Intensity of Urban Heat Islands in Tropical and Temperate Climates.

International audienceNowadays, most of the Earth’s population lives in urban areas. The replacement ofvegetation by buildings and the general soil sealing, associated with human activity, lead to a rise incities temperature, resulting in the formation of urban heat islands. This article aims to evaluate theintensity and the hourly maintenance of the atmospheric heat islands in two climates: one tropical(Presidente Prudente, Brazil) and one temperate (Rennes, France) throughout 2016. For this, airtemperature and hourly averages were measured and calculated using both a HOBO datalogger(U23-002—protected under the same RS3 brand) and weather stations Davis Vantage PRO 2. The dailyevolution of the heat islands presented characteristics that varied according to the hours and seasonsof the year. For both Rennes and Presidente Prudente, the largest magnitudes occurred overnight,being more greatly expressed in the tropical environment and during the driest months (winter inthe tropical city and summer in the temperate one). The variability of synoptic conditions from onemonth to another also leads to a great heterogeneity of UHI intensity throughout the year