Analysis of thermal heat island potential by urbanization using landsat-8 time-series satellite imagery

As the urbanization ratio increases, the heat environment in cities is becoming more important due to the urban heat island. In this study, the heat island spatial analysis was calculated and conducted for analysis of urban thermal environment of Sejong city, which was launched in 2012 and has been developed rapidly. To analyze the ratio and change rate of urban area, a multi temporal land cover map (2013 to 2015 and 2017) of study area is generated based on Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS (Operational Land Imager / Thermal Infrared Sensor) satellite imagery. Then, we select an TIR (Thermal Infrared) band from the two TIR bands provided by the Landsat-8, which is used for calculating the heat island potential, through the accuracy evaluation of the brightness temperature and AWS (Automatic Weathering Station) data. Based on the selected band and surface emissivity, land surface temperature is calculated and the estimated heat island potential change is analyzed. As a result, the land surface temperature of the high ratio and change rate of urban area was significantly higher than the surrounding area around 3°C to 4°C, and the heat island potential was also higher around 4°C to 5°C. However, the heat island phenomenon was alleviated in urban areas with high rate of change that also show high green area ratio. Therefore, we demonstrated that dense urban area increases the possibility of inducing heat island, but it can mitigate the heat island through green areas.