scholarly journals The Impact of the Land Cover Dynamics on Surface Urban Heat Island Variations in Semi-Arid Cities: A Case Study in Ahmedabad City, India, Using Multi-Sensor/Source Data

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 3701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pir Mohammad ◽  
Ajanta Goswami ◽  
Stefania Bonafoni

This study examines the behavior of land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) from MODIS data over Ahmedabad city, Gujarat state (India), from 2003 to 2018. Summer and winter LST patterns were analyzed, both daytime and nighttime. Ahmedabad, one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in India, is characterized by a semi-arid climate. The investigation focuses on the SUHI variations due to warming or cooling trends of both urban and rural areas, providing quantitative interpretations by means of multi-sensor/source data. Land cover maps, normalized differential vegetation index, surface albedo, evapotranspiration, urban population, and groundwater level were analyzed across the years to assess their impact on SUHI variations. Moreover, a field campaign was carried out in summer 2018 to measure LST in several rural and urban sites. During summer daytime, the rural zone exhibits a higher average LST than the urban area, resulting in a mean negative SUHI, typical of arid cities, while a slight positive SUHI (mean intensity of 0.4 °C) during winter daytime is present. An evident positive SUHI is found only during summer (1.8 °C) and winter nighttime (3.2 °C). The negative SUHI intensity is due to the low vegetation presence in the rural area, dominated by croplands turning into bare land surfaces during the pre-monsoon summer season. Higher LST values in the rural area than in the urban area are also confirmed by the field campaign, with an average difference of about 5 °C. Therefore, the impact of the rural LST in biasing the SUHI is evident, and a careful biophysical interpretation is needed. For instance, within the urban area, the yearly intensity of the summer daytime SUHI is not correlated with the evapotranspiration, while the correspondent summer daytime LST exhibits a significant negative correlation (−0.73) with evapotranspiration. Furthermore, despite the city growth across the years, the urban area does not generally reveal a temporal increase of the magnitude of the heat island but an enlargement of its spatial footprint.

2021 ◽  
pp. 117802
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. El Kenawy ◽  
Juan I. Lopez-Moreno ◽  
Matthew F. McCabe ◽  
Fernando Domínguez-Castro ◽  
Dhais Peña-Angulo ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Jihadur Rashid ◽  
Sumaia Islam ◽  
Mohammad Atiqur Rahman

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Elhacham ◽  
Pinhas Alpert

<p>Over a billion people currently live in coastal areas, and coastal urbanization is rapidly growing worldwide. Here, we explore the impact of an extreme and rapid coastal urbanization on near-surface climatic variables, based on MODIS data, Landsat and some in-situ observations. We study Dubai, one of the fastest growing cities in the world over the last two decades. Dubai's urbanization centers along its coastline – in land, massive skyscrapers and infrastructure have been built, while in sea, just nearby, unique artificial islands have been constructed.</p><p>Studying the coastline during the years of intense urbanization (2001-2014), we show that the coastline exhibits surface urban heat island characteristics, where the urban center experiences higher temperatures, by as much as 2.0°C and more, compared to the adjacent less urbanized zones. During development, the coastal surface urban heat island has nearly doubled its size, expanding towards the newly developed areas. This newly developed zone also exhibited the largest temperature trend along the coast, exceeding 0.1°C/year on average.</p><p>Overall, we found that over land, temperature increases go along with albedo decreases, while in sea, surface temperature decreases and albedo increases were observed particularly over the artificial islands. These trends in land and sea temperatures affect the land-sea temperature gradient which influences the breeze intensity. The above findings, along with the increasing relative humidity shown, directly affect the local population and ecosystem and add additional burden to this area, which is already considered as one of the warmest in the world and a climate change 'hot spot'.</p><p> </p><p><strong>References:</strong></p><p>E. Elhacham and P. Alpert, "Impact of coastline-intensive anthropogenic activities on the atmosphere from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data in Dubai (2001–2014)", <em>Earth’s Future</em>, 4, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015EF000325</p><p>E. Elhacham and P. Alpert, "Temperature patterns along an arid coastline experiencing extreme and rapid urbanization, case study: Dubai", submitted.</p>


