Detection of urban heat island in Ankara, Turkey

Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey after Istanbul, and the rate of population increase and urbanization are quite high. In this study, the effects of urbanization on temperature variation due to urbanization in Ankara were investigated. The intensities of urban heat island (UHI) for long and short term were analyzed. Analysis of both long- and short-term data revealed that there is a significant increase in the intensity of UHI (Delta T(u-r)) in winter during the period analyzed. Analysis of data collected for period of October 2001-September 2002 shows that intensity of maximum UHI is in February. In this month, positive UHI was observed in 26 nights and on all these days wind speed was less than 0.5 ms(-1). UHI is positive in all seasons and frequency and intensity of UHI in winter are higher than in the other seasons. This characteristic makes Ankara different from other temperate latitude cities.