WRF-based scenario experiment research on urban heat island: A review

Urbanization leads to an increase in urban heat islands (UHIs), which is a cause for concern because they endanger the ecological environment and human health. Scenario experiments using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) can quantify the independent impact of each urbanization variable on a UHI and predict future urban climates under different urbanization scenarios. This study reviewed the literature on scenario experiments that focused on the impact of urbanization on UHIs. Based on existing research, urbanization is divided into five features: land use and land cover, urban morphology, canopy surface, anthropogenic heat release, and response to global warming. First, the type of urban canopy model, land use data, and input methods of the urban parameters used in the experiments for these five scenarios were evaluated. Second, the urbanization feature focused on each experiment as UHI-related indicators were analyzed. Finally, analysis was undertaken of the real-world scenarios (e.g., urban expansion and large-scale deployment of green roofs) that are specifically involved in each urbanization feature and those variables that are modified to design these experiments. The aim of this study was to assist researchers in selecting appropriate modeling methods and UHI-related indicators based on the urbanization features of their focus.