How to quantify the relationship between spatial distribution of urban waterbodies and land surface temperature?

Abstract

Urban waterbodies can effectively mitigate the increasing UHI effects and thus enhance climate resilience of urban areas. To contribute to our limited understanding in cooling effect of waterbodies on surrounding thermal environments, we examine the quantitative relationship between the spatial distribution of urban waterbodies and the land surface temperature (LST) in Wuhan, China. This paper 1) applies two indicators, the fractional water cover and the gravity water index, for measuring the spatial distribution of urban waterbodies; 2) conducts simple linear regression and spatial regression analyses to explore the LST-water relationship at multiple scales; and 3) compares the individual regression results from different land use types. The results show that the spatial distribution of urban waterbodies affects the LST significantly, and the gravity water index sufficiently explains the LST variation at various scales. Furthermore, the impact of urban waterbody distribution on the LST does vary across different land use types. Conclusions from this study provide insights of the cooling effect of urban waterbodies, which can further assist city planners and decision makers in utilizing cooling effects of waterbodies to improve the thermal environment of urban areas.