Student Research Reports
Exploring the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Trend in Taiwan's Capital
Organization(s):Hsin Tien Senior High School
Country:Taiwan Partnership
Student(s):Erh-Hoa Kao, Chia-Yu Chang
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Educator(s):Neil Chen
Contributors:Pei-Yi Pai
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:Air Temperature
Presentation Poster:
View Document
Language(s):English
Date Submitted:03/05/2025
Studies on the urban heat island (UHI) effect in Taiwan primarily focus on short-term analysis, typically covering a period of about one month. Additionally, many references do not clearly define the distinction between urban and rural areas.
We analyzed the UHI index in Taipei City from May 2020 to December 2022, calculated using the monthly average temperature from the Taipei Station of the Central Weather Administration (CWA) minus the monthly average temperature from HTSH DAVIS Station. We then incorporated gridded surface station data to compensate for areas without meteorological stations. The second version of the TCCIP gridded dataset was selected, and grid points above 100 meters in elevation were removed to prevent altitude from affecting temperature estimations. Within the urban area below 100 meters, the highest and lowest temperature grid points were selected to calculate UHI intensity.
Our findings indicate that 2020–2023 surface station data showed a declining trend in the UHI index, while 1960–2022 gridded data exhibited an increasing trend. This discrepancy led us to further investigate the possible causes. At the same time, we hope to increase the density of meteorological stations to make the data more reflective of everyday life.