Modeling the climate impacts of deploying solar reflective cool pavements in California cities
Abstract
Solar reflective “cool pavements” have been proposed as a potential heat mitigation strategy for cities. However, previous research has not systematically investigated the extent to which cool pavements could reduce urban temperatures. In this study we investigated the climate impacts of widespread deployment of cool pavements in California cities. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model, we simulated the current climate of California at 4 km spatial resolution. Comparing this simulation to 105 weather stations in California suggested an overall mean bias (model minus observation) of –0.30°C. Widespread pavement albedo increases of 0.1 and 0.4 in California cities were then simulated. Comparing temperature reductions for each scenario showed that the climate response to pavement albedo modification was nearly linear. Temperature reductions at 14:00 local standard time were found to be 0.32°C per 0.1 increase in grid cell average albedo. Temperature reductions were found to peak in the late morning and evening when (a) boundary layer heights were low and (b) solar irradiance (late morning) and heat accumulation in the pavement (evening) was high. Temperature reductions in summer were found to exceed those in winter, as expected. After scaling the results using realistic data-derived urban canyon morphologies and an off-line urbanmore »
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); California Air Resources Board; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1608258
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1402150
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; 12-314; CBET-1512429; CCF-1539608
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 122; Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-897X
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; heat mitigation; urban climate; cool pavements; albedo modification; urban heat island; climate change
Citation Formats
Mohegh, Arash, Rosado, Pablo, Jin, Ling, Millstein, Dev, Levinson, Ronnen, and Ban-Weiss, George. Modeling the climate impacts of deploying solar reflective cool pavements in California cities. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/2017JD026845.
Mohegh, Arash, Rosado, Pablo, Jin, Ling, Millstein, Dev, Levinson, Ronnen, & Ban-Weiss, George. Modeling the climate impacts of deploying solar reflective cool pavements in California cities. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026845
Mohegh, Arash, Rosado, Pablo, Jin, Ling, Millstein, Dev, Levinson, Ronnen, and Ban-Weiss, George. 2017.
"Modeling the climate impacts of deploying solar reflective cool pavements in California cities". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026845. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1608258.
@article{osti_1608258,
title = {Modeling the climate impacts of deploying solar reflective cool pavements in California cities},
author = {Mohegh, Arash and Rosado, Pablo and Jin, Ling and Millstein, Dev and Levinson, Ronnen and Ban-Weiss, George},
abstractNote = {Solar reflective “cool pavements” have been proposed as a potential heat mitigation strategy for cities. However, previous research has not systematically investigated the extent to which cool pavements could reduce urban temperatures. In this study we investigated the climate impacts of widespread deployment of cool pavements in California cities. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model, we simulated the current climate of California at 4 km spatial resolution. Comparing this simulation to 105 weather stations in California suggested an overall mean bias (model minus observation) of –0.30°C. Widespread pavement albedo increases of 0.1 and 0.4 in California cities were then simulated. Comparing temperature reductions for each scenario showed that the climate response to pavement albedo modification was nearly linear. Temperature reductions at 14:00 local standard time were found to be 0.32°C per 0.1 increase in grid cell average albedo. Temperature reductions were found to peak in the late morning and evening when (a) boundary layer heights were low and (b) solar irradiance (late morning) and heat accumulation in the pavement (evening) was high. Temperature reductions in summer were found to exceed those in winter, as expected. After scaling the results using realistic data-derived urban canyon morphologies and an off-line urban canyon albedo model, annual average surface air temperature reductions from increasing pavement albedo by 0.4 ranged from 0.18°C (Palm Springs) to 0.86°C (San Jose). We note the variation among cities was due to differences in baseline climate, size of the city, urban fraction, and urban morphology.},
doi = {10.1002/2017JD026845},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1608258},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres},
issn = {2169-897X},
number = 13,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Wed May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Works referenced in this record:
Summer-time climate impacts of projected megapolitan expansion in Arizona
journal, August 2012
- Georgescu, M.; Moustaoui, M.; Mahalov, A.
- Nature Climate Change, Vol. 3, Issue 1
Corrigendum: The use of reflective and permeable pavements as a potential practice for heat island mitigation and stormwater management
journal, December 2013
- Li, H.; Harvey, J. T.; Holland, T. J.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 4
A New Vertical Diffusion Package with an Explicit Treatment of Entrainment Processes
journal, September 2006
- Hong, Song-You; Noh, Yign; Dudhia, Jimy
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 134, Issue 9
Environmental impacts of reflective materials: Is high albedo a ‘silver bullet’ for mitigating urban heat island?
journal, July 2015
- Yang, Jiachuan; Wang, Zhi-Hua; Kaloush, Kamil E.
