Real-Time Thermal Mapping for Heat & Cool Archipelagos of Bengaluru, India

Abstract

Blessed with a salubrious climate, the city of Bengaluru over the past few decades has constantly witnessed thermal discomfort owing to several Urban Heat islands that have mushroomed within the city. The subsequent increase in builtup area, consequent loss of productive agricultural lands/green zones, encroachment of surface water bodies coupled with the ill-preparedness of decision makers to handle the demand for land have invariably crumbled the natural micro-climate of the city. In this present research, an attempt has been made to detect the distribution of Urban Heat Islands in Bengaluru City by conducting real-time survey at 100 observatories marked across the entire urban & rural locations; with thermohygrometers as per the W.M.O. guidelines. The study confirmed the violation of the Human Thermal Comfort Range in 9, 83, 98, 99, 98 and 80 observatories for the monitoring at 6 AM, 9 AM, 12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM and 9 PM respectively.

Keywords

• bengaluru
• islands
• heat
• thermal
• urban