Author(s):  
Tao Chen ◽  
Anchang Sun ◽  
Ruiqing Niu

Man-made materials now cover a dominant proportion of urban areas, and such conditions not only change the absorption of solar radiation, but also the allocation of the solar radiation and cause the surface urban heat island effect, which is considered a serious problem associated with the deterioration of urban environments. Although numerous studies have been performed on surface urban heat islands, only a few have focused on the effect of land cover changes on surface urban heat islands over a long time period. Using six Landsat image scenes of the Metropolitan Development Area of Wuhan, our experiment (1) applied a mapping method for normalized land surface temperatures with three land cover fractions, which were impervious surfaces, non-chlorophyllous vegetation and soil and vegetation fractions, and (2) performed a fitting analysis of fierce change areas in the surface urban heat island intensity based on a time trajectory. Thematic thermal maps were drawn to analyze the distribution of and variations in the surface urban heat island in the study area. A Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis was used to extract the land cover fraction information. Then, six ternary triangle contour graphics were drawn based on the land surface temperature and land cover fraction information. A time trajectory was created to summarize the changing characteristics of the surface urban heat island intensity. A fitting analysis was conducted for areas showing fierce changes in the urban heat intensity. Our results revealed that impervious surfaces had the largest impacts on surface urban heat island intensity, followed by the non-chlorophyllous vegetation and soil fraction. Moreover, the results indicated that the vegetation fraction can alleviate the occurrence of surface urban heat islands. These results reveal the impact of the land cover fractions on surface urban heat islands. Urban expansion generates impervious artificial objects that replace pervious natural objects, which causes an increase in land surface temperature and results in a surface urban heat island.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surabhi Mehrotra ◽  
Ronita Bardhan ◽  
Krithi Ramamritham

Urbanization leads to the densification of built-up areas, and thereby increases surface heat island intensity which is one of the growing concerns in the rapidly urbanizing cities. Another notable aspect of cities like Mumbai is the uncontrolled growth of informal slum housing clusters, which have emerged as a significant urban built form in the landscape of cities. This study presents a case of Mumbai that aims to explore the linkages between slum housing—here referred as ‘slum urban form’ (SUF)—and surface urban heat island (SUHI) supported by spatial-statistical analysis. The magnitude of the impact of urban form on SUHI, measured by land surface temperature (LST), is examined using Cohen’s d index, which measures the effect size for two groups—SUF and ‘formal’ housing—on LST. The results confirm a ‘large’ effect indicating a significant difference in mean LST between the two groups. The spatial analysis reveals a statistically significant spatial clustering of LST and SUF ( p-value < 0.05), and bivariate local indicator of spatial association (LISA) confirms that the spatial association of SUF is surrounded by ‘high’ LST (Moran I: 0.49). The exploratory spatial analysis indicates that the contribution of SUF in elevating SUHI intensity is more than the formal housing areas and has increased vulnerability to heat stress. The results were validated on the ground using environmental sensors, which confirms the susceptibility of SUF to heat stress.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiting Wang ◽  
Yuanzhi Zhang ◽  
Jin Tsou ◽  
Yu Li

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongyu Du ◽  
Fengqi Zhou ◽  
Chunlan Li ◽  
Wenbo Cai ◽  
Hong Jiang ◽  
...  

In the trend of global warming and urbanization, frequent extreme weather influences the life of citizens seriously. Shanghai, as a typical mega-city in China that has been successful in urbanization, suffers seriously from the urban heat island (UHI) effect. The research concentrates on the spatial and temporal pattern of surface UHI and land use. Then, the relation between them are further discussed. The results show that for the last 15 years, the UHI effect of Shanghai has been increasing continuously in both intensity and area. The UHI extends from the city center toward the suburban area. Along with the year, the ratio in area of Agricultural Land (AL), Wetland (WL), and Bare Land (BL) has decreased. On the contrary, Construction Land (CL) and Green Land (GL) have increased. The average land surface temperature (LST) rankings for each research year from high to low were all CL, BL, GL, AL, and WL. CL contributed the most to the UHI effect, while WL and GL contributed the most to mitigate the UHI. The conclusion provides practical advice aimed to mitigate the UHI effect for urban planning authorities.


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