The cooling intensity dependent on landscape complexity of green infrastructure in the metropolitan area

The cooling effect of green infrastructure (GI) is becoming a hot topic on mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Alterations to the green space are a viable solution for reducing land surface temperature (LST), yet few studies provide specific guidance for landscape planning adapted to the different regions. This paper proposed and defined the landscape complexity and the threshold value of cooling effect (TVoE). Results find that: (1) GI provides a better cooling effect in the densely built-up area than the green belt; (2) GI with a simple form, aggregated configuration, and low patch density had a better cooling intensity; (3) In the densely built-up area, TVoE of the forest area is 4.5 ha, while in the green belt, TVoE of the forest and grassland area is 9 ha and 2.25 ha. These conclusions will help the planners to reduce LST effectively, and employ environmentally sustainable planning

Cooling effects of urban vegetation: The role of golf courses

Increased heat in urban environments, from the combined effects of climate change and land use/land cover change, is one of the most severe problems confronting cities and urban residents worldwide, and requires urgent resolution. While large urban green spaces such as parks and nature reserves are widely recognized for their benefits in mitigating urban heat islands (UHIs), the benefit of urban golf courses is less established. This is the first study to combine remote sensing of golf courses with Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) of vegetation cover. Using ArborCamTM multispectral, high-resolution airborne imagery (0.3 × 0.3 m), this study develops an approach that assesses the role of golf courses in reducing urban land surface temperature (LST) relative to other urban land-uses in Perth, Australia, and identifies factors that influence cooling. The study revealed that urban golf courses had the second lowest LST (around 31 °C) after conservation land (30 °C), compared to industrial, residential, and main road land uses, which ranged from 35 to 37 °C. They thus have a strong capacity for summer urban heat mitigation. Within the golf courses, distance to water bodies and vegetation structure are important factors contributing to cooling effects. Green spaces comprising tall trees (>10 m) and large vegetation patches have strong effects in reducing LST. This suggests that increasing the proportion of large trees, and increasing vegetation connectivity within golf courses and with other local green spaces, can decrease urban LST, thus providing benefits for urban residents. Moreover, as golf courses are useful for biodiversity conservation, planning for new golf course development should embrace the retention of native vegetation and linkages to conservation corridors

Impacts of eco-environmental quality, spatial configuration, and landscape connectivity of urban vegetation patterns on seasonal land surface temperature in Harare metropolitan city, Zimbabwe

The study examined the impact of eco-environmental quality conditions, spatial configurations and landscape connectivity of urban vegetation on seasonal land surface temperature (LST) in Harare, Zimbabwe between May and October 2018. The results showed that densely built-up areas with sparse vegetation experienced extremely poor eco-environmental conditions. Clustered and highly connected were more beneficial in decreasing LST. These findings have important urban and landscape planning implications regarding how the spatial configuration and land-scape connectivity patterns of urban vegetation can be optimized to mitigate Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects and to improve the thermal comfort conditions in rapidly urbanizing cities

Effect of landscape pattern and spatial configuration of vegetation patches on urban warming and cooling in Harare metropolitan city, Zimbabwe

The spatial configuration of vegetation patches in the landscape has implications for the provision of ecosystem services, human adaptation to climate change, enhancement, or mitigation of urban heat island. Until recently, the effect of spatial configuration of vegetation to enhance or mitigate urban heat island has received little consideration in urban thermal assessments. This study examines the impact of spatial configuration of vegetation patches on urban thermal warming and cooling in Harare metropolitan city, Zimbabwe. The study used Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Landsat and Sentinel 2 data acquired between 1994 and 2017 to derive detailed information on vegetation patches, landscape metrics, and land surface temperature LST(°C). The spatial configuration of urban vegetation patterns was analyzed using landscape metrics in Fragstats program. Getis Ord Gi* as a Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA) was used to characterize the spatial clustering and dispersion of urban vegetation patches. Results of the Getis Ord Gi* showed that clustered vegetation lowers surface temperatures more effectively than dispersed and fragmented patterns of vegetation. The size, density, shape complexity, and cohesion of vegetation patches conferred different levels of cooling but Patch Cohesion Index had the strongest negative relationship with LST(°C) at three spatial resolutions of 10 m (Sentinel 2), 15 m (ASTER) and 30 m (Landsat 8). The Spatial Lag Regression model performed better than the Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis in exploring the relationship between LST(°C) and landscape metrics. Specifically, the Spatial Lag Regression model showed higher R2 values and log likelihood, lower Schwarz criteria, and Akaike information criterion, and reduced spatial autocorrelations. The overall information provides important insights into the provision of larger, connected, and less fragmented urban vegetation patches to derive maximum and higher cooling effects which is critical for urban planning and design approaches for mitigating increasing surface temperatures in cities

Urban phytoarchitecture design options: Greenspace orientation and tree species intensification

