Exploring the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect in Port Louis, Mauritius

Abstract

Although many methods for heat island study have been developed, there is little attempt to link the findings to actual and hypothetical scenarios of urban developments which would help to mitigate the UHI in cities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the UHI at two sites with similar geometries within Mauritius, with emphasis on the difference in ambient air temperature. The measurements of these parameters contributing to heat island formation over the urban areas of Port Louis and Plaisance were established from mathematical relationships between them. The mathematical models were then tabulated to show the temperature rise emanating from Urban Heat Island in Port Louis.

Keywords: Urban Heat Island, Port Louis, Urbanisation, Energy management