Complete Urban Surface Temperatures

• Published in: Journal of applied meteorology (1988) Vol. 36; no. 9; pp. 1117 - 1132
• Main Authors: Voogt, J. A., Oke, T. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 01.09.1997
• Subjects: Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Forest canopy; Meteorology; Nadir; Other topics in atmospheric geophysics; Residential buildings; Roofs; Sensors; Surface areas; Surface temperature; Tall buildings; Temperature distribution; Vehicles; Canada; British Columbia; North America; America; Radiometry; Surface temperature; Atmospheric temperature; Urban atmosphere
• ISSN: 0894-8763; 1520-0450
• DOI: 10.1175/1520-0450(1997)036<1117:CUST>2.0.CO;2

An observation program using ground and airborne thermal infrared radiometers is used to estimate the surface temperature of urban areas, taking into account the total active surface area. The authors call this the complete urban surface temperature. This temperature is not restricted by the viewing biases inherent in remote sensors used to estimate surface temperature over rough surfaces such as cities. Two methods to estimate the complete surface temperature are presented. Results for three different land-use areas in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, show significant differences exist between the complete, nadir, and off-nadir airborne estimates of urban surface temperature during daytime. For the sites and times studied, the complete surface temperature is shown to agree with airborne off-nadir estimates of the apparent surface temperature of the most shaded walls. Some implications of using the complete surface temperature to estimate screen level air temperature and to calculate surface sensible heat flux are given.