Variations of the Urban Heat Island in Summer of the Recent 10 Years over Beijing and Its Environment Effects

Abstract With observed temperature data of July and August in Beijing during 1993 to 2003, the interannual variability and the environment effects of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) are studied. The results show that with the rapid development of Beijing, the UHI has expanded to the outskirts and the horizontal distribution of UHI is characterized by multi‐center. In addition, the average UHI intensity becomes stronger and even the strong UHI can be seen during summer. The days with UHI and even strong UHI during summer increase, and the horizontal distribution and the intensity of UHI show a daily variation. The intensity of the strongest UHI during July also increases year by year. Because the UHI can make the temperature increase evidently in the city, the hot days (Tmax ≥ 35°C) in Beijing during summer increase accordingly. Furthermore, as shown in this paper, the station in Chaoyang district is no longer the representative of the urban areas due to the effect of surrounding vegetation. The result has a scientific reference to the development and planning of the Beijing city.