Abstract

PINHEIRO, Catarina de Almeida; LARANJEIRA, Maria Manuela  and  BANDEIRA, Miguel. Land surface temperature in Braga and Guimarães during the heatwave of July 2010. GOT [online]. 2020, n.20, pp.254-279.  Epub Dec 30, 2020. ISSN 2182-1267.  https://doi.org/10.17127/got/2020.20.011.

Climate change projections point out to an increase in duration, frequency, and intensity of heat waves in Southern Europe. In urban spaces this situation is even more problematic, due to the urban heat island effect that exacerbates their consequences. However, little is known about the behavior of urban areas during this type of climatic anomaly, particularly how the temperature of different surfaces (impermeable or not) evolves in these days of extreme heat. Based on a Remote Sensing (i.e., MODIS-Terra and MODIS-Aqua) and Geographical Information Systems integrated approach we study the urban thermal environment of Braga and Guimarães municipalities during the heat wave of July 2010. The main results show that variations in the thermal environment occur gradually, coinciding the peak of land surface temperature (LST) with the highest air temperature. In conclusion, the heat wave effects are asymmetric in time (i.e., different MODIS times) and in space, depending on land cover and topographic position. Given the current climate change context, this information is critical to the development of urban policies that promote the environmental and social resilience of the territory.

Keywords : extreme heat; Remote Sensing; MODIS; land surface temperature; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); urban climate; urban planning..

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