Surface Urban Heat Island at High Spatio-Temporal Resolution

The fast growing of cities population in the last decades, which is projected to be continued in the following, requires a better understanding of urban climatology and atmospheric conditions, looking for the benefit of citizens life.

In a fast warming world due to climate change, the UHI, defined as the temperature difference between the urban area and its surroundings, is a major concern in the cities.

UHI has been traditionally studied with localised in-situ air temperature measurements, i.e., taking the difference between a representative value of the city and of the suburban area, thereby limited by its spatial representability.

However, a deep comprehension of UHI spatial variability is essential for supplying policy-makers with high-quality information to plan, prevent and mitigate the UHI effect, especially relevant under extreme heat conditions.

While satellite thermal infrared (TIR) data provided new valuable insights in surface UHI (SUHI), these are still limited by the compromise between the spatial and temporal resolution of TIR satellite sensors. In this action, we will develop a novel methodology to estimate high-accuracy (<2 K) land surface temperatures (LST) at unprecedent high spatio-temporal resolution, i.e. 100 m at four different times. The ADTC model will be applied to ECOSTRESS LST data, which will be refined in synergy MODIS LST data.

The SUHI diurnal cycle will be evaluated over 24 European cities to analyse the SUHI variability at European cities with different climate characteristics.

The project outcomes are expected to have a relevant impact on economy and society, since the high-resolution data produced in the project will be provided to policy-makers and to urban and health planning related sectors.

In addition, findings from the project will be communicated to general public and students in collaboration with local institutions and universities.