The relationship between land cover and the urban heat island in northeastern Puerto Rico

In this study, a retrospective analysis of the relationship between the land use/land cover (LULC) change and associated surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect in fast-growing Greater Hefei between 1995 and 2016 was performed. Our results reveal the heterogeneous patterns of LULC change. The concentric buffer-based urban–rural gradient analysis reveals that most of the newly emerging developed land occurred within downtown Hefei. In contrast, in three suburban municipality/county jurisdictions, the overall area change in the non-developed land was much lower, but the net increase in developed land is remarkable. Meanwhile, the spatiotemporal patterns of SUHI are in good agreement with that of the developed land, as evidenced by the notable increase in SUHI intensity (SUHII) levels and SUHI spatial extent (SUHISE) in response to the rapid urban expansion, particularly along transportation corridors. In addition, partial least square regression (PLSR) models indicate that the buffer-based predictors/independent variables are significantly related to the responses (SUHII and SUHISE), explaining approximately 61.3% of the variance in the SUHII and 79.8% of the variance in the SUHISE, respectively. Furthermore, the relative strength of the independent variables in determining the relationship was quantitatively examined. The findings of this study provide clear evidence for decision making for sustainable land development and mitigation of the SUHI effect.

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Utilizing Remotely Sensed Observations to Estimate the Urban Heat Island Effect at a Local Scale: Case Study of a University Campus

Land ◽

10.3390/land9060191 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 191

Author(s):

Abdullah Addas ◽

Ran Goldblatt ◽

Steven Rubinyi

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Urban Heat Island ◽

Land Surface ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

Landsat 8 ◽

Heat Island ◽

Spatial Coverage ◽

Green Vegetation ◽

Urban Heat ◽

The Relationship

The urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a significant focus of research in today’s era of climate change, and a key consideration for the next generation of urban planning focused on green and livable cities. UHI has traditionally been measured using in situ data and ground-based measurements. However, with the increased availability of satellite-based thermal observations of the Earth, remotely sensed observations are increasingly being utilized to estimate surface urban heat island (SUHI), using land surface temperature (LST) as a critical indicator, due to its spatial coverage. In this study, we estimated LST based on Landsat-8 observations to demonstrate the relationship between LST and the characteristics of the land use and land cover on the campus of King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We found a consistent variation of between 7 and 9 degrees Celsius for LST across campus, spanning all summer and winter seasons between 2014 and 2019. The LST correlates strongly with both green vegetation and built-up land cover, with a slightly stronger correlation with the latter. The relationship between LST and green vegetation has a notable seasonality, with higher correlation in the summer seasons compared to the winter seasons. Our study also found an overall increase in LST between 2014 and 2019, due to intentional changes in the built-up land cover, for example from the conversion of natural green surfaces to artificial surfaces. The findings of this study highlight the utility of the remotely sensed observation of LST to assess the SUHI phenomenon and can be used to inform future planning aimed at securing green and livable urban areas in the face of a changing climate.

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

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031099 ◽

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.

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Numerical simulation of the impact of land cover change on Urban Heat Island effect in Nanjing

2011 International Conference on Remote Sensing, Environment and Transportation Engineering ◽

10.1109/rsete.2011.5965261 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Zhihong Jiang ◽

Limei Ye ◽

Fei Huo

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Land Cover ◽

Urban Heat Island ◽

Land Cover Change ◽

Urban Heat Island Effect ◽

Heat Island ◽

Island Effect ◽

Urban Heat ◽

The Impact

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

10.21203/rs.3.rs-307151/v1 ◽

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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