IACM
Colloquium
Speaker: Prof. Matthias Roth, National University of Singapore
Research interests: Climate change and urbanization
Title: Mapping
the Urban Heat Increment - Singapore Case Study
Abstract:
Creating city-wide maps of the canopy-layer urban
heat island, or the spatial variation of air temperature within the canopy
layer, generally requires the use of an urban climate model. This model must be
able to resolve the complex energy exchanges between the urban surface and the
atmosphere as well as the detailed atmospheric physics near the city surface at
a sub-kilometer resolution. As a result, significant computational resources
are necessary. Simpler statistical approaches are available but often
restricted to specific weather conditions (e.g. maximum nighttime urban heat
island intensity). Here we use a computationally and methodologically simple
approach which relates local climate zones to canopy-layer air temperature to
generating maps of the urban heat increment in reference to a specific local
climate zone across Singapore Island for different periods of the day,
different seasons and weather conditions. By utilizing historical land cover
maps alongside projections for future urban development, it is possible to
estimate how this temperature increase has evolved over time and how it may
change in the future. Finally, by integrating global warming projections,
future canopy-layer air temperatures can be determined. The presentation will
show how urban heat levels have changed during Singapore's rapid development
over the past 60 years, alongside future projections using recent
high-resolution local climate projections for this tropical area. Results
suggest a present-day extra warming of ~1.0ºC due to the presence of urban
areas across Singapore Island, when considering area-weighted distribution of
LCZs and all-weather daily averages. This urban-induced warming is therefore of
similar magnitude to that caused by anthropogenic global warming.
Short Bio: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/711-matthias-roth
Time & Location: 15:00, June 16, 2026, Room C. Fotakis, FORTH Campus
Host: Nektarios Chrysoulakis