables deep heat penetration into fused silica when it is heated using the mid-IR laser, which in turn leads to more effective mitigation of damage sites with deep cracks. The advantage of using mid-IR versus far-IR laser for damage growth mitigation under non-evaporative condition is quantified by defining a figure of merit (FOM) that relates the crack healing depth to laser power required. Based on our FOM, we show that for damage cracks up to at least 500 {micro}m in depth, mitigation using a 4.6 {micro}m mid-IR laser is more efficient than mitigation using a 10.6 {micro}m far-IR laser.

A large foodborne outbreak on a small Pacific island.

Science.gov (United States)

Thein, C C; Trinidad, R M; Pavlin, B I

2010-04-01

On March 25, 2009, the Ebeye Leroj Kitlang Memorial Health Center on the island of Ebeye in the Republic of the Marshall Islands was overwhelmed with over 100 patients presenting for vomiting and diarrhea. Epidemiologic investigation revealed that there were 174 cases among 187 attendees at a local funeral earlier in the day. Most cases had eaten served sandwiches containing egg products that had undergone severe time-temperature abuse. While no causal agents were identified, the epidemiology and clinical presentation is compatible with foodborne toxins, most likely enterotoxins of either Staphylococcus aureus or Bacillus cereus. Mitigation measures undertaken by public health centered on education of food preparers and the general public regarding safe food preparation practices. This large outbreak serves to remind us that, while there are simple and highly effective measures to prevent such foodborne disease outbreaks, we in the public health sector have a duty to improve the community's knowledge and understanding of these measures.

Minding the Cyber-Physical Gap: Model-Based Analysis and Mitigation of Systemic Perception-Induced Failure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaniv Mordecai

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The cyber-physical gap (CPG is the difference between the ‘real’ state of the world and the way the system perceives it. This discrepancy often stems from the limitations of sensing and data collection technologies and capabilities, and is inevitable at some degree in any cyber-physical system (CPS. Ignoring or misrepresenting such limitations during system modeling, specification, design, and analysis can potentially result in systemic misconceptions, disrupted functionality and performance, system failure, severe damage, and potential detrimental impacts on the system and its environment. We propose CPG-Aware Modeling & Engineering (CPGAME, a conceptual model-based approach to capturing, explaining, and mitigating the CPG. CPGAME enhances the systems engineer’s ability to cope with CPGs, mitigate them by design, and prevent erroneous decisions and actions. We demonstrate CPGAME by applying it for modeling and analysis of the 1979 Three Miles Island 2 nuclear accident, and show how its meltdown could be mitigated. We use ISO-19450:2015—Object Process Methodology as our conceptual modeling framework.

Hydrologic Modeling and Parameter Estimation under Data Scarcity for Java Island, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Yanto, M.; Livneh, B.; Rajagopalan, B.; Kasprzyk, J. R.

2015-12-01

The Indonesian island of Java is routinely subjected to intense flooding, drought and related natural hazards, resulting in severe social and economic impacts. Although an improved understanding of the island's hydrology would help mitigate these risks, data scarcity issues make the modeling challenging. To this end, we developed a hydrological representation of Java using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, to simulate the hydrologic processes of several watersheds across the island. We measured the model performance using Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) at monthly time step. Data scarcity and quality issues for precipitation and streamflow warranted the application of a quality control procedure to data ensure consistency among watersheds resulting in 7 watersheds. To optimize the model performance, the calibration parameters were estimated using Borg Multi Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (Borg MOEA), which offers efficient searching of the parameter space, adaptive population sizing and local optima escape facility. The result shows that calibration performance is best (NSE ~ 0.6 - 0.9) in the eastern part of the domain and moderate (NSE ~ 0.3 - 0.5) in the western part of the island. The validation results are lower (NSE ~ 0.1 - 0.5) and (NSE ~ 0.1 - 0.4) in the east and west, respectively. We surmise that the presence of outliers and stark differences in the climate between calibration and validation periods in the western watersheds are responsible for low NSE in this region. In addition, we found that approximately 70% of total errors were contributed by less than 20% of total data. The spatial variability of model performance suggests the influence of both topographical and hydroclimatic controls on the hydrological processes. Most watersheds in eastern part perform better in wet season and vice versa for the western part. This modeling framework is one of the first attempts at comprehensively simulating the hydrology in this maritime, tropical

Sustainable energy planning for 27 small Danish Islands. Summary report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-06-01

A methodology has been developed and implemented, whereby detailed assessment of a few model or archetype islands may be used as basis for subsequent estimation of possibilities for other islands of similar kind, provided certain key data for present day energy consumption are available. A consistent interaction with the population on the model islands has been important in that process. The technical-economical results of the study show, that a number of measures seem cost-effective with the aim of contributing to a sustainable energy supply for the small Danish islands. Most prominent are energy savings for both heat and electricity, grid connected wind turbines for electricity production and collective heat supply, in decreasing order of cost-effectiveness. It has become clear, that an organisational structure based on the cooperative idea is essential for realising this potential. In Denmark this is a strong tradition, recently manifesting itself in the fact, that a majority of Danish wind turbines have been installed in the fram work of cooperative idea is essential for realising this potential. In Denmark this is a strong tradition, recently manifesting itself in the fact, that a majority of Danish wind turbines have been installed in the framework of cooperatives. This means that it is a well proven concept, in Denmark well established in the legal and financial structure including the tax laws. Consequently such energy cooperatives represent the organisational structure recommended by the project also for other sustainable energy initiatives on the small Danish islands. The implication on a European level is that the methodology developed in the project, as well as the concrete recommendations of the project including organisational structures, seem well suited to be applied on a European level in the context of local communities with a strong identity. (LN)

Carbon neutral archipelago – 100% renewable energy supply for the Canary Islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gils, Hans Christian; Simon, Sonja

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A pathway to a 100% renewable energy supply for the Canary Islands is presented. • Hourly system operation is analysed, considering flexibility options and sector linkage. • Results show feasibility of a carbon neutral energy supply with local resources. • High resolution power system model highlights importance of grid connections. - Abstract: As many other small islands and archipelagos, the Canary Islands depend to a high degree on energy imports. Despite its small surface, the archipelago has a high potential for renewable energy (RE) technologies. In this paper, we present a scenario pathway to a 100% RE supply in the Canary Islands by 2050. It relies on a back-casting approach linking the bottom-up accounting framework Mesap-PlaNet and the high resolution power system model REMix. Our analysis shows that locally available technology potentials are sufficient for a fully renewable supply of the islands’ power, heat, and land transport energy demands. To follow the pathway for achieving a carbon neutral supply, expansion of RE technology deployment needs to be accelerated in the short-term and efforts towards greater energy efficiency must be increased. According to our results, an extended linkage between energy sectors through electric vehicles as well as electric heating, and the usage of synthetic hydrogen can contribute notably to the integration of intermittent RE power generation. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of power transmission in RE supply systems. Supply costs are found 15% lower in a scenario considering sea cable connections between all islands.

Multiple timescale analysis of the urban heat island effect based on the Community Land Model: a case study of the city of Xi'an, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Meiling; Shen, Huanfeng; Han, Xujun; Li, Huifang; Zhang, Liangpei

2017-12-06

Urban heat islands (UHIs) are the phenomenon of urban regions usually being warmer than rural regions, which significantly impacts both the regional ecosystem and societal activities. Numerical simulation can provide spatially and temporally continuous datasets for UHI analysis. In this study, a spatially and temporally continuous ground temperature dataset of Xi'an, China was obtained through numerical simulation based on the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5), at a temporal resolution of 30 min and a spatial resolution of 0.05 ∘ × 0.05 ∘ . Based on the ground temperature, the seasonal average UHI intensity (UHII) was calculated and the seasonal variation of the UHI effect was analyzed. The monthly variation tendency of the urban heat stress was also investigated. Based on the diurnal cycle of ground temperature and the UHI effect in each season, the variation tendencies of the maximum, minimum, and average UHII were analyzed. The results show that the urban heat stress in summer is the strongest among all four seasons. The heat stress in urban areas is very significant in July, and the UHII is the weakest in January. Regarding the diurnal cycle of UHII, the maximum always appears at 06:30 UTC to 07:30 UTC, while the minimum intensity of the UHI effect occurs at different times in the different seasons. The results of this study could provide a reference for policymakers about how to reduce the damage caused by heat stress.

Tritium Mitigation/Control for Advanced Reactor System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Xiaodong; Christensen, Richard; Saving, John P

2018-03-31

A tritium removal facility, which is similar to the design used for tritium recovery in fusion reactors, is proposed in this study for fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactors (FHRs) to result in a two-loop FHR design with the elimination of an intermediate loop. Using this approach, an economic benefit can potentially be obtained by removing the intermediate loop, while the safety concern of tritium release can be mitigated. In addition, an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) that can yield a similar tritium permeation rate to the production rate of 1.9 Ci/day in a 1,000 MWe PWR needs to be designed to prevent the residual tritium that is not captured in the tritium removal system from escaping into the power cycle and ultimately the environment. The main focus of this study is to aid the mitigation of tritium permeation issue from the FHR primary side to significantly reduce the concentration of tritium in the secondary side and the process heat application side (if applicable). The goal of the research is to propose a baseline FHR system without the intermediate loop. The specific objectives to accomplish the goals are: 1. To estimate tritium permeation behavior in FHRs; 2. To design a tritium removal system for FHRs; 3. To meet the same tritium permeation level in FHRs as the tritium production rate of 1.9 Ci/day in 1,000 MWe PWRs; 4. To demonstrate economic benefits of the proposed FHR system via comparing with the three-loop FHR system. The objectives were accomplished by designing tritium removal facilities, developing a tritium analysis code, and conducting an economic analysis. In the fusion reactor community, tritium extraction has been widely investigated and researched. Borrowing the experiences from the fusion reactor community, a tritium control and mitigation system was proposed. Based on mass transport theories, a tritium analysis code was developed, and the tritium behaviors were analyzed using the developed code. Tritium removal facilities

Shifting the urban heat island clock in a megacity: a case study of Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xuan; Jeong, Su-Jong

2018-01-01

With increasing levels of urbanization in the near future, understanding the impact of urbanization on urban heat islands (UHIs) is critical to adapting to regional climate and environmental changes. However, our understanding of the UHI effect relies mainly on its intensity or magnitude. The present study evaluates the impact of urbanization on UHI duration changes by comparing three stations with different rates of urbanization, including highly developed and developing urban areas throughout Hong Kong, from 1990-2015. Results show that the 26 year average UHI intensity in highly urbanized regions is much higher than that in developing areas, and the 26 year average of UHI duration is similar. Over the past 25 years, however, UHI duration has increased only in developing urban areas, from 13.59-17.47 hours. Both earlier UHI starting and later UHI ending times concurrently contribute to the UHI effect being experienced for a longer duration. The differences in UHI duration change between the two areas are supported by population and by night light changes from space. Increasing night light, which suggests enhancements in the economic infrastructure, occurred only in the developing urban areas. Our results suggest that changes in UHI duration should be included in an assessment of regional climate change as well as in urban planning in a megacity.

Soil surface temperatures reveal moderation of the urban heat island effect by trees and shrubs.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmondson, J L; Stott, I; Davies, Z G; Gaston, K J; Leake, J R

2016-09-19

Urban areas are major contributors to air pollution and climate change, causing impacts on human health that are amplified by the microclimatological effects of buildings and grey infrastructure through the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Urban greenspaces may be important in reducing surface temperature extremes, but their effects have not been investigated at a city-wide scale. Across a mid-sized UK city we buried temperature loggers at the surface of greenspace soils at 100 sites, stratified by proximity to city centre, vegetation cover and land-use. Mean daily soil surface temperature over 11 months increased by 0.6 °C over the 5 km from the city outskirts to the centre. Trees and shrubs in non-domestic greenspace reduced mean maximum daily soil surface temperatures in the summer by 5.7 °C compared to herbaceous vegetation, but tended to maintain slightly higher temperatures in winter. Trees in domestic gardens, which tend to be smaller, were less effective at reducing summer soil surface temperatures. Our findings reveal that the UHI effects soil temperatures at a city-wide scale, and that in their moderating urban soil surface temperature extremes, trees and shrubs may help to reduce the adverse impacts of urbanization on microclimate, soil processes and human health.

State of the art of mitigation and relation mitigation/adaptation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lenstra, W.J.; Van Doorn, J.; Verheggen, B.; Sahan, E.; Boersma, A.R. [ECN Biomass, Coal and Environment Research, Petten (Netherlands)

2009-04-15

This study has the main purpose to make useful information available for the programming of the Knowledge for Climate (KfC) program. The emphasis has been laid on a broad overview of mitigation options and relations, complemented with more detailed information on new or less known options and insights. The mitigation option biomass gets special attention in this study. The production of biomass has many (positive and negative) relations with other elements of the KfC program like space use and adaptation. Recently a global discussion on biomass usage for biofuels has started (food or fuel). Therefore a separate chapter will be dedicated to the sustainability aspects of biomass. An overview of technical mitigation measures with emphasis on the energy supply side is presented. This overview shows the large number of available and innovative options and the vast potential for reduction of the emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) of these mitigation measures. The effectiveness of many mitigation options is strongly dependent on local conditions and implementation issues. A number of innovative mitigation measures such as aquatic biomass and biomass in combination with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are described in more detail. Biomass for energy has many different forms and applications. It is one of the mitigation options with a high potential, but at the same time it can have negative environmental impacts and might compete with other forms of land use including food production. This makes bio-energy a promising but complex option, which makes careful evaluation necessary. Several examples of multifunctional land use show that by combining functions, synergy can be achieved. This could lead to a reduction of potentially negative impacts and thus easier implementation. Furthermore, novel technologies for reducing or offsetting climate change such as air capture and artificial cooling might have a high potential as mitigation option, but need to be examined before

Measured data from the Avery Island Site C heater test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waldman, H.; Stickney, R.G.

1984-11-01

Over the past six years, a comprehensive field testing program was conducted in the Avery Island salt mine. Three single canister heater tests were included in the testing program. Specifically, electric heaters, which simulate canisters of heat-generating nuclear waste, were placed in the floor of the Avery Island salt mine, and measurements were made of the response of the salt to heating. These tests were in operation by June 1978. One of the three heater tests, Site C, operated for a period of 1858 days and was decommissioned during July and August 1983. This data report presents the temperature and displacement data gathered during the operation and decommissioning of the Site C heater test. The purpose of this data report is to transmit the data to the scientific community. Rigorous analysis and interpretation of the data are considered beyond the scope of a data report. 6 references, 21 figures, 1 table

Use of the disruption mitigation valve in closed loop for routine protection at JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reux, Cédric; Lehnen, Michael; Kruezi, Uron; Jachmich, Stefan; Card, Peter; Heinola, Kalle; Joffrin, Emmanuel; Lomas, Peter J.; Marsen, Stefan; Matthews, Guy; Riccardo, Valeria; Rimini, Fernanda; Vries, Peter de

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A massive gas injection valve was used for disruption routine mitigation at JET. ► A disruption mitigation valve was integrated in JET real time systems. ► Simple triggering schemes such as mode lock were used for disruption detection. ► High forces disruptions were prevented by the use of the gas valve. ► Radiated energy is higher in mitigated disruption than in unmitigated ones. -- Abstract: Disruptions are a major concern for next-generation tokamaks, including ITER. Heat loads, electromagnetic forces and runaway electrons generated by disruptions have to be mitigated for a reliable operation of future machines. Massive gas injection is one of the methods proposed for disruption mitigation. This article reports the first use of massive gas injection as an active disruption protection system at JET. During the 2011–2012 campaigns, 67 disruptions have been mitigated by the disruption mitigation valve (DMV) following a detection by mode lock amplitude and loop voltage changes. Most of disruptions where the valve was intended to be used were successfully mitigated by the DMV, although at different stages of the typical slow disruptions of the ITER-like wall. The fraction of magnetic and thermal energy radiated during the disruption was found to be increased by the action of the DMV. Vertical forces dispersion was also reduced. No non-sustained breakdown was observed following pulses terminated by the disruption mitigation valve

Use of the disruption mitigation valve in closed loop for routine protection at JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reux, Cédric, E-mail: cedric.reux@ccfe.ac.uk [Ecole Polytechnique, LPP, CNRS UMR 7648, 91128 Palaiseau (France); JET-EFDA, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Lehnen, Michael; Kruezi, Uron [Association EURATOM-FZJ, Trilateral Euregio Cluster, 52425 Julich (Germany); Jachmich, Stefan [Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas-Laboratorium voor Plasmafysica, Association EURATOM-Belgian State Institute ERM/KMS, B-1000 Brussels (Belgium); EFDA-CSU, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Card, Peter [Culham Science Centre, EURATOM/CCFE Association, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Heinola, Kalle [Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014 University of Helsinki (Finland); Joffrin, Emmanuel [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Lomas, Peter J. [Culham Science Centre, EURATOM/CCFE Association, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Marsen, Stefan [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Teilinstitut Greifswald, EURATOM-Assoziation, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Matthews, Guy; Riccardo, Valeria; Rimini, Fernanda [Culham Science Centre, EURATOM/CCFE Association, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Vries, Peter de [FOM Institute DIFFER, P.O. Box 1207, 3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► A massive gas injection valve was used for disruption routine mitigation at JET. ► A disruption mitigation valve was integrated in JET real time systems. ► Simple triggering schemes such as mode lock were used for disruption detection. ► High forces disruptions were prevented by the use of the gas valve. ► Radiated energy is higher in mitigated disruption than in unmitigated ones. -- Abstract: Disruptions are a major concern for next-generation tokamaks, including ITER. Heat loads, electromagnetic forces and runaway electrons generated by disruptions have to be mitigated for a reliable operation of future machines. Massive gas injection is one of the methods proposed for disruption mitigation. This article reports the first use of massive gas injection as an active disruption protection system at JET. During the 2011–2012 campaigns, 67 disruptions have been mitigated by the disruption mitigation valve (DMV) following a detection by mode lock amplitude and loop voltage changes. Most of disruptions where the valve was intended to be used were successfully mitigated by the DMV, although at different stages of the typical slow disruptions of the ITER-like wall. The fraction of magnetic and thermal energy radiated during the disruption was found to be increased by the action of the DMV. Vertical forces dispersion was also reduced. No non-sustained breakdown was observed following pulses terminated by the disruption mitigation valve.

Use of the disruption mitigation valve in closed loop for routine protection at JET

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reux, C.; Lehnen, M.; Kruezi, U.; Jachmich, S.; Card, P.; Heinola, K.; Joffrin, E.; Lomas, P. J.; Marsen, S.; Matthews, G.; Riccardo, V.; Rimini, F.; P. de Vries,

2013-01-01

Disruptions are a major concern for next-generation tokamaks, including ITER. Heat loads, electromagnetic forces and runaway electrons generated by disruptions have to be mitigated for a reliable operation of future machines. Massive gas injection is one of the methods proposed for disruption

Integration of Small Solar tower Systems into Distributed Power Islands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero, M.; Marcos, M. J.; Tellez, F. M.; Blanco, M.; Fernandez, V.; Baonza, F.; Berger, S. [Ciemat, Madrid (Spain)

2000-07-01

One of the short-term priorities for renewable energies in Europe is their integration for local power supply into communities and energy islands (blocks of buildings, new neighborhoods in residential areas, shopping centers, hospitals, recreational areas, eco-paks, small rural areas or isolated ones such as islands or mountain communities). Following this strategy, the integration of small tower fields into so-called MIUS (Modular Integrated Utility Systems) is proposed. This application strongly influences field concepts leadings to modular multi-tower systems able to more closely track demand, meet reliability requirements with fewer megawatts of installed power and spread construction costs over time after output has begum. In addition, integration into single-cycle high-efficiency gas turbines plus waste-heat applications clearly increments the solar share. The chief questions are whether solar towers can be redesigned for such distributed markets and the keys to their feasibility. This paper includes the design and performance analysis of a 1.36-MW plant and integration in the MIUS system, as well as the expected cost of electricity and a sensitivity analysis of the small tower plant's performance with design parameters like heliostat configuration and tower height. A practical application is analyzed for a shopping center with 85% power demand during day-time by using a hybrid solar tower and a gas turbine producing electricity and waste heat for hot water and heating and cooling of spaces. The operation mode proposed is covering night demand with power from the grid and solar-gas power island mode during 14 hours daytime with a maximum power production of 1.36 MW. (Author) 26 refs.

Integration of Small Solar Tower Systems Into Distributed Power Islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, M.; Marcos, M. J.; Tellez, F. M.; Blanco, M.; Fernandez, V.; Baonza, F.; Berger, S.

1999-01-01

One of the short-term priorities for renewable energies in Europe is their integration for local power supply into communities and energy islands (blocks of buildings, new neighborhoods in residential areas, shopping centers, hospitals, recreational areas, eco-parks, small rural areas or isolated ones such as islands or mountain communities). Following this strategy, the integration of small tower fields into so-called MIUS (Modular Integrated Utility Systems) is proposed. This application strongly influences field concepts leading to modular multi-tower systems able to more closely track demand, meet reliability requirements with fewer megawatts of installed power and spread construction costs over time after output has begun. In addition, integration into single-cycle high-efficiency gas turbines plus waste-heat applications clearly increments the solar share. The chief questions are whether solar towers can be redesigned for such distributed markets and the keys to their feasibility. This paper includes the design and performance analysis of a 1.36-MW plant and integration in the MIUS system, as well as the expected cost of electricity and a sensitivity analysis of the small tower plant's performance with design parameters like heliostats configuration and tower height. A practical application is analyzed for a shopping center with 85% power demand during day-time by using a hybrid solar tower and a gas turbine producing electricity and waste heat for hot water and heating and cooling of spaces. The operation mode proposed is covering night demand with power from the grid and solar-gas power island mode during 14 hours daytime with a maximum power production of 1.36 MW. (Author) 26 refs

Beam induced RF heating

CERN Document Server

Salvant, B; Arduini, G; Assmann, R; Baglin, V; Barnes, M J; Bartmann, W; Baudrenghien, P; Berrig, O; Bracco, C; Bravin, E; Bregliozzi, G; Bruce, R; Bertarelli, A; Carra, F; Cattenoz, G; Caspers, F; Claudet, S; Day, H; Garlasche, M; Gentini, L; Goddard, B; Grudiev, A; Henrist, B; Jones, R; Kononenko, O; Lanza, G; Lari, L; Mastoridis, T; Mertens, V; Métral, E; Mounet, N; Muller, J E; Nosych, A A; Nougaret, J L; Persichelli, S; Piguiet, A M; Redaelli, S; Roncarolo, F; Rumolo, G; Salvachua, B; Sapinski, M; Schmidt, R; Shaposhnikova, E; Tavian, L; Timmins, M; Uythoven, J; Vidal, A; Wenninger, J; Wollmann, D; Zerlauth, M

2012-01-01

After the 2011 run, actions were put in place during the 2011/2012 winter stop to limit beam induced radio frequency (RF) heating of LHC components. However, some components could not be changed during this short stop and continued to represent a limitation throughout 2012. In addition, the stored beam intensity increased in 2012 and the temperature of certain components became critical. In this contribution, the beam induced heating limitations for 2012 and the expected beam induced heating limitations for the restart after the Long Shutdown 1 (LS1) will be compiled. The expected consequences of running with 25 ns or 50 ns bunch spacing will be detailed, as well as the consequences of running with shorter bunch length. Finally, actions on hardware or beam parameters to monitor and mitigate the impact of beam induced heating to LHC operation after LS1 will be discussed.

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Data

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — This dataset contains closed and obligated projects funded under the following Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs: Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)....

Disruptions and Their Mitigation in TEXTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finken, K.H.; Jaspers, R.; Kraemer-Flecken, A.; Savtchkov, A.; Lehnen, M.; Waidmann, G.

2005-01-01

Disruptions remain a major concern for tokamak devices, particularly for large machines. The critical issues are the induced (halo) currents and the resulting forces, the excessive heating of exposed surfaces by the instantaneous power release, and the possible occurrence of highly energetic runaway electrons. The key topics of the investigations on TEXTOR in the recent years concerned (a) the power deposition pattern recorded by a fast infrared scanner, (b) the runaway generation measured by synchrotron radiation in the infrared spectral region, (c) method development for 'healing' discharges that are going to disrupt, and (d) massive gas puffing for mitigating the adverse effects of disruptions