Hiroshima University
Japón
SEMBLANZA
E
merging economies in Southeast Asia are likely to see serious energy shortages, especially in terms of electricity, due to the rapid economic growth. Most of the cities in this region have a hot and humid climate, and the growing energy consumption caused by air-conditioning particularly for cooling in buildings is therefore a major concern. In the meantime, these cities are suspected of experiencing urban heat islands as a result of rapid urbanization. The further rise of urban temperature would lead to a significant increase in energy demand for cooling. Currently, these Southeast Asian cities tend to propose large-scale master plans and increase their urban population further.
Therefore, based on above-mentioned backgrounds, comprehensive collaborative studies on impacts of land use and land cover changes on urban heat islands in tropical Asian cities have been carried out by regional climate modeling with Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF). Moreover, the impacts of global warming on urban heat islands have been also investigated by conducting dynamical downscaling with WRF and urban canopy model.
