Spatiotemporal influences of land use/cover changes on the heat island effect in rapid urbanization area

Abstract

Rapid urban sprawl and growth led to substantial urban thermal environment changes and influenced the local climate, environment, and quality of life of residents. Taking the Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration in China as a case, this study firstly identified the spatiotemporal patterns of surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) and the land use/cover changes (LUCC) based on multi-temporal Landsat TM satellite data over 21 years, and then investigated the relationship between LUCC and SUHII by methods of logistic regression model and centroid shift analysis. The results showed that green spaces (e.g., cropland, forestland) of 899.13 km2 had been converted to built-up land during the 1994–2015 period, which caused significant urban expansion. The SUHII was the highest for built-up land, high for unused land, low for cropland and grassland, and the lowest for forestland and open water. Many areas experienced extensive rapid urbanization because of the emergence of the urban agglomeration, which resulted in the loss of green spaces and increased SUHI effects over the 21-year study period. In addition, the results of centroid shift analysis found that the growth of SUHII and the expansion of high SUHII areas are closely related to the expansion of an existing urban area in Xiangtan, while the increases of building density and height in Changsha resulted in the decrease of SUHII and spatiotemporal change of high SUHII areas. The analysis of the effects of land use/cover types on the SUHII in this study will contribute to future urban land use allocation for the mitigation of SUHI formation.