Impact of climate and anthropogenic changes on urban surface albedo assessed from time-series MODIS satellite data

Abstract

Urbanization may be considered the most significant anthropogenic force that has brought about fundamental changes in urban land cover and landscape pattern around the globe, being one of the crucial issues of global change in the 21st century affecting urban ecosystem. In the physical climate system, land surface albedo determines the radiation balance of the surface and affects the surface temperature and boundary-layer structure of the atmosphere. Due to anthropogenic and natural factors, urban land covers changes result is the land surfaces albedo changes. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the albedo patterns dynamics due to the impact of atmospheric pollution and climate variations on land cover of Bucharest metropolitan area, Romania based on satellite remote sensing MODIS Terra/Aqua (Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer) data over 2000–2014 time period. This study is based on MODIS derived biogeophysical parameters land surface BRDF/albedo products and in-situ monitoring ground data (as air temperature, aerosols distribution, relative humidity, etc.). For urban land cover changes over the same investigated period have been used also IKONOS satellite data. Due to deforestation in the periurban areas albedo changes appear to be the most significant biogeophysical effect in temperate forests. As the physical climate system is very sensitive to surface albedo, urban/periurban vegetation systems could significantly feedback to the projected climate change modeling scenarios through albedo changes.