Research on urban heat island effect during Beijing urbanization process by remote sensing and its impact on environmental health

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is becoming an influential factor on the city's environment along with the rapid development of urbanization process. This paper uses Landsat-5 TM RS image of the year 1988, 2007 and 2010 based on NDVI <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">TEM</sup> model and land temperature retrieval method to obtain Beijing land surface temperature distribution map through digital image processing and land surface temperature (LST) retrieval calculating using thermal infrared (TIR) remotely sensed satellite observation. The analysis showcases that urban heat island effect in Beijing has been dramatically intensified since 1988. Especially in recent years, the urban heat island effect has become increasingly apparent and seriously affected human's health in the way of changing temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind as well as air.