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Exploring the Influence of Impervious Surface Density and Shape on Urban Heat Islands in the Northeast USA Using MODIS and LandsatImpervious surface area (ISA) from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001 and land surface temperature (LST) from MODIS averaged over three annual cycles (2003-2005) are used in a spatial analysis to assess the urban heat island (UHI) signature and its relationship to settlement size and shape, development intensity distribution, and land cover composition for 42 urban settlements embedded in forest biomes in the Northeastern United States. Development intensity zones, based on percent ISA, are defined for each urban area emanating outward from the urban core to nearby rural areas and are used to stratify land surface temperature. The stratification is further constrained by biome type and elevation to insure objective intercomparisons between urban zones within an urban settlement and between settlements. Stratification based on ISA allows the definition of hierarchically ordered urban zones that are consistent across urban settlements and scales. In addition to the surrounding ecological context, we find that the settlement size and shape as well as the development intensity distribution significantly influence the amplitude of summer daytime UHI. Within the Northeastern US temperate broadleaf mixed forest, UHI magnitude is positively related to the logarithm of the urban area size. Our study indicates that for similar urban area sizes, the development intensity distribution is one of the major drivers of UHI. In addition to urban area size and development intensity distribution, this analysis shows that both the shape of the urban area and the land cover composition in the surrounding rural area play an important role in modulating the UHI magnitude in different urban settlements. Our results indicate that remotely sensed urban area size and shape as well as the development intensity distribution influence UHI amplitude across regional scales.
Document ID
20120003886
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Zhang, Ping
(Earth Resources Technology, Inc. MD, United States)
Imhoff, Marc L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bounoua, Lahouri
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wolfe, Robert E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
November 13, 2011
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.5734.2011
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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