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 47
A Modification to the NOAH LSM to Simulate Heat Mitigation Strategies in the New York City Metropolitan Area
journal, February 2009
- Lynn, Barry H.; Carlson, Toby N.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia
- Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 48, Issue 2
Episodic Performance and Sensitivity of the Urbanized MM5 (uMM5) to Perturbations in Surface Properties in Houston Texas
journal, January 2008
- Taha, Haider
- Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 127, Issue 2
Surface Urban Heat Island Across 419 Global Big Cities
journal, December 2011
- Peng, Shushi; Piao, Shilong; Ciais, Philippe
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 46, Issue 2
Urbanization and global environmental change: local effects of urban warming
journal, March 2007
- Grimmond, Sue
- The Geographical Journal, Vol. 173, Issue 1
The integrated WRF/urban modelling system: development, evaluation, and applications to urban environmental problems
journal, January 2011
- Chen, Fei; Kusaka, Hiroyuki; Bornstein, Robert
- International Journal of Climatology, Vol. 31, Issue 2
Remote sensing of the urban heat island effect across biomes in the continental USA
journal, March 2010
- Imhoff, Marc L.; Zhang, Ping; Wolfe, Robert E.
- Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 114, Issue 3
Preparatory meteorological modeling and theoretical analysis for a neighborhood-scale cool roof demonstration
journal, June 2018
- Millstein, Dev; Levinson, Ronnen
- Urban Climate, Vol. 24
The potential for air-temperature impact from large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaic arrays in urban areas
journal, May 2013
- Taha, Haider
- Solar Energy, Vol. 91
Micrometeorological simulations to predict the impacts of heat mitigation strategies on pedestrian thermal comfort in a Los Angeles neighborhood
journal, February 2016
- Taleghani, Mohammad; Sailor, David; Ban-Weiss, George A.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 11, Issue 2
Effect of high-albedo materials on pedestrian heat stress in urban street canyons
journal, December 2014
- Erell, Evyatar; Pearlmutter, David; Boneh, Daniel
- Urban Climate, Vol. 10
The effectiveness of cool and green roofs as urban heat island mitigation strategies
journal, May 2014
- Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie; Oppenheimer, Michael
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 5
On the Use of Cool Materials as a Heat Island Mitigation Strategy
journal, November 2008
- Synnefa, A.; Dandou, A.; Santamouris, M.
- Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 47, Issue 11
Meso-urban meteorological and photochemical modeling of heat island mitigation
journal, December 2008
- Taha, Haider
- Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 42, Issue 38
Atlanta’s urban heat island under extreme heat conditions and potential mitigation strategies
journal, May 2009
- Zhou, Yan; Shepherd, J. Marshall
- Natural Hazards, Vol. 52, Issue 3
Quality and sensitivity of high-resolution numerical simulation of urban heat islands
journal, May 2014
- Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 5
Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave
journal, July 1997
- Mlawer, Eli J.; Taubman, Steven J.; Brown, Patrick D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 102, Issue D14
Mitigation of urban heat islands: materials, utility programs, updates
journal, August 1995
- Rosenfeld, Arthur H.; Akbari, Hashem; Bretz, Sarah
- Energy and Buildings, Vol. 22, Issue 3
Pseudovertical Temperature Profiles and the Urban Heat Island Measured by a Temperature Datalogger Network in Phoenix, Arizona
journal, January 2005
- Fast, Jerome D.; Torcolini, Joel C.; Redman, Randy
- Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 44, Issue 1
Urban adaptation can roll back warming of emerging megapolitan regions
journal, February 2014
- Georgescu, M.; Morefield, P. E.; Bierwagen, B. G.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 8
Strong contributions of local background climate to urban heat islands
journal, July 2014
- Zhao, Lei; Lee, Xuhui; Smith, Ronald B.
- Nature, Vol. 511, Issue 7508
Thermal remote sensing of urban climates
journal, August 2003
- Voogt, J. A.; Oke, T. R.
- Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 86, Issue 3
Experimental testing of cool colored thin layer asphalt and estimation of its potential to improve the urban microclimate
journal, January 2011
- Synnefa, Afroditi; Karlessi, Theoni; Gaitani, Niki
- Building and Environment, Vol. 46, Issue 1
Cool communities: strategies for heat island mitigation and smog reduction
journal, August 1998
- Rosenfeld, Arthur H.; Akbari, Hashem; Romm, Joseph J.
- Energy and Buildings, Vol. 28, Issue 1
City size and the urban heat island
journal, August 1973
- Oke, T. R.
- Atmospheric Environment (1967), Vol. 7, Issue 8
Field measurement of albedo for different land cover materials and effects on thermal performance
journal, January 2013
- Li, H.; Harvey, J.; Kendall, A.
- Building and Environment, Vol. 59
Regional climate consequences of large-scale cool roof and photovoltaic array deployment
journal, July 2011
- Millstein, Dev; Menon, Surabi
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 3
Synergistic Interactions between Urban Heat Islands and Heat Waves: The Impact in Cities Is Larger than the Sum of Its Parts*
journal, September 2013
- Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie
- Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 52, Issue 9
Influence of street setbacks on solar reflection and air cooling by reflective streets in urban canyons
journal, March 2017
- Rosado, Pablo J.; Ban-Weiss, George; Mohegh, Arash
- Solar Energy, Vol. 144
The Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality–Related Meteorological Conditions in California. Part I: Present Time Simulation Analysis
journal, July 2011
- Zhao, Zhan; Chen, Shu-Hua; Kleeman, Michael J.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 24, Issue 13
Simulated Urban Climate Response to Modifications in Surface Albedo and Vegetative Cover
journal, July 1995
- Sailor, David J.
- Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 34, Issue 7
Urban Surface Modification as a Potential Ozone Air-quality Improvement Strategy in California: A Mesoscale Modelling Study
journal, January 2008
- Taha, Haider
- Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 127, Issue 2
Citywide Impacts of Cool Roof and Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Deployment on Near-Surface Air Temperature and Cooling Energy Demand
journal, April 2016
- Salamanca, F.; Georgescu, M.; Mahalov, A.
- Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 161, Issue 1
Impact of a cool roof application on the energy and comfort performance in an existing non-residential building. A Sicilian case study
journal, December 2013
- Romeo, C.; Zinzi, M.
- Energy and Buildings, Vol. 67
Revisiting the climate impacts of cool roofs around the globe using an Earth system model
journal, August 2016
- Zhang, Jiachen; Zhang, Kai; Liu, Junfeng
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 11, Issue 8
A Simple Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model For Atmospheric Models: Comparison With Multi-Layer And Slab Models
journal, December 2001
- Kusaka, Hiroyuki; Kondo, Hiroaki; Kikegawa, Yokihiro
- Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 101, Issue 3
Investigating the climate impacts of urbanization and the potential for cool roofs to counter future climate change in Southern California
journal, December 2016
- Vahmani, P.; Sun, F.; Hall, A.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 11, Issue 12
Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island
journal, January 2003
- Arnfield, A. John
- International Journal of Climatology, Vol. 23, Issue 1
Coupling a Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model with a Simple Atmospheric Model: Impact on Urban Heat Island Simulation for an Idealized Case
journal, January 2004
- Kusaka, Hiroyuki; Kimura, Fujio
- Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Vol. 82, Issue 1
Reflective ‘cool’ roofs under aerosol-burdened skies: radiative benefits across selected Indian cities
journal, October 2014
- Millstein, D. E.; Fischer, M. L.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 10
Cooling the cities – A review of reflective and green roof mitigation technologies to fight heat island and improve comfort in urban environments
journal, May 2014
- Santamouris, M.
- Solar Energy, Vol. 103
Urban climates and heat islands: albedo, evapotranspiration, and anthropogenic heat
journal, January 1997
- Taha, Haider
- Energy and Buildings, Vol. 25, Issue 2
Prognostic Evaluation of Assumptions Used by Cumulus Parameterizations
journal, March 1993
- Grell, Georg A.
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 121, Issue 3
Energy and environmental consequences of a cool pavement campaign
journal, December 2017
- Gilbert, Haley E.; Rosado, Pablo J.; Ban-Weiss, George
- Energy and Buildings, Vol. 157
Remotely sensing the cooling effects of city scale efforts to reduce urban heat island
journal, March 2012
- Mackey, Christopher W.; Lee, Xuhui; Smith, Ronald B.
- Building and Environment, Vol. 49
Meteorological, emissions and air-quality modeling of heat-island mitigation: recent findings for California, USA
journal, April 2013
- Taha, H.
- International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Impact of remotely sensed albedo and vegetation fraction on simulation of urban climate in WRF-urban canopy model: A case study of the urban heat island in Los Angeles: SATELLITE-SUPPORTED URBAN CLIMATE MODEL
journal, February 2016
- Vahmani, P.; Ban-Weiss, G. A.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 4
Climatic consequences of adopting drought-tolerant vegetation over Los Angeles as a response to California drought: Climate Impacts Drought-Tolerant Plants
journal, August 2016
- Vahmani, P.; Ban-Weiss, G.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 15