Developing an Index to Measure Urban Heat Island Effect Using Satellite Land Skin Temperature and Land Cover Observations

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (18) ◽  
pp. 6193-6201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Menglin S. Jin
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Skin Temperature ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Screen Level ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Abstract A new index of calculating the intensity of urban heat island effects (UHI) for a city using satellite skin temperature and land cover observations is recommended. UHI, the temperature difference between urban and rural regions, is traditionally identified from the 2-m surface air temperatures (i.e., the screen-level temperature T2m) measured at a pair of weather stations sited in urban and rural locations. However, such screen-level UHI is affected by the location, distance, and geographic conditions of the pair of weather stations. For example, choosing a different pair of rural and city sites leads to a different UHI intensity for the same city, due to the high heterogeneity of the urban surface temperature. To avoid such uncertainty, satellite-observed surface skin temperature measurements (i.e., skin level temperature Tskin) is recommended to record UHI, known as skin-level UHI or UHIskin. This new index has advantages of high spatial resolution and aerial coverage to better record UHI intensity than T2m. An assessment of skin-level UHI from 10 yr of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations reveals that skin-level UHI has a strong UHI signal during the day and at night. In addition, there are significant diurnal and seasonal variations in skin-level UHI. Furthermore, the skin-level UHI is stronger during the day and summer (July) than during nighttime and winter. This new index is important for more uniformly assessing UHIs over cities around the globe. Nevertheless, whether the seasonality and diurnal variations revealed in this work using skin-level UHI index are valid over desert cities, such as Phoenix, Arizona, need to be examined.

scholarly journals SUMMER URBAN HEAT ISLAND OF GALAȚI CITY (ROMANIA) DETECTED USING SATELLITE PRODUCTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-27
Author(s):  
Ștefănel–Claudiu Crețu ◽  
Pavel Ichim ◽  
Lucian Sfîcă
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
The City

The paper presents the main features of the urban heat island of Galați city during the summer season for a period of 16 years (2003-2018) using MODIS products. The main objectives were to analyse the extension and geometry of the urban heat island (UHI), its intensity, as well as its connection with land cover. The study is based on LST (Land Surface Temperature), a product obtained from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors located on board of the Terra (EOS AM-1) satellite since 2001 and Aqua (EOS PM-1) satellite since 2003. The boundaries, geometry and spatial extent of the UHI were delimited primarily through the Rodionov test. Through this method, the changing points along four transects over Galați city were identified (North-South, East-West, Northeast-Southwest and Northwest-Southeast) and have been used to delimitate the UHI. Overall, the Galați UHI assessed by satellite information is stronger during the day when the UHI is split in two centres, developed over the industrial area in the west and over the residential part of the town in the east, while during the night the UHI is weaker being developed more clearly over the oldest part of the city. One of the major characteristics of the Galați UHI is that it is highly influenced by the water bodies encircling the city. During the day the intensity of UHI reaches 2-2.5°C while during the night decreases below 2.0°C. The relation of the UHI with land cover and the attenuation of UHI in the surrounding area are also investigated.

scholarly journals A Case Study of the Upwind Urbanization Influence on the Urban Heat Island Effects along the Suzhou–Wuxi Corridor

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Yan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Tai Lake ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Vertical Wind Speed ◽  
Surface Skin Temperature ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

AbstractThe urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the most significant phenomena caused by urbanization. This study investigated the UHI effect in the Suzhou–Wuxi area, China, on 19–20 August 2010. Using a combination of meteorological station observations and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface skin temperature observations, this study demonstrated that an upwind UHI had an exacerbating influence on the downwind UHI during the study period. Numerical simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model also proved the importance of an upwind UHI influence on the leeward UHI in this area. For the near-surface UHI, the windward UHI effect is stronger at night than during the daytime because the background atmospheric stratification is more stable and the local lake breeze is weaker at night. However, in the daytime, a greater stability formed over the downwind city because of the warmer air heated by the windward urban area in the upper part of the planetary boundary layer and the cooler air transported from Tai Lake and the rural area in the lower part of the boundary layer. In comparison with the heating effect of a single city, the upwind UHI led to a decrease in the vertical wind speed of approximately 30% (from 0.15 to 0.10 m s−1) in the upper boundary layer over the downwind city and also reduced the near-surface turbulent movement by 25% (from 0.73 to 0.55 m2 s−2). These results improve the understanding of the overall influence of urban clusters on local synoptic/climate processes.

scholarly journals Cooling Effect of Different Land Cover Types: A Case Study in Xi’an and Xianyang, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1099
Author(s):  
Yuhe Ma ◽  
Mudan Zhao ◽  
Jianbo Li ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Lifa Hu
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Cooling Effect ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Island Effect ◽  
Urban Heat

One of the climate problems caused by rapid urbanization is the urban heat island effect, which directly threatens the human survival environment. In general, some land cover types, such as vegetation and water, are generally considered to alleviate the urban heat island effect, because these landscapes can significantly reduce the temperature of the surrounding environment, known as the cold island effect. However, this phenomenon varies over different geographical locations, climates, and other environmental factors. Therefore, how to reasonably configure these land cover types with the cooling effect from the perspective of urban planning is a great challenge, and it is necessary to find the regularity of this effect by designing experiments in more cities. In this study, land cover (LC) classification and land surface temperature (LST) of Xi’an, Xianyang and its surrounding areas were obtained by Landsat-8 images. The land types with cooling effect were identified and their ideal configuration was discussed through grid analysis, distance analysis, landscape index analysis and correlation analysis. The results showed that an obvious cooling effect occurred in both woodland and water at different spatial scales. The cooling distance of woodland is 330 m, much more than that of water (180 m), but the land surface temperature around water decreased more than that around the woodland within the cooling distance. In the specific urban planning cases, woodland can be designed with a complex shape, high tree planting density and large planting areas while water bodies with large patch areas to cool the densely built-up areas. The results of this study have utility for researchers, urban planners and urban designers seeking how to efficiently and reasonably rearrange landscapes with cooling effect and in urban land design, which is of great significance to improve urban heat island problem.

scholarly journals Ecological impact evaluation of urban heat island in Dhaka city; a spatio-temporal approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Jihadur Rashid ◽  
Sumaia Islam ◽  
Mohammad Atiqur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Dhaka City ◽  
Ecological Conditions ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Urban heat island (UHI) is one of the major causes for deteriorating ecology of the rapidly expanding Dhaka city in the changing climatic conditions. Although researchers have identified, characterized and modeled UHI in the study area, the ecological evaluation of UHI effect has not yet been focused. This study uses land surface normalization techniques such as urban thermal field variance (UTFVI) to quantify the impact of UHI and also identifies vulnerable UHI areas compared to land cover types. Landsat imageries from 1990 to 2020 were used at decadal intervals. Results of the study primarily show that intensified UHI areas have increased spatially from 33.1–40.9% in response to urban growth throughout the period of 1990 to 2020. Extreme surface temperature values above 31°C have also been shown in open soils in under-construction sites for future developmental purposes. UTFVI is categorized into six categories representing UHI intensity in relation to ecological conditions. Finally, comparative analysis between land use/land cover (LULC) with UTFVI shows that the ecological conditions deteriorate as the intensity of UHI increases in the area. The developed areas facing ecological threat have increased from 9.3–19.8% throughout the period. Effective mitigating measures such as increasing green surfaces and planned urbanization practices are crucial in this regard. This study would help policymakers to concentrate on controlling thermal exposure and on preserving sustainable urban life.

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