Monitoring Urban Heat Island Spatial Variability over Urban Structure Types – A Case Study from a Fast-growing City in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

Abstract

This study aims to assess the variation in the temperature patterns for different urban structure types (USTs) in Can Tho City, Vietnam. The study involves extracting thermal infrared data from Landsat imagery to determine the Land Surface Temperature (LST). Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) intensity is then calculated by analyzing the temperature differences between urban and non-urban areas. An overlay method was applied to analyze the variations in SUHI intensity within four distinct USTs categories: residential (R), public and special use (P), industrial (I), and green and open spaces (G), as defined based on 53 USTs derived in original data. The results highlight that the highest SUHI intensity was primarily concentrated in the industrial (I) areas, covering over 50% of the region, while residential (R) and public and special use (P) areas exhibited moderate SUHI intensity. Although the green and open space (G) category had a substantial area of open space, it still experienced a low-intensity SUHI, mainly concentrated in heavily sealed areas. This study provides valuable insights into the presence of SUHI in contemporary, rapidly developing cities. It underscores the significance of understanding and addressing SUHI issues, particularly useful for the real-world planning of urban environments.