Analytical approach for evaluating temperature field of thermal modified asphalt pavement and urban heat island effect

This paper aims to present an analytical approach to predict temperature fields in asphalt pavement and evaluate the effects of thermal modification on near-surface environment for urban heat island (UHI) effect. The analytical solution of temperature fields in the multi-layered pavement structure was derived with the Green's function method, using climatic factors including solar radiation, wind velocity, and air temperature as input parameters. The temperature solutions were validated with an outdoor field experiment. By using the proposed analytical solution, temperature fields in the pavement with different pavement surface albedo, thermal conductivity, and layer combinations were analyzed. Heat output from pavement surface to the near-surface environment was studied as an indicator of pavement contribution to UHI effect. The analysis results show that increasing pavement surface albedo could decrease pavement temperature at various depths, and increase heat output intensity in the daytime but decrease heat output intensity in the nighttime. Using reflective pavement to mitigate UHI may be effective for an open street but become ineffective for the street surrounded by high buildings. On the other hand, high-conductivity pavement could alleviate the UHI effect in the daytime for both the open street and the street surrounded by high buildings. Among different combinations of thermal-modified asphalt mixtures, the layer combination of high-conductivity surface course and base course could reduce the maximum heat output intensity and alleviate the UHI effect most.