Analysis of urban heat island seasonal dynamics using landscape metrics

This study quantitatively analyzed the seasonal dynamics of urban heat island (UHI) in Xiamen City, using Landsat TM/ETM+ thermal images acquired on 5 different dates in the year 2002. Landscape metrics were utilized to quantify the changes, including PLAND, PD, CA, NP, P-UHI, NP-UHI, TA-UHI, PD-UHI etc. Results showed that, August UHI was spatially intensive in not only total area, but also the extent of dominant thermal patch classes. Spring UHI was more intensive than autumn in their counterpart months, yet more fragmented than summer UHI. Autumn UHI was the weakest in all the indices. The higher grade UHI patches, in other words, the hot spots and UHI Areas of Significance lay along the coast in spring and autumn months, while extended into inland of the urban area in summer. This was decided by the bay-typed land use pattern of Xiamen.