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Title: What are hot and what are not in an urban landscape: quantifying and explaining the land surface temperature pattern in Beijing, China

Journal Article · · Landscape Ecology
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  2. Beijing Normal University, Beijing (China)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang (China)

Understanding how landscape components affect the urban heat islands is crucial for urban ecological planning and sustainable development. The purpose of this research was to quantify the spatial pattern of land surface temperatures (LSTs) and associated heat fluxes in relation to land-cover types in Beijing, China, using portable infrared thermometers, thermal infrared imagers, and the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer. The spatial differences and the relationships between LSTs and the hierarchical landscape structure were analyzed with in situ observations of surface radiation and heat fluxes. Large LST differences were found among various land-use/land-cover types, urban structures, and building materials. Within the urban area, the mean LST of urban impervious surfaces was about 6–12°C higher than that of the urban green space. LSTs of built-up areas were on average 3–6°C higher than LSTs of rural areas. The observations for surface radiation and heat fluxes indicated that the differences were caused by different fractions of sensible heat or latent heat flux in net radiation. LSTs decreased with increasing elevation and normalized difference vegetation index. Variations in building materials and urban structure significantly influenced the spatial pattern of LSTs in urban areas. By contrast, elevation and vegetation cover are the major determinants of the LST pattern in rural areas. In summary, to alleviate urban heat island intensity, urban planners and policy makers should pay special attention to the selection of appropriate building materials, the reasonable arrangement of urban structures, and the rational design of landscape components.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1265294
Journal Information:
Landscape Ecology, Vol. 30, Issue 2; ISSN 0921-2973
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 124 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (26)

A hierarchical analysis of the relationship between urban impervious surfaces and land surface temperatures: spatial scale dependence, temporal variations, and bioclimatic modulation journal March 2016
Relationships between landscape pattern metrics, vertical structure and surface urban Heat Island formation in a Colorado suburb journal May 2017
Remote sensing-based artificial surface cover classification in Asia and spatial pattern analysis journal April 2016
New Evidences on Anomalous Phenomenon of Buildings in Regulating Urban Climate From Observations in Beijing, China journal May 2019
Strong contributions of local background climate to the cooling effect of urban green vegetation journal May 2018
Detection of spatial-temporal variations in forest canopy surface temperature in response to urbanization: a case study from Longyan, China journal October 2019
Examining the impacts of urbanization on surface radiation using Landsat imagery journal August 2018
Urban expansion patterns of 291 Chinese cities, 1990–2015 journal November 2017
Analytical study of land surface temperature with NDVI and NDBI using Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS data in Florence and Naples city, Italy journal January 2018
Spatio-temporal analysis of land use dynamics and its potential indications on land surface temperature in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria journal December 2018
Vegetation role in controlling the ecoenvironmental conditions for sustainable urban environments: a comparison of Beijing and Islamabad journal January 2018
Analytical study of seasonal variability in land surface temperature with normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, normalized difference built-up index, and normalized multiband drought index journal May 2019
Changing Trends in Meteorological Elements and Reference Evapotranspiration in a Mega City: A Case Study in Shenzhen City, China journal January 2015
Overestimating Impacts of Urbanization on Regional Temperatures in Developing Megacity: Beijing as an Example journal February 2019
Nature-Based Designs to Mitigate Urban Heat: The Efficacy of Green Infrastructure Treatments in Portland, Oregon journal May 2019
Analysis of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Relation to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): A Comparative Study of Delhi and Mumbai journal April 2015
Satellite Remote Sensing of Surface Urban Heat Islands: Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives journal December 2018
Remote Sensing and Social Sensing Data Reveal Scale-Dependent and System-Specific Strengths of Urban Heat Island Determinants journal January 2020
Research on the Contribution of Urban Land Surface Moisture to the Alleviation Effect of Urban Land Surface Heat Based on Landsat 8 Data journal August 2015
Examining Urban Impervious Surface Distribution and Its Dynamic Change in Hangzhou Metropolis journal March 2016
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Land Use/Land Cover and Its Effects on Surface Urban Heat Island Using Landsat Data: A Case Study of Metropolitan City Tehran (1988–2018) journal November 2018
Seasonal and Diurnal Surface Temperatures of Urban Landscape Elements journal September 2019
Detection of spatial-temporal variations in forest canopy surface temperature in response to urbanization: a case study from Longyan, China text January 2019
Urban expansion patterns of 291 Chinese cities, 1990–2015 text January 2017
Detection of spatial-temporal variations in forest canopy surface temperature in response to urbanization: a case study from Longyan, China text January 2019
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