Urbanization and the atmospheric environment in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Throughout most of his existence on earth, man supported himself as another species with its own niche in the biosphere, functioning within the context of natural energy cycles. He began to shape the bio- sphere to his own ends when he began to domesticate plants and animals. Natural cycles were modified by systematic grazing, by cultivation, and by burning. In some cases, overgrazing and plowing in semi-arid regions have led to the spread of desert areas (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1978; Nicholson, 1978). Elsewhere, extensive forests have been cleared, resulting in widespread erosion and flooding. One area in which this interaction between man and his environment has become most appa- rent in recent years is the city. In an urban setting, the entire energy balance of the area is transformed from Q* = QE + QH + AQS ...............(1) for that of essentially a rural surface to Q* + QF = QE + QH + AQS ...............(2) where Q* is the net all-wave radiative heat flux density; QF is the anthropogenic heat flux density; QE, QH are the turbulent transports of latent and sensible heat flux density, respectively; and AQS is the net heat storage change in the volume expressed as an equivalent vertical flux through unit space area of its top.