Parametric investigation of Urban Heat Island dynamics through TEB 1D model for a case study: Assessment of adaptation measures

At present, the urban population has to cope with the effects caused from Urban Heat Island (UHI), poor air
quality and increased frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather and climate events. The expected increase
of these extremes in areas of the planet and the way to adapt to them has emphasized the need to investigate in
detail the climate of the cities. Local vulnerability and risk assessments, supported by using regional climate
models at very high resolution, are key to support development and implementation of effective local adaptation
measures to make well-adapted and climate-resilient cities, i.e. more sustainable ones. This study aims to provide
some quantitative information on the effectiveness of main local adaptation measures to reduce the magnitude of
UHI, in terms of temperature and energy fluxes. The investigation was conducted by adopting the TEB 1D model
for the Toulouse city case-study. Different urban configurations and adaptation measures have been considered
in the model set up. The results confirm that different adaptation measures may reduce the temperature on the
town elements during the daylight hours; among the different measures, the green roof prevent the radiative
cooling, increasing the roof night temperature and contributing to the night UHI.

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