Characterizing the Urban Climate of Kuwait: Urban Morphology and Thermal Variations

Unpacking the relationship of urban built form configurations in influencing thermal conditions is important, particularly in Hot Urban Deserts (HUDS) where other heat amelioration strategies relating to landscaping or materialization have been found controversial. Characterizing the urban thermal environment of the city state of Kuwait as presented in this study will allow for a timely and an a priori assessment of the latent magnitude of heat amelioration strategies. By utilizing the natural heterogeneity of urban surfaces and morphological patterns found in Kuwait to question their role in local air temperature elevations, the study will be able to inform a context specific predictive tool for heat mitigation assessment. Research grade Kestrel Drop (D3) wireless sensors with shielding and placement protocol following that of Hall et al., (2016) will be deployed in and around Kuwait City from June-September, 2018. These sensors are sited across six distinct morphological typologies recording 5 minute air temperature and relative humidity observations. The study also utilizes the presence of an existing fixed station network in Kuwait using an ad hoc adjustment approach by pairing pre-calibrated sensors to the fixed stations for one month to determine offset values, if any. The latter benefits from an existing meteorological network in Kuwait that operates within all frameworks and regulations of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to report on multiple morphological variables over longer and continuous periods. By having the possibility of yearlong analysis with reliable and representative air temperature records, the study will be able to capture seasonal thermal behaviors to address optimization challenges between summer, winter and the transitional seasons. The presentation will share the initial findings of the field study and preliminary analysis on thermal spatial variability in relation to morphological attributes as well as the variances and drivers of heating/cooling rates. In doing so, it will be able to display the drivers of thermal variability in Kuwait City by statistically analyzing the difference in rates with defined morphological factors. Observations will be regressed against distance from heat sources and sinks such as the distance inland from the coast in an attempt to reduce variable sea effects on temperature records and normalizing the records to a standard distance from the coast.