GC006-0001
Influences of landscape composition and configuration on land surface temperature in Wuhan, a “furnace” city in China

Monday, 7 December 2020
Poster
Jingni Jia1, Shuguang Liu2, Shuqing Zhao3, Yuanyuan Li4, Qi Zhang5 and Wenxi Tang2, (1)National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology in Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Washington, DC, United States, (2)Faculty of Life Science and Technology, and National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology in Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China, (3)Peking University, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China, (4)National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology in Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China, (5)Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
Abstract:
Rapid urbanization is accompanied by a high concentration of urban population and built-up areas, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs accordingly. Urban environment changes provide a unique natural laboratory for identifying both problems and solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation. As a famous "furnace" city in central China, Wuhan has shown pronounced UHI effects. Here, we use MODIS LST data combined with urbanization intensity (UI), background climate, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), landscape structure, sky view factor (SVF), albedo (WAS), population (POP), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to explore the spatial patterns, temporal trends, and driving factors of LST. We found that throughout the year LST generally increases with UI from June to September. Moreover, within the same UI range, there is also a large variability between the maximum and minimum LST values, indicating that the city itself provides a ready-made solution to the heat island problem mainly through adjustment of landscape patterns. Green landscape demonstrated strong capability in reducing UHI effect, especially in summer and autumn. The structure (composition and allocation) of urban land plays an increasingly prominent role, such as less aggregated urban configuration and more irregular greenspace shapes are effective strategies in highly urbanized areas. However, the adjustable LST range decreases once the UI exceeds a certain critical threshold, which means that the space for mitigating high temperature through landscape regulation is also limited. In addition, the use of new building materials to improve the reflectivity of sunlight and the use of permeable surface paving materials can help alleviate the urban heat island effect. Our study indicates that the city itself can provide convenient solutions, and the subtlety of urban landscape design is worth exploring and learning to combat UHI effect.