Paper Title
Surveying the Thermal Properties of an Urban Heat Island Vertical Structure Influenced by Subtropical Solar Radiation
Abstract
Man-made structures and paved surfaces in urbanized areas create a situation where heat from solar radiation does
not readily dissipate and instead accumulates, causing the urban heat island effect. Much past research has investigated how
features of the earth’s surface play a role in the urban heat island effect, yet most of this research focuses only on the surface of
the urban area. This study analyses collected data for climatic factors and visualized data of an urban vertical structure in order
to explore the relationship between thermal energy distribution in a subtropical urban vertical environment and environmental
factors. In order to understand the flow and location of thermal energy in an urban vertical environment and influencing
factors, this study uses a remote-controlled drone Phantom 4 Pro to measure an urban thermal environment’s vertical space
structure. It then creates distribution figures for temperature, humidity, and enthalpy of an urban thermal environment’s
vertical structure. The research results indicate that parameter distribution for the two profiles of an urban vertical structure and
the earth’s surface properties are closely related. Apart from human influences, the main source for an urban heat island is an
increase in thermal capacity. Vegetation can mitigate enthalpy of dry air yet is unable to effectively reduce enthalpy of moist
air. Home to a subtropical climate with high humidity, Taiwan must consider issues related to latent heat, as the enthalpy of
moist air impacts the comfort of those who live on the island. How much urban wind fields can mitigate an urban heat island
depends on topography, the area’s size, buildings, and vegetation. Heat in urban areas caused by a heat island can be driven out
with ventilation from wind power and thermal buoyancy. Improved remote sensing technology has allowed us to garner more
precise measurement data, and, in the future, we will be able to predict urban heat island heat distribution flow and influencing
factors, which will be the basis for methods dealing with heat dissipation in an urban climate’s vertical space.
Index Terms - Urban heat island, thermal capacity, enthalpy, temperature gradient, air convection