Impact of urban land-cover changes on the spatial-temporal land surface temperature in a tropical city of Mexico

Climate change has severe consequences on ecosystem processes, as well as on people’s quality of life. It has been suggested that the loss of vegetation cover increases the land surface temperature (LST) due to modifications in biogeochemical patterns, generating a phenomenon known as “urban heat island” (UHI). The aim of this work was to analyze the effects of urban land-cover changes on the spatiotemporal variation of surface temperature in the tropical city of Mérida, Mexico. To find these effects we used both detected land-cover changes as well as variations of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Mérida is ranked worldwide as one of the best cities to live due to its quality of life. Data from satellite images of Landsat were analyzed to calculate land use change (LUC), LST, and NDVI. LST increased ca. 4 °C in the dry season and 3 °C in the wet season because of the LUC. In addition, a positive relationship between the LST and the NDVI was observed mainly in the dry season. The results confirm an increase in the LST as a consequence of the loss of vegetation cover, which favors the urban heat island phenomenon.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Palafox Juárez, Erika Betzabeth Doctora autora 21172, López Martínez, Jorge Omar Doctor autor 12315, Hernández Stefanoni, José Luis autor 12602, Hernández Nuñez, Héctor autor
Format: Texto biblioteca
Language:eng
Subjects:Cambio de uso de la tierra, Temperatura ambiental, Variación estacional, Cobertura de suelos, Urbanización, Cambio climático, Artfrosur,
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/2/76/htm
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