Spatiotemporal variability of air temperature during a heat wave in real and modified landcover conditions: Prague and Brno (Czech Republic)

Abstrakt

More frequent and severe heat waves rank among the most serious impacts of climate change in Central Europe. At the same time, increasing awareness of the importance of municipalities acting in climate change adaptation leads to a higher demand for urban climate modelling. In this study we use MUKLIMO_3 model for a simulation of spatiotemporal pattern of air temperature in Prague and Brno. Our aim is to simulate theoretical land cover modifications and their potential impacts on air temperature during a heat wave event. The model suggests that an albedo increased by 0.25 leads to a difference of −0.2 °C in daily average temperature in both Prague and Brno while an albedo increased by 0.5 leads to a daily average temperature difference of −0.5 °C in Prague and − 0.4 °C in Brno. Increasing the number of trees by 30% generally leads to higher temperatures during daytime and lower temperatures during night-time. In most neighbourhoods the cooling effect of additional trees was 0.0 °C to −0.2 °C on the daily average. In some cases of compact midrise development, additional trees might even cause an increase in temperature. This fact underlines the importance of careful individual assessment of adaptation measures before their implementation at particular locations.