Assessment of Mutual Variation of Near-Surface Air Temperature, Land Surface Temperature and Driving Urban Parameters at Urban Microscale

Abstract

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is of critical concern for cities’ adaptation to climate change. The UHI effect shows substantial intra-urban variation at the city microscale, causing disparities in thermal comfort and energy consumption. Therefore, air temperature assessment should be prioritized for effective heat mitigation and climate adaptation. However, meteorological stations’ spatial distribution is far from meeting the scale that the UHI and its driving parameters operate. This limitation hampers demonstrating the intra-city variability of UHI and its origin of sources; for example, most studies employ Land Surface Temperature (LST), usually without demonstrating the relationship between UHI and LST. The current body of knowledge on urban climate implies a much better understanding and more detailed information on the spatial pattern of UHI and the driving factors to provide decision-makers with tools to develop effective UHI mitigation and adaptation strategies. In an attempt to address the adequacy of the use of LST and UPs in describing the intra-city variability of UHI, this study investigates the relationship between LST daytime and nighttime, and air temperature (Ta) daytime and nighttime, and driving urban parameters (UPs) of UHI together. Although it is well recognized that the intensity of the UHI is characterized by Ta, particularly at night, so-called nocturnal UHI, the use of remotely sensed LST is common, owing to the lack of spatially detailed Ta data in cities. Our findings showed that nocturnal UHI is weakly correlated with nighttime LST with a Pearson correlation (r) of 0.335 at p > 0.05 and that it is not correlated with daytime LST for the case study, highlighting the need for Ta observations for representing the intra-urban variation of nocturnal UHI. Among UPs, Sky View Factor (SVF), Building Volume Density (BVD), and Road Network Density (RND) explained 69% of the variability of Ta nighttime that characterizes nocturnal UHI. Therefore, UPs that performed well in estimating nocturnal UHI may be used in the absence of densely distributed Ta measurements. In a further investigation of the urban cooling phenomenon based on UHI diurnal changes, a particular region with high nighttime temperatures spoiled the Ta daytime and nighttime coherence. This region is characterized by high Mean Building Height (MBH), BFD, and BVD that re-emits heat, low SVF that prevents urban cooling, and high RND that releases extra heat at night. These particular UPs can be of prior interest for urban cooling. The present study, exploring the relationships of LST and Ta in a diurnal context, offers a further understanding of the preference of LST, Ta, or UPs to characterize UHI. Ta, in relation to major causative factors (UPs), provides insights into addressing the localities most vulnerable to the UHI effect and possible strategies targeting heat mitigation for sustainability and climate change resilience.