Impact of the Urban Heat Island Effect on Precipitation over a Complex Geographic Environment in Northern Taiwan

TLDR

The study evaluates the impacts of the urban heat island effect on precipitation over northern Taiwan’s complex geographic environment. The authors employ the next‑generation WRF model coupled with the Noah land surface model and urban canopy model to conduct the analysis. Using a MODIS‑based land‑use classification, the simulations show that the urban heat island intensifies and delays precipitation, enhancing rainfall down‑ and up‑wind of Taipei, and that accurate land‑use data are essential for reliable UHI‑precipitation modeling.

Abstract

Abstract To evaluate the impacts of the urban heat island (UHI) effect on precipitation over a complex geographic environment in northern Taiwan, the next-generation mesoscale model, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with the Noah land surface model and urban canopy model (UCM), was used to study this issue. Based on a better land use classification derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data (the MODIS case), it has significantly improved simulation results for the accumulation rainfall pattern as compared with the original U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 25-category land use classification (the USGS case). The precipitation system was found to develop later but stronger in the urban (MODIS) case than in the nonurban (USGS) case. In comparison with the observation by radar, simulation results predicted reasonably well; not only was the rainfall system enhanced downwind of the city over the mountainous area, but it also occurred at the upwind plain area in the MODIS case. The simulation results suggested that the correct land use classification is crucial for urban heat island modeling study. The UHI effect plays an important role in perturbing thermal and dynamic processes; it affects the location of thunderstorms and precipitation over the complex geographic environment in northern Taiwan.