Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies Division of Environment and Sustainability 235 Heat Index Estimation Supervisor: FUNG Jimmy Chi Hung / ENVR Co-Supervisor: LAU Alexis Kai Hon / ENVR Student: CHENG Siyu / MATH-AM Course: UROP 1000, Summer The heat index is influenced by multiple meteorological factors, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. Urban environments, particularly building shadows and terrain features, further modulate heat index variability at local scales. This study developed a high-resolution heat index estimation algorithm for Hong Kong, focusing on integrating shadow effects from buildings and terrain. The Pythonbased tool, pybdshadow, was employed to simulate building shadows in selected urban areas of Tseung Kwan O (TKO). Artificial terrain prototypes were used to test the tool's adaptability for terrain-induced shadow modeling. Findings indicate that while pybdshadow is robust for building shadow calculations, its utility for diverse terrain shadow simulations remains limited. This research underscores the need to incorporate terrain-inclusive shadow modeling to enhance urban heat index assessments. Heat Index Estimation Supervisor: FUNG Jimmy Chi Hung / ENVR Co-Supervisor: LAU Alexis Kai Hon / ENVR Student: CHIU Pak Long / DSCT Course: UROP 1100, Summer This study developed a temporal sunshine profile to estimate solar radiation at high spatial resolution in Hong Kong, accounting for the cooling effects of building shade. Using 3D building data and the open-source Python package pybdshadow, a shadow factor was introduced to quantify radiation reduction under shade. A rolling average was applied to represent lasting cooling effects. The model estimated radiation throughout daylight hours under clear-sky conditions and was validated against sunshine hours measured at 180 locations in Tung Tau (II) Estate, Wong Tai Sin, achieving a strong correlation (r = 0.894). Results demonstrate that building shade significantly influences spatial and temporal radiation patterns, providing a foundation for improved localized heat index estimation in dense urban environments. Heat Index Estimation Supervisor: FUNG Jimmy Chi Hung / ENVR Co-Supervisor: LAU Alexis Kai Hon / ENVR Student: CHOI Long Ho / COMP Course: UROP 1000, Summer In dense urban environments like Hong Kong, variations in sun exposure significantly affect local temperature. Areas with higher Sky-View Factors (SVF) feel hotter, while shaded areas with lower SVFs feel cooler. This study investigated temporal temperature estimation using an SVF-based approach. SVF was calculated using Johnson and Watson’s (1984) model, and solar radiation was derived based on the BeerLambert Law. Preliminary findings demonstrated a strong relationship between SVF and solar radiation, indicating the potential of SVF-based models for temperature estimation. Future work will include field validation with calibrated temperature sensors to further explore SVF’s thermal impact.
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