Effects Of Land Cover Change On Summer Urban Heat Island Intensity And Heat Index In Seoul Metropolitan Area, Korea

This study investigates the impacts of land cover change due to urbanization on the Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII) and the Heat Index (HI) over the Seoul metropolitan area using the Unified Model (UM) with the Met Office Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme (MORUSES) during the heat wave from 16, July to 5, August 2018. Two simulations are performed with the late 1980s land-use (EXP1980) and the late 2000s land-use (EXP2000). EXP2000 is verified using Automatic Weather Station (AWS) data from 85 points in the study area, and observation sites are classified into two categories according to the urban fraction change over 20 years; Category A is 0.2 or less increase, and Category B is 0.2 or more increase. The 1.5-m temperature and relative humidity in Category B increase by up to 1.1 degrees C and decreased by 7% at 1900 LST and 2000 LST, respectively. This means that the effect of the urban fraction changes is higher at night. UHII increases by up to 0.3 degrees C in Category A and 1.3 degrees C in Category B at 1900 LST. Analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the heat store for a short time during the daytime and release at nighttime with upward sensible heat flux. As a result of the HI, there is no significant difference between the two experiments during the daytime, but it increases 1.6 degrees C in category B during the nighttime (2200 LST). The results indicate that the urbanization increase both UHII, and HI, but the times of maximum difference between EXP1980 and EXP2000 are different.