Impact of urbanization on US surface climate

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15545346
AutoresLahouari Bounoua (0000-0002-9889-0018, Goddard Space Flight Center, autor de correspondencia), Ping Zhang (0000-0003-0663-1850, Science Systems and Applications (United States)), Georgy Mostovoy, Kurtis J Thome (Goddard Space Flight Center), Kurtis Thome, JEFFREY G MASEK (Goddard Space Flight Center), Jeffrey Masek, Marc L Imhoff (University of Maryland, College Park), Marc Imhoff, Justin M Shepherd (0000-0002-7607-3332, University of Georgia), Marshall Shepherd, Dale A Quattrochi (Marshall Space Flight Center), Dale Quattrochi, Joseph A Santanello (0000-0002-0807-6590, Goddard Space Flight Center), Joseph Santanello, Julie A Silva (0000-0002-4837-5288, University of Maryland, College Park), Julie Silva (0000-0002-8493-1333), Robert Wolfe (0000-0002-1314-3866), Robert E Wolfe (0000-0002-0915-1855, Goddard Space Flight Center), Ally M Toure (0000-0003-3220-4588, Goddard Space Flight Center)
Año2015
Volumen10
Número8
Páginas084010-084010
Fecha de publicación2015-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
EditorialIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084010
OpenAlexW1886564691
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas24
Referencias citadas34

We combine Landsat and MODIS data in a land model to assess the impact of urbanization on US surface climate. For cities built within forests, daytime urban land surface temperature (LST) is much higher than that of vegetated lands. For example, in Washington DC and Atlanta, daytime mean temperature differences between impervious and vegetated lands reach 3.3 and 2.0 °C, respectively. Conversely, for cities built within arid lands, such as Phoenix, urban areas are 2.2 °C cooler than surrounding shrubs. We find that the choice and amount of tree species in urban settings play a commanding role in modulating cities’ LST. At continental and monthly scales, impervious surfaces are 1.9 °C ± 0.6 °C warmer than surroundings during summer and expel 12% of incoming precipitation as surface runoff compared to 3.2% over vegetation. We also show that the carbon lost to urbanization represents 1.8% of the continental total, a striking number considering urbanization occupies only 1.1% of the US land. With a small areal extent, urbanization has significant effects on surface energy, water and carbon budgets and reveals an uneven impact on surface climate that should inform upon policy options for improving urban growth including heat mitigation and carbon sequestