Remote sensing study of the impact of vegetation on thermal environment in different contexts

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2018-02, Vol.121 (2), p.22009
• Main Authors: Xie, Qijiao, Wu, Yingjiao, Zhou, Zhixiang, Wang, Zhengxiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Forest protection; Grasslands; Image acquisition; Land surface temperature; Landsat; Landsat satellites; Normalized difference vegetative index; Remote sensing; Satellite imagery; Satellites; Thermal environments; Urban heat islands; Urban planning; Vegetation; Vegetation index
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/121/2/022009

Satellite remote sensing technology provides informative data for detecting the land surface temperature (LST) distribution and urban heat island (UHI) effect remotely and regionally. In this study, two Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired on September 26, 1987 and September 17, 2013 were used to derive LST and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values in Wuhan, China. The relationships between NDVI and LST were examined in different contexts, namely built-up area, farmland, grassland and forest. Results showed that negative correlations between the mean NDVI and LST were detected in all observed land covers, which meant that vegetation was efficient in decreasing surface temperatures and mitigating UHI effect. The cooling efficiency of vegetation on thermal environment varied with different contexts. As mean NDVI increased at each 0.1, the decreased LST values in built-up area, farmland, grassland and forest were 1.4 °C, 1.4 °C, 1.1 °C, 1.9 °C in 1987 and 1.4 °C, 1.7 °C, 1.3 °C, 1.8 °C in 2013, respectively. This finding encourages urban planners and greening designers to devote more efforts in protecting urban forests.