Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Atmospheric and Earth Science
Committee Chair
Udaysankar S. Nair
Committee Member
John Mecikalski
Committee Member
Aaron Kaulfus
Research Advisor
Udaysankar S. Nair
Subject(s)
Urban heat island--Remote sensing, Urban pollution--Remote sensing, Pollution--India--New Delhi
Abstract
New Delhi, India's capital, is a mega-city with complex urban environments and significant Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Urban Pollution Island (UPI) footprints. Over the past two decades, the city has experienced steady urban growth, increased land cover and green spaces, and rising pollution from local and interstate sources. Currently, a comprehensive multi-decadal analysis of the co-evolution of UHI and UPI in New Delhi is lacking. Such an analysis was conducted using a fusion of in situ data, NASA satellite products, and MERRA-2 reanalysis, reveals: 1) Significant trends of daytime cooling (decreasing by ~ 0.16 ∘C), nighttime warming (increasing by ~ 0.91 ∘C), increased particulate pollution ~4.54 μgm−3, and greening; 2) Daytime cooling is linked to enhanced rainfall, evapotranspiration, cloud and aerosol radiative forcing; 3) Nighttime warming is driven by increased aerosol longwave radiative forcing and heat capacity.
Recommended Citation
Yamineni, Saumya Omala, "A multi-decadal analysis of urban heat and pollution islands in New Delhi, India" (2024). Theses. 702.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/702