Characteristics of nocturnal urban heat island of Iaşi during a summer heat wave (1-6 of august 2017)

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate in details the specific of the nocturnal urban heat island in Iaşi city area during a particular heat wave in summer time. For this, we have conducted a series of expeditionary measurements on air temperature for the interval between 1 and 6 of August 2017 which was charaterized by excessive heat conditions. Air temperature measurements were made around midnight time and were performed along westeast transects crossing the city.The main results show an intensity of 3-4°C for the nocturnal urban heat island of Iaşi during heat wave condition. Beside this, the structure of the urban heat island was also influenced by the atmospheric stability which enhanced the occurence thermal inversion phenomena. In these conditions more dense cold air descends on the rivers valleys generating strong cooling of 4.0-5.0°C in low area of the city comparatively to the city center.

Keywords

• UHI
• heat waves
• thermal inversions
• field observations