Comparative Analysis of Urban Heat Island Cooling Strategies According to Spatial and Temporal Conditions Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV) Observation

Heat island cooling strategies (HICSs) are used to mitigate urban heat island phenomena and adapt to climate change as proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). This study investigated urban heat island reduction and assessed the cooling effect of HICSs under various temporal and spatial conditions in urban areas. The study area was the Mugye-dong urban area in South Korea. To identify the effectiveness of heat island cooling strategies (HICSs), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing and microclimate sensors were used to generate land cover, sky view factor (SVF) distribution, and land surface temperature (LST) maps of the study area. Differences in cooling effect according to spatial density (SD) were identified by dividing the SVF into five intervals of 0.2. Temporal changes were investigated throughout the day and under cloudiness-based meteorological conditions affected by solar radiation or less affected by solar radiation. Lower SD was associated with a greater cooling effect; meteorological conditions affected by solar radiation had a stronger cooling effect. The variation of the daytime cooling effect increased with decreasing SD. The difference in cooling effect between morning and afternoon was <1 °C under conditions less affected by solar radiation. Under conditions affected by solar radiation, the maximum temperatures were −6.716 °C in urban green spaces and −4.292 °C in shadow zones, whereas the maximum temperature was −6.814 °C in ground-based albedo modification zones; thus, differences were greater under conditions affected by solar radiation than under conditions less affected by solar radiation. As a result, it was found that HICS show a high cooling effect, high diurnal variation, and high morning-afternoon deviation under weather conditions with low SD and under conditions affected by solar radiation. This study quantitatively calculated the cooling effect of HICSs applied in urban areas under various spatiotemporal conditions and compared differences by technology. Accordingly, it is believed that it will serve as a basis for supporting the practical effects of the concepts presented by international organizations for climate change adaptation.