Accelerating urbanization seriously intensifies urban heat island effects in China, which in turn affects regional environment and human health. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of atmospheric urban heat island effects remain poorly understood in China as previous research is mostly based on satellite-sensed radiation temperatures. Using long-term daily meteorological observations from 1960 to 2017, this study explored the geographical distribution of atmospheric urban heat islands over diurnal, intra-annual, and inter-annual timescales in 84 major cities in China. The results show that on average, the intensity of the urban heat island reaches(0.9±1.1)℃, although large geographical variations were detected. The intensity was, overall, larger in northern China than in southern China; North China showed the largest annual intensity of(1.4±1.4)℃, and seasonal intensity variations were high in northeast and northwest China. Here, significantly higher intensity effects were measured at night[(1.2±1.1)℃] than during the day[(0.5±1.2)℃], and in summer than winter during the day, and in winter than summer during the night. Inter-annually, the annual mean urban heat island effect has increased by an average of 0.040℃ per decade, although this trend weakens after 2009. Furthermore, we found that the spatial patterns of atmospheric heat island intensity was greatly affected by climatic background conditions and the location of meteorological stations, while the long-term trends were strongly influenced by the impervious surface area. This study improves understanding of the atmospheric urban heat island effect in China and provides important insights for formulating urban land-use strategies to alleviate high temperatures and heatwaves.
Keywords: atmospheric temperature; impact factor; spatial and temporal pattern; urban heat island; urbanization.