Thermal and Optical Remote Sensing: Evaluating Urban Green Spaces and Urban Heat Islands in a Changing Climate

• Other Authors: Odindi, John (Editor), Adam, Elhadi (Editor), Abdel-Rahman, Elfatih (Editor), Zhou, Yuyu (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: Research & information: general; Biology, life sciences; Ecological science, the Biosphere; land-use efficiency; urban sprawl; Landsat; SDG 11; Google Earth Engine; park cooling island; driving factors; land surface temperate; buffer analysis; Jinan; surface urban heat island frequency; surface urban heat island intensity; all-weather land surface temperature; spatiotemporal variations; factor analysis; land surface temperature; urban heat island; surface urban heat island; local climate zones; local climate zone generator; fractional vegetation cover; urbanization; climate change; vegetation change; WUDAPT; thermal environment; urban climate; intensity analysis; urban growth; step-by-step downscaling of LST; urban spatial morphology; random forests; neighborhood function; multitemporal classification; vegetation; built-up; bare soils; Marrakesh; cool roofs; urban heat islands; land surface temperatures; roof colour; mitigation; ArborCam; high-resolution airborne imagery; morphological spatial pattern analysis; golf courses; vegetation structure
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

This reprint focuses on the theoretical principles and practical adoption of remote sensing approaches and datasets in understanding the nexus between urbanization, natural landscapes, urban micro-climate, climate change and Urban Heat Islands. Urbanization, characterized by natural landscape transformation, influences thermodynamics, surface energy and micro- and macro climate perturbations. These changes result in environmental deterioration that in turn adversely affects bio-physical processes and quality of urban life. A major consequence of urbanization is the Urban Heat Island (UHI). It is anticipated that the increased UHIs, in concert with the increasing anthropogenic activities, will further increase the vulnerability of urban landscapes to climate-related disasters such as floods and heatwaves. Recent advances in optical and thermal remotely sensed datasets offer great potential in understanding the relationship between urban bio-physical characteristics and UHIs. Hence, this reprint provides a basis for understanding urban ecological and thermal patterns, which is critical for the management of urban physical, ecological and social processes within a remotely sensed data framework. This reprint should be of interest to both specialists and generalists interested in, among other fields, urban planning, ecological conservation, the urban micro-climate, and climate change.