Generating a modified weather data file for urban building design and sustainable urban planning accounting for the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect

The paper focuses on the different urban design factors that contribute to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and correct these to reference weather data for different parts of a city. Building on from the research project currently on-going in Ningbo, one metropolitan area of China, this paper aims to provide algorithms to link factors such as “Distance from City Centre”, “Surrounding Albedo”, “Land Use of the Area (residential, commercial, industry, recreational etc.)”, “Sky View Factor” and “Month in the Year” to predict the UHI intensity for any site compare to a reference site. Field measurements have been in progress in Ningbo, where sensors were placed in 29 strategically-decided locations around the city to collect air temperature and relative humidity for a complete year. By using Genetic Programming (GP), the relationship between all the different factors and the actual UHI intensity at different days and different times will be studied to derive empirical algorithms. The paper will also introduce an idea of designing a prediction model where urban heat island intensity for any sites can be generated through inputting necessary parameters.