Using local climate zones to compare remotely sensed surface temperatures in temperate cities and hot desert cities

Abstract Urban and rural thermal properties mainly depend on surface cover features as well as vegetation cover. Surface classification using the local climate zone (LCZ) system provides an appropriate approach for distinguishing urban and rural areas, as well as comparing the surface urban heat island (SUHI) of climatically different regions. Our goal is to compare the SUHI effects of two Central European cities (Szeged, Hungary and Novi Sad, Serbia) with a temperate climate (Köppen-Geiger’s Cfa), and a city (Beer Sheva, Israel) with a hot desert (BWh) climate. LCZ classification is completed using WUDAPT (World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools) methodology and the thermal differences are analysed on the basis of the land surface temperature data of the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor, derived on clear days over a four-year period. This intra-climate region comparison shows the difference between the SUHI effects of Szeged and Novi Sad in spring and autumn. As the pattern of NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index) indicates, the vegetation coverage of the surrounding rural areas is an important modifying factor of the diurnal SUHI effect, and can change the sign of the urban-rural thermal difference. According to the inter-climate comparison, the urban-rural thermal contrast is the strongest during daytime in summer with an opposite sign in each season.