Analysis of the effect of distance from the beach and elevation on surface urban heat island in Makassar city and its surroundings

Abstract

The effects of global warming are shown by increasing temperatures in various regions, especially urban areas. Beside urbanization, topography of a region also had an effect on Land Surface Temperature (LST). LST is the main indicator of Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) effect. SUHI can be quantified into a standard value by utilizing the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). The effect of SUHI in urban areas close to the coast is usually influenced by the topography, one of which is elevation and distance from the sea. But the extent it affected the SUHI still needed to be explored. Through this research we analyze how elevation and distance from the beach affected SUHI in the coastal city of Makassar and the regency bordering it. We used elevation data from DEM to match the spatial resolution of the LST. The distance from the beach is calculated from visual observation of the same imagery. Relationship between these variables was analyzed by applying the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) analysis. The UTFVI value variable in this study acts as the dependent variable, while the elevation and distance values act as independent variables. The results of the OLS analysis show that the distance and elevation variables have a simultaneous influence on the UTFVI variable with a regression coefficient of 74.04%. These two effects show a negative influence, where the greater the elevation and distance values, the lower the UTFVI value. Future studies should explore more topographical variables and utilized more complex spatial statistics analysis.