This paper discussed a new perspective on the path of sunlight as a basis for urban phytoarchitecture design, which empowers the ability of plants to absorb carbondioxide and simultaneously lowers the surface temperature. The aim was to provide options for intensifying greenspace orientation and plant types as one of the goals of a sustainable city. This research analysed previous research sources collected from the reference management platform. The literature selection uses the keywords greenspace, orientation, carbon dioxide, and surface warming, all of which are the latest publications. The result for the first option was the orientation of the greenspace following the path of sunlight. For urban infrastructure in a North-South direction, it was advisable to intensify greenspace by planting trees that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. In addition, it was recommended to apply biodiversity to enhance the absorption of the gas. For East-West oriented infrastructure sites, intensifying greenspace with sunshade trees was the right choice, and biodiversity was not a limiting factor because it does not support leaf area growth. While the first option cannot be followed due to existing field conditions, the second option is intensifying tree species with biodiversity, which can absorb carbon dioxide and reduce surface warming

Study of the urban heat island (UHI) using remote sensing data/techniques: a systematic review.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) consist of the occurrence of higher temperatures in urbanized areas when compared to rural areas. During the warmer seasons, this effect can lead to thermal discomfort, higher energy consumption, and aggravated pollution effects. The application of Remote Sensing (RS) data/techniques using thermal sensors onboard satellites, drones, or aircraft, allow for the estimation of Land Surface Temperature (LST). This article presents a systematic review of publications in Scopus andWeb of Science (WOS) on UHI analysis using RS data/techniques and LST, from 2000 to 2020. The selection of articles considered keywords, title, abstract, and when deemed necessary, the full text. The process was conducted by two independent researchers and 579 articles, published in English, were selected. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Cfa climate areas are the most represented, as the Northern Hemisphere concentrates the most studied areas, especially in Asia (69.94%); Landsat products were the most applied to estimates LST (68.39%) and LULC (55.96%); ArcGIS (30.74%) was most used software for data treatment, and correlation (38.69%) was the most applied statistic technique. There is an increasing number of publications, especially from 2016, and the transversality of UHI studies corroborates the relevance of this topic.This work was funded by National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER, under the projects UIDB/04683/2020 and PT2020 Program for financial support to CIMO UIDB/00690/2020. This work was funded by National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER, under the projects UIDB/04683/2020 and PT2020 Program for financial support to CIMO UIDB/00690/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An Evaluation of Surface Urban Heat Islands in Two Contrasting Cities

This thesis presents a comparative study on surface urban heat islands effects in Baghdad and Perth. The first part evaluates expansion of built-up areas and quantifies its effects on land surface temperature patterns. The second part examines the extent to which the urban thermal environment is influenced by spatial patterns of land use and land cover (LULC) categories. The final part investigates the thermophysical behaviour of various urban LULC categories using albedo and LST parameters

Spatio And Temporal Dimensions For The Public Usage Of Urban Green Parks In Colombo, Sri Lanka

Use and accessibility to green parks in urban environments by public is an indicator to measure the psychological and physiological sustainability of dwellers. Identifying the driving forces in selecting a park for leisure and discover the pattern of park usage in Colombo city, Sri Lanka were the main objectives of this study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from three types of respondents: regular park users who use the nearest park from residence, regular park users who don’t use the nearest park to the residence and non regular park users. Initially, it was selected 2879 participants for this survey representing village administration of Colombo city limits and the questionnaire was returned by 2328 respondents. However, 12 forms were incomplete status, only 2311 responses were selected for further analysis. These respondents were selected randomly to represent each administrative division by considering the total population of them. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) application was to analyze the characteristics of park users. It was revealed that nearly a half of the respondents do not use parks regularly and identified a number of characteristics of respondents and reasons for usage and non-usage of green parks regularly. Education, employment, age, civil status and accommodation type were identified as driving forces for the use of parks by general public. Safety and environmental factors were identified as the main issues on selecting parks. Study recommends to policy makers to identify these demerits to take immediate actions to popularize parks among public as an urgent requirement in the urban development and planning processes

The ecological roles of golf courses in urban landscapes

The proliferation of urban golf courses accounts for a growing proportion of the urban land area in Australia and other countries. While many suggest that golf courses have an environmentally negative impact, others believe they are important nodes in the network of urban green space and can provide refugial habitat for wildlife. However, research on golf course ecology is in its infancy and this limits development of explicit guidelines for ecologically sound development. Therefore, this PhD research used remote sensing technology to investigate the ecological roles of golf courses in maintenance of vegetation at the urban landscape scale. The thesis explores temporal and spatial landscape data as well as the possible cooling effects golf course can provide in the Perth Metropolitan Region. The multifunctional aspects of green spaces in golf courses are highlighted in this study. Firstly, by using moderate resolution satellite imagery (Landsat) time series data for three decades from 1988 to 2018 to assess temporal changes in vegetation cover, the study found that vegetation clearance was significant and vegetation cover has become increasingly fragmented. It was concluded that golf courses contribute to urban conservation through the maintenance of vegetation cover and by increasing habitat connectivity during the long period of urbanisation. Secondly, high resolution satellite imagery (PlanetScope (PS) Level 3B) was then used to compare spatially the characteristics of vegetation within golf courses with other urban land-use. It found that golf courses have less conservation values than conservation land, but their role in preservation of native vegetation, vegetation health and habitat connectivity is more significant than other highly intensive urban land-uses. Thirdly, analysis of multispectral high resolution airborne imagery for assessing the capacity of golf courses in mitigating the urban temperature revealed that urban golf courses can provide cooling effects in the urban environment through the provision of tree coverage and other green areas. Despite limitations of the research being carried out at the landscape scale, the findings of the thesis can enhance the future integration of golf courses into urban biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service improvement