Satellite and Ground Estimates of Surface and Canopy-Layer Urban Heat Island

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the prominent impacts of urbanization that affects human health and energy consumption. As the data is limited and inconsistent, UHI comparative studies between UHIUCL and UHISurf on the seasonal scale are limited. The use of only daytime summer imagery reporting “Inverted UHI” undermines the holistic view of the phenomenon. Therefore, this study analyses the seasonal patterns for UHISurf and UHIUCL in three climate zones (Delhi, Pune, and Montreal). The three cities experience a high traditional night-time UHIUCL (Delhi 7°C, Pune 6°C, Montreal 1.89°C). Landsat captures a prominent daytime UHISurf (15°C) in Montreal with temperate climate and daytime inverted UHISurf (-4°C) for Delhi in summer. Seasonally, the night-time UHI is prominent in summer and monsoon for Delhi, summer and spring for Pune, and summer for Montreal. Due to UHI effect, the heatwaves can be more intense in semi-arid and tropical cities than temperate cities.