Monthly Weather Review · 1971 · 36 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesMeteorologyUrban StudiesAtmospheric DynamicsBoundary Layer MeteorologyHeat TransferPlanetary Boundary LayerUrban Boundary LayersUrban ClimateUrban Heat IslandsBoundary Layer ConditionsBoundary Layer StabilityHeating Rate EffectsMean Wind SpeedTemperature Field AnalysisTwo-layer CirculationUrban Boundary Layer FlowUrban Heat Island Circulations
A simple two-dimensional linear model was used to explore the nature of the heat island circulation of an urban area. Two stability categories, stable and near-neutral, were assumed to define the boundary layer conditions. The heat island circulation was studied under the condition of no-mean wind and also for cases when a mean wind existed. The forcing function (differential heating) was given as a smoothly varying function in the horizontal that would create a smoothly varying temperature field with no discontinuities in the temperature distribution. A rather weak two-cell circulation system was developed in which depth and intensity were dependent on the boundary layer stability. Allowing a mean wind to exist produced a displacement of the two-cell circulation downstream to a location that is a function of the heating rate and the advection of heat and momentum by the mean wind.