AN ANALYSIS OF URBAN CLIMATE FIELD SITES USING LOCAL CLIMATE ZONES: THE CASE OF KADUNA METROPOLIS.

Usman, S.U.*, Abdulhamed, A.I., Sawa, B.A. and Iguisi, E.O.

Differences in concentration of physical features made up of materials with higher thermal properties including buildings which also restrict wind flow, result in intra-urban variation of microclimatic conditions. This study used such land use/land cover characteristics in classifying the urban climate field sites of Kaduna metropolis according to local climate zones (LCZ) scheme. Data used for the classification include sky view factor obtained from sky view photographs taken with fish-eye length using BMSky view program, percentages of built surfaces, paved areas, vegetated surfaces and bare land surfaces obtained from QuickBird satellite imagery using ArcGIS 10.1. Other data are roughness height and traffic density obtained through observation and zone function obtained from land use map of the metropolis. The study identified and selected ten LCZs which include; LCZ2, LCZ3, LCZ4, LCZ5, LCZ6, LCZ7, LCZ8, LCZ9 and LCZ10 which mostly consist of higher proportions of man-made land use/land cover types such as built-up and paved surfaces and to a lesser extent vegetated and bare land surfaces. There are also varying degrees of anthropogenic activities which modify the microclimate such as traffic flow, commercial and industrial activities. The last one is LCZD which consist of natural surfaces only. The results demonstrate that LCZ system adequately suited the city. This classification is good especially for observational urban heat island (UHI) studies as the distinguishing features of the classification provide logical basis for discussing microclimatic variations. In order to produce a universal system of classification, more classification efforts are needed from tropical cities.

Key words: Classification System, Inter-zone, Local climate zones, Metadata.