Development of Pavement-Surface Temperature Predictive Models: Parametric Approach

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has been causing a change in the urban climate resulting in urban heat islands (UHIs). In the area of transportation pavement infrastructure and its effect on UHI, the impact of these changes can be reduced by using road materials that are low-temperature sensitive. Previous studies indicated that an increase in the impervious nature of urban grounds is one of the main causes of UHI, which is principally affected by pavement surface temperatures. Further, the associated predictive models focused on pavement temperature profiles along the depth of the system, discounting surface parameters such as solar flux and surrounding air temperature. This study established pavement-surface temperature models based on meteorological factors, which can be used to estimate heat energy flux from different pavement materials and systems. The models encompassed more than 670 data points, which were robust and represented low bias and very high precision (depicted by Radj2≥98% and Se/Sy≤0.13), and were found to be rational through a validation process undertaken using the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) climate database. The models were also used to estimate the heat energy flux released by various pavement systems and helped in the recommendation of a pavement-surface type that would be a suitable UHI mitigation strategy.