Observation of diurnal variation of urban microclimate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

To realise sustainable urban architecture and design in tropical climate conditions, a quantitative understanding of the urban microclimate of a real tropical city through long-Term measurements is crucial. The target city of this work, which is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is classified to be within the tropical rainforest climate zone. Data were collected for a full-year study (March 2014 - February 2015) using a weather station installed in a university campus located in Kuala Lumpur. Parameters such as air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, and rainfall were recorded and analysed at hourly, daily, and monthly time scales. The results showed that the ranges of the urban microclimate parameters were large: The average wind speed ranged between 0 - 2 m/s, solar radiation was 100 - 200 W/m2 and relative humidity 60 - 90 %. The results suggest that the urban microclimatic parameters were influenced by both monsoon seasons and the urban surface.