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Arid Land Geography ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2): 316-326.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.02.03

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Temperature variation and urban heat island effect in Nur-Sultan during 1973 to 2015

Akida ASKAR1,2(),Talgat ABZHANOV3,WANG Yongdong1(),ZHAO Yongcheng1,LEI Jiaqiang1   

  1. 1. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
    3. Saken Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical University, Nursultan 010000, Kazakhstan
  • Received:2020-05-10 Revised:2020-08-09 Online:2021-03-25 Published:2021-04-14
  • Contact: Yongdong WANG E-mail:ak1da_0_0@163.com;wangyd@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Nur-Sultan is the capital of Kazakhstan, located in the arid and semi-arid grassland areas of northern Kazakhstan. The city has a harsh climate and is one of the coldest capitals in the world. Nur-Sultan has developed rapidly from a small town with fewer than 40000 people to an international metropolis with a population of one million. In the context of global climate change, the arid zone is one of the most sensitive areas to climate change and human activities. An investigation of the temperature changes and urban heat island effect in Nur-Sultan can be used to examine the impact of urbanization on urban climate change in arid regions. Moreover, typical cases and research results can provide a scientific basis for the future urban construction of Nur-Sultan and develop strategies to adapt to climate change. On the other hand, although most studies investigated the climate change and national development status of Central Asia or Kazakhstan, there are few reports on the effects of climate change and urban heat islands before and after the relocation of Nur-Sultan. This study is based on the daily temperature data of Nur-Sultan City and Akkol Town from 1973 to 2015, and the urban development data of Nur-Sultan City from 2000 to 2015. Regression analysis, seven-point quadratic smoothing, sliding T-test, Mann-Kendall mutation test, Morlet wavelet analysis, and other methods were used to study the characteristics and causes of the regional temperature changes and the urban heat island intensity. The results showed that the annual average temperature of Nur-Sultan did not change significantly under the background of a significant increase in temperature of the Northern Hemisphere and Central Asia during the same period, but there were significant changes in the annual average maximum, minimum temperature, and daily temperature range. Moreover, the impact of temperature changes under globalization was manifested mainly in the increased polarization. The annual average heat island intensity of Nur-Sultan showed a significant weakening trend because of the weakening of the winter heat island intensity. In contrast, the weakening of the winter heat island intensity was affected mainly by the change in winter temperature at the comparison station. This was attributed to the urban development of Nur-Sultan.

Key words: arid land, temperature change, heat island intensity, cold island effect, Nur-Sultan