Kenobi Isima Morris

Effect of vegetation and waterbody on the garden city concept: An evaluation study using a newly developed city, Putrajaya, Malaysia

The garden city concept was adopted in the development of a new tropical city, Putrajaya, aimed at mitigating the effect of urban thermal modification associated with urbanisation, such as urban heat island (UHI). WRF/Noah/UCM coupled system was used to estimate the urban environment over the area and the individual thermal contributions of natural land use classes (vegetation and waterbody). A control experiment including all land use types describing the urban conditions of Putrajaya city agreed well with the observations in the region. A series of experiments was then conducted, in which vegetation and waterbody were successively replaced with an urban land use type, providing the basis for an assessment of their respective effect on urban thermal mitigation. Surface energy components, 2-m air temperature (T2m) and mixing ratio (Q2m), relative humidity (RH) and UHI intensity (UHII) showed variations for each land use class. Overall, an increase in urban surfaces caused a corresponding increase in the thermal conditions of the city. Conversely, waterbody and vegetation induced a daily reduction of 0.14 and 0.39 °C of T2m, respectively. RH, UHI and T2m also showed variations with urban fractions. A thermal reduction effect of vegetation is visible during mornings and nights, while that of water is minimally shown during daytime. However, during nights and mornings, canopy layer thermal conditions above waterbody remain relatively high, with a rather undesirable effect on the surrounding microclimate, because of its high heat capacity and thermal inertia.

Integrating Weather Research and Forecasting Model, Noah Land Surface Model and Urban Canopy Model for Urban Heat Island Effect Assessment

Despite increased interest on the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon, there are limited UHI studies on cities built using the green-city concept of Sir Ebenezer Howard [1]. The administrative capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya is one of such cities built using the green-city concept. The objective of this study was to confirm the effectiveness of the green city concept using the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) numerical technique. Numerical mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model was coupled with Noah land surface model and a single layer urban canopy model (UCM) to investigate the existence and distribution of UHI, and the behavior of urban canopy layer (2-m) temperature of Putrajaya city. Few studies have been conducted using the NCAR numerical technique (WRF) to explore Malaysian climatology. Suitability of the model employed in studying UHI phenomenon of Putrajaya city was determined using in-situ study of the area, and observational data from AlamSekitar Malaysia SdnBhd (ASMA). Contribution of urban fabrics on the spatial and temporal variations of UHI was also investigated. Comparison with ASMA and in-situ data revealed a satisfactory performance of the model.UHI intensity (UHII) of Putrajaya exhibits a diurnal profile; increasing during the night to a peak value and then diminishing towards morning with a negligible value in the mid-day. In the night time, the UHII ranges from Original Research Article

Interaction of Urban Heating and Local Winds During the Calm Intermonsoon Seasons in the Tropics

Rapid urbanization of cities has greatly modified the thermal and dynamic profile in the urban boundary layer. This paper attempts to study the interaction of urban heating and the local topographic-induced flow circulation for a tropical coastal city, Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) in Malaysia. The role of sea and valley breezes-orientated synoptic flow (SBOS) on the interaction is determined by comparing two inter-monsoon periods. A state-of-art numerical model, Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF-ARW) is used to identify the influence of urbanization through modification of urban surfaces. The model reasonably reproduces the vertical sounding data and near surface weather parameters. The diurnal urban heating pattern is attributed to three predominant factors: (i) weak under calm and clear sky condition (morning heating), (ii) weak under larger atmospheric moisture content (late afternoon convection), (iii) largest (1.4 °C) due to differential cooling rate of urban and rural surface at night. The interaction of urban thermals and upper level SBOS affects the effect of urbanization on local circulation during the day. The urban thermals reduce the weak opposing SBOS ( 2 ms-1) suppresses the vertical lifting of urban thermals and decelerates the sea breeze front. It is discovered that the interaction of urban heating and topographic-induced flow is inter-dependent while the synoptic flow plays a critical role in modifying both factors respectively.