Study of urban heat island based on remote sensing in Beijing-capital zone

The paper focused on spatial and temporal distribution of thermal environment by Land Surface Temperature(LST) and brightness temperature retrieved from ASTER and Landsat TM/ETM in Beijing-capital zone, and analyzing scale effect of multi-resolution LST data (LST retrieved by ASTER and MODIS LST product)with the variety of landuse and NDVI. The result showed that the UHI phenomena had increasing tendency. LST waved with difference of the landuse, the highest was in bare-land, and the lowest was in water. Green island was composed mainly by forest and water, while heavy heat island and serious heat island was mainly composed by built-up and bare-land. The linear equation with a strong negative relationship between means of NDVI and means of LST (ASTER retrieval LST and MODIS LST product) associated with the five cover types has been established. Cross-validation among the LST images retrieved from ASTER and MODIS LST product are reliable. The different spatial resolution of the thermal sensors can be used in urban studies demanding different levels of details. The MODIS thermal sensor can be used for the overview of urban thermal environment. The ASTER, with its TIR 90-m resolution, can be used for more accurate monitoring thermal patterns.