The Impact of Albedo Increase to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island in Terni (Italy) Using the WRF Model

作者：E. Morini, Ali G. Touchaei, B. Castellani, F. Rossi, F. Cotana · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.3390/su8100999 · 被引用次数：117 · 研究领域：Environmental Science

The impacts of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon on energy consumption, air quality, and human health have been widely studied and described. Mitigation strategies have been developed to fight the UHI and its detrimental consequences. A potential countermeasure is the increase of urban albedo by using cool materials. Cool materials are highly reflective materials that can maintain lower surface temperatures and thus can present an effective solution to mitigate the UHI. Terni’s proven record of high temperatures along with related environmental and comfort issues in its urban areas have reflected the local consequences of global warming. On the other hand, it promoted integrated actions by the government and research institutes to investigate solutions to mitigate the UHI effects. In this study, the main goal is to investigate the effectiveness of albedo increase as a strategy to tackle the UHI, by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model to simulate the urban climate of Terni (Italy). Three different scenarios through a summer heat wave in the summer of 2015 are analyzed. The Base Scenario, which simulates the actual conditions of the urban area, is the control case. In the Albedo Scenario (ALB Scenario), the albedo of the roof, walls and road of the whole urban area is increased. In the Albedo-Industrial Scenario (ALB-IND Scenario), the albedo of the roof, walls and road of the area occupied by the main industrial site of Terni, located in close...