Role of Fog in Urban Heat Island Modification in Kraków, Poland

ABSTRACT

The impact of fog on relief modified urban heat island (RMUHI) in Kraków has been presented using fog observations at 06 UTC from two meteorological stations: a rural one (Balice, B) and an urban one (Botanical Garden, BG) from the period 2006–2015. Daily UHI magnitude for the valley floor for the same period was estimated as T_minBG–T_minB, while for the period 2010–2015, eight daily courses of UHI were available, for the urban areas in the valley floor and 50 m above it, together with air temperature inversion data. UHI data for days with various combinations of fog occurrence and weather conditions were compared using non-parametric statistical tests: Wald-Wolfowitz test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and U Mann-Whitney test. Data of 2010–2015 were also the subject of cluster analysis (k-means method). Fog is an important factor decreasing UHI magnitude by about 1 K but mainly during weather conditions with little or no cloudiness and small wind speed or atmospheric calm, during anticyclonic synoptic situations, and only in the valley floor areas. With an increase in cloudiness and wind speed, the role of fog decreases and is similar in all parts of the city.