Does the spatial arrangement of urban landscape matter? examples of urban warming and cooling in phoenix and las vegas

Abstract

This study examines the impact of spatial landscape configuration (e.g., clustered, dispersed) on land‐surface temperatures (LST) over Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. We classified detailed land‐cover types via object‐based image analysis (OBIA) using Geoeye‐1 at 3‐m resolution (Las Vegas) and QuickBird at 2.4‐m resolution (Phoenix). Spatial autocorrelation (local Moran's I) was then used to test for spatial dependence and to determine how clustered or dispersed points were arranged. Next, we used Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data acquired over Phoenix (daytime on 10 June and nighttime on 17 October 2011) and Las Vegas (daytime on 6 July and nighttime on 27 August 2005) to examine day‐ and nighttime LST with regard to the spatial arrangement of anthropogenic and vegetation features. Local Moran's I values of each land‐cover type were spatially correlated to surface temperature. The spatial configuration of grass and trees shows strong negative correlations with LST, implying that clustered vegetation lowers surface temperatures more effectively. In contrast, clustered spatial arrangements of anthropogenic land‐cover types, especially impervious surfaces and open soil, elevate LST. These findings suggest that city planners and managers should, where possible, incorporate clustered grass and trees to disperse unmanaged soil and paved surfaces, and fill open unmanaged soil with vegetation. Our findings are in line with national efforts to augment and strengthen green infrastructure, complete streets, parking management, and transit‐oriented development practices, and reduce sprawling, unwalkable housing development.

Micro-scale urban surface temperatures are related to land-cover features and residential heat related health impacts in Phoenix, AZ USA

“…Our finding of a small positive nighttime parcel vegetation-LST relationship contrasts with previous results from Phoenix conducted at much larger (90 m pixels) scales (Buyantuyev and Wu 2010;Myint et al 2013), which showed negative relationships between vegetation and LST during both the day and night. Also in contrast to regional UHI studies in this hot semi-arid environment (Myint et al 2015), parcel scale built land covers were negatively related to nighttime LST. These reversals of daytime patterns at night suggests that at the very local scale, vegetation traps heat and building roofs more rapidly lose heat at night.…”

Correlation or Causality between Land Cover Patterns and the Urban Heat Island Effect? Evidence from Brisbane, Australia

“…Policy makers are less concerned with managing the UHI effect in their cities and that they place a higher emphasis on managing other environmental phenomenon, such as congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. However, to mitigate these latter issues, various urban growth management policies are currently in operation (e.g., transit oriented development, compact development, and corridor development) [26,75]. This limitation, nevertheless, points to a future research challenge in terms of investigation of the effectiveness of these urban growth management models in reducing the UHI effect.…”

Impact of Urban Climate Landscape Patterns on Land Surface Temperature in Wuhan, China

“…Landscape pattern and LSTs show a moderate correlation with an irregular variation. This may be due to the complicated land surface composition, low vegetation, and a large percentage of impervious surfaces [10,12]. Particularly, TECI shows a strong correlation with the minimum LST (r = 0.758).…”

“…From the perspective of landscape ecology, a large number of studies have examined the relationship between land use/land cover (LULC) spatial distribution and LST [10][11][12][13]. However, the conventional LULC classification system is not well suited for urban landscapes.…”