Urban Heat Island Magnitude and Discomfort in Enugu Urban Area, Nigeria.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the urban heat island magnitude and associated discomfort in Enugu Urban Area, Nigeria. The Study Design used was Survey Study. The study area was Enugu urban between months of February, March, June and July of 2010 and 2011.  Different sites were selected as experimental sites  in Enugu urban area and a reference station created in a rural like environment.  Also, the cooling degree days for Enugu was calculated for two years (January – December) 2010 and 2011.  The result showed a significant difference between the urban and rural temperature. The observed UHI reaches its peak intensity in the late evening and early night.  The air temperature difference between the urban and rural reaches maximum at 2100 hours and goes down gradually until reaching a minimum at 1400 hours.  The range of temperature across the study area is 2.0^0C.  The CDD analysis showed that Enugu urban has no month that is not discomforting. The level of discomfort experienced by the people of Enugu from UHI shows that they are always in discomfort from weather conditions. This is usually in the form of heat stress, heatstroke, heat cramps, fatigue, exhaustion and even death.  These impacts also have multiplier effects on labour and productivity as well as socio-economic development of the people.

Keywords: Urban heat Island, Comfort index, temperature, cooling degree days, Relative humidity, reference station.