Assessing urban surface energy balance in a tropical city: impacts on local atmospheric circulations

Urban environments have been found to significantly influence local weather patterns. However, the complex interactions between urban surfaces and the atmosphere, particularly in tropical cities which are often characterized by coastal and mountainous regions like Jakarta, remain poorly understood. This study employs the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the Town Energy Balance (TEB) scheme to investigate the impact of urban processes on meso-scale atmospheric circulations, such as sea and mountain breezes, with a focus on surface energy balance dynamics.

A preliminary study has been conducted to assess the accuracy and performance of the surface model by checking the convergence and numerical stability in both space and time. Results showed the importance of appropriately choosing the layer thickness distribution of the urban surfaces, with an exponential distribution performing very well.

We will explore how urban surfaces alter surface energy balance in Jakarta, which plays a key role in shaping weather patterns -- effects that are often underrepresented in current models. By integrating high-resolution numerical weather predictions of local circulations with enhanced urban surface representations, this research aims to improve the accuracy of urban climate predictions. Ultimately, the results will provide specific insights into how Jakarta’s urban infrastructure affects heat exchange and weather dynamics, helping the city to better adapt to and mitigate the challenges posed by climate extremes.