Quantifying urban heat island intensity in Hong Kong SAR, China

This paper addresses the methodological concerns in quantifying urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Hong Kong SAR, China. Although the urban heat island in Hong Kong has been widely investigated, there is no consensus on the most appropriate fixed point meteorological sites to be used to calculate heat island intensity. This study utilized the Local Climate Zones landscape classification system to classify 17 weather stations from the Hong Kong Observatory’s extensive fixed point meteorological observation network. According to the classification results, the meteorological site located at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters is the representative urban weather station in Hong Kong, whereas sites located at Tsak Yue Wu and Ta Kwu Ling are appropriate rural or nonurbanized counterparts. These choices were validated and supported quantitatively through comparison of long-term annual and diurnal UHI intensities with rural stations used in previous studies. Results indicate that the rural stations used in previous studies are not representative, and thus, the past UHI intensities calculated for Hong Kong may have been underestimated.