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Urban climate refers to climatic conditions in an urban area that differ from neighboring rural areas and come attributable to urban development. Urbanization tremendously changes the form of the landscape & likewise produces changes around an locality's air.

Temperature
Independent article: urban heat island

Populated area tend to exist as significantly warmly than their rural (& even suburban) surroundings, particularly at night. When people centers develop inside size from either village to town to city, it tend to have a corresponding increase witharound typical temperature (which is further typically welcome around wintertime months than in summertime). A United states EPA says: "On hot summer days, urban air can be 2-10°F [2-6°C] hotter than the surrounding countryside." Does'nt to exist as confused using global warming, scientists call for this phenomenon a "urban heat island effect." [http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ActionsLocalHeatIslandEffect.html]

Rainfall
Cities sop up great deal less a stream by the square metre than rural areas, as much of the babies is paved or even built in. Around a select few areas this creates a want for specific measures to reduce the chance of localised flooding during periods of heavily rain. Measures include a have of rainwater storage and drainage systems. Around occasionally areas this could require storm sewers to collect rainwater individually from either personal blackwater, to reduce the chance of contaminated water supply overflowing when you took periods of rain impenetrable plenty to overwhelm sewers.

Vegetation
Based on data from of these learn, a growing year around east coast U.s. cities is xv years hanker than in the encompassing rural areas. This is attributed to the heat. [http://www.livescience.com/environment/041026_Urban_Heat_Island.html]

Heat Island Group
Livermore National Labs research group site. Contains information from a Heat Island informational pamphlet. The group studies the extent of the heat island phenomena and the effectiveness of different ways of combatting it.

How Shiny Is L.A.?
Reports of surface albedo (reflectivity) of Los Angeles and California's South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB).

Project ATLANTA - Urban Heat Island Study
NASA's High Spatial Resolution Airborne Multispectral Thermal Infrared Data to Support Analysis and Modeling Tasks in EOS IDS Project ATLANTA.

Sustainable Urban Design and Climate
Australian Bureau of Meteology information on the impacts of climate on urban design.

Urban heat in Salt Lake City
NASA analysis of blistering - and refreshing - spots in Salt Lake City.

Sacramento urban heat island
California's capital glows - and has cool spots, too - in an aerial image from a study of how urban forests can help keep cities from overheating.

Climatic Design of Buildings - An Overview
An on-line course focusing on the effect of climate and architectural design upon each other in Hong Kong.

Scientists Watch Cities Make Their Own Weather
New York Times feature story about the urban heat island effect, focusing on Project ATLANTA. [Registration required -- free]

Stadtklima / Urban climate
English version of German urban climate study group resource page.

Urban Heat Islands - Melbourne, Australia
Quantitative study of the heat island in Melbourne, Australia


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Science: Environment: Global Change
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