Spatial Gradient Differences in the Cooling Island Effect and Influencing Factors of Urban Park Green Spaces in Beijing

Abstract

Urban park green spaces exhibit significant cool island effects, which can effectively mitigate the urban heat environment. Clarifying the characteristics and differences in the cool island effects of urban parks across different spatial gradients within cities is instrumental in identifying potential issues and optimizing the structure and resource allocation of park green spaces in a scientifically rational manner. This study focuses on parks within the central urban area of Beijing, utilizing remote sensing image interpretation and land surface temperature (LST) inversion to extract relevant characteristics of park green spaces and the park cool island intensity (PCI) index. Various mathematical and statistical methods including correlation analysis, regression analysis, and cluster analysis are employed to conduct comparative studies across three gradients: within the 3rd ring road, between the 3rd and 5th ring roads, and outside the 5th ring road. The analysis reveals that both park green space characteristics and urban heat island effects exhibit spatial gradient differences, collectively influencing the cool island effects of urban park green spaces. PCI gradually decreases across the three spatial gradients. Cluster analysis identifies four distinct types of parks with different cool island effect characteristics, highlighting the need for optimization and improvement in over half of the parks. Various indicators of park green space characteristics show different correlations with PCI, with variations in correlation strength and thresholds across gradients. The fitting effects of regression equations for each characteristic indicator and PCI gradually worsen from within the 3rd ring road to outside the 5th ring road, with different factors playing important roles across gradients. This study enhances our understanding of the cool island effects of urban park green spaces and facilitates the proposition of differentiated optimization management strategies for urban park green space planning and system construction in different regions.