Abstract
This study had two main purposes; the first was to pursue a cost - effective approach to developing observation and monitoring techniques for studying urban heat island (UHI) in large cities in developing countries, and the second was to document and characterize the UHI in summer in Shanghai, a expanding city, in order to find effective methods to mitigate the impact of UHI. The results of field observations in 2005 clearly showed that the UHI reached its greatest intensity on cloudless nights between 22:00 and 23:00 in July, between 0:00 and 3:00 in August. The maximum UHI intensity was over 4.3°C in July, and over 3.4°C depending on the wind speed and direction. In particular, the lower UHI intensity in parks developed after 19:30, and the greatest difference of mean UHI intensity between park and in central urban residential areas reached 1.5°C around 21:00 - 23:00 in July and August.
