Evaluation of the potential effects of forest vegetation cover on surface temperature in different geographical and climatic regions of Shaanxi Province, China

Abstract

Forest vegetation significantly influences local climate by regulating land surface energy balance, with land surface temperature (LST) serving as a key parameter for assessing these effects. However, the specific impacts of forest cover changes on LST across diverse mid-latitude topographic landscapes remain underexplored. Using a space-for-time substitution approach, this study integrated LST, evapotranspiration, and albedo data from the orbital Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor with land cover and precipitation datasets to quantify forest regulation of LST across northern, central, and southern Shaanxi Province from 2013 to 2021. The results indicate that the cooling effect of forests relative to croplands initially strengthens and then weakens in the southern mountainous region (−0.05 ± 0.202 °C), Guanzhong Plain (−0.052 ± 0.18 °C), and northern Loess Plateau (−0.034 ± 0.124 °C), while cooling relative to grasslands exhibits a stable increasing trend (−0.008 ± 0.294 °C, −0.021 ± 0.563 °C, and −0.029 ± 0.131 °C, respectively). Notably, forest cooling is more pronounced in plains and plateaus than in mountainous areas and exhibits strong seasonal variability. Mechanistically, evapotranspiration differences between forests and open land increase with latitude, whereas albedo differences show greater spatial variability. These findings provide insights into afforestation strategies in mid-latitude regions, optimizing climate benefits while enhancing adaptation to future environmental changes.