Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
7-2006
Abstract
The temporal variability of the canopy‐level urban heat island (UHI) of Singapore is examined for different temporal scales on the basis of observations during a 1‐year period. Temperature data obtained from different urban areas (commercial, Central Business District (CBD), high‐rise and low‐rise housing) are compared with ‘rural’ reference data and analysed with respect to meteorological variables and differences in land use. The results indicate that the peak UHI magnitude occurs 3–4 h (>6 h) after sunset in the commercial area, (at other urban sites). Higher UHI intensities generally occur during the southwest monsoon period of May–August, with a maximum of ∼7 °C observed in the commercial area under ideal meteorological conditions. Variations in seasonal precipitation explain some of the differences in urban–rural cooling. No clear relationship between urban geometry and UHI intensity can be seen, and intra‐urban variations of temperature are also shown to be influenced by other site factors, e.g. the extent of green space and anthropogenic heat. Lastly, results from the present study are compared with UHI data from other tropical and mid‐latitude cities.
Keywords
urban heat island, tropical urban climate, temperature, Singapore
Discipline
Asian Studies | Environmental Sciences
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
International Journal of Climatology
Volume
26
Issue
15
First Page
2243
Last Page
2260
ISSN
0899-8418
Identifier
10.1002/joc.1364
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
CHOW, Winston T. L., & ROTH, Matthias.(2006). Temporal dynamics of the urban heat island of Singapore. International Journal of Climatology, 26(15), 2243-2260.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3068
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1364