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IJESD 2016 Vol.7(11): 810-815 ISSN: 2010-0264
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2016.7.11.886
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2016.7.11.886
An Analysis of Urban Cooling Island (UCI) Effects by Water Spaces Applying UCI Indices
D. Lee, K. Oh, and J. Seo
Abstract—An urban cooling island (UCI) involves an area
that has a lower temperature compared with its surroundings.
The UCI effect is created from shading effects by urban trees or
evapotranspiration effects by green space and water spaces.
Water spaces such as stream and lakes in particular play an important role in creating urban cool islands because water spaces have higher evapotranspiration rates than green spaces. The objective of this study is to present planning and management information on water spaces to mitigate urban heat islands (UHI), by analyzing their effects on air temperature due to water space characteristics.
To achieve this, the UCI effects of urban water spaces were analyzed by applying UCI indices such as UCI scale, temperature difference, and UCI intensity. Next, considerations for composing and managing water spaces to mitigate urban heat islands were identified through analysis of the relationship between UCI indices and characteristics of water spaces such as area, perimeter, shape, and width.
The results show that larger water spaces are more useful in reducing urban heat. In addition, more complex water spaces were found to be more efficient than simple ones. The results of this study can be applied to analyze priority areas for the creation or restoration of new water spaces. It can be also utilized as a planning guideline for designing water spaces.
Index Terms—Air temperature, GIS (geographic information systems), temperature reduction, UCI (urban cooling island), urban water spaces.
D. Lee is with the Research Institute of Spatial Planning and Policy, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (e-mail: estevan0705@ hotmail.com).
K. Oh and J. Seo are with the Department of Urban Planning and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (e-mail: ksoh@hanyang.ac.kr, silver_0328@naver.com).
Water spaces such as stream and lakes in particular play an important role in creating urban cool islands because water spaces have higher evapotranspiration rates than green spaces. The objective of this study is to present planning and management information on water spaces to mitigate urban heat islands (UHI), by analyzing their effects on air temperature due to water space characteristics.
To achieve this, the UCI effects of urban water spaces were analyzed by applying UCI indices such as UCI scale, temperature difference, and UCI intensity. Next, considerations for composing and managing water spaces to mitigate urban heat islands were identified through analysis of the relationship between UCI indices and characteristics of water spaces such as area, perimeter, shape, and width.
The results show that larger water spaces are more useful in reducing urban heat. In addition, more complex water spaces were found to be more efficient than simple ones. The results of this study can be applied to analyze priority areas for the creation or restoration of new water spaces. It can be also utilized as a planning guideline for designing water spaces.
Index Terms—Air temperature, GIS (geographic information systems), temperature reduction, UCI (urban cooling island), urban water spaces.
D. Lee is with the Research Institute of Spatial Planning and Policy, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (e-mail: estevan0705@ hotmail.com).
K. Oh and J. Seo are with the Department of Urban Planning and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (e-mail: ksoh@hanyang.ac.kr, silver_0328@naver.com).
Cite: D. Lee, K. Oh, and J. Seo, "An Analysis of Urban Cooling Island (UCI) Effects by Water Spaces Applying UCI Indices," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 810-815, 2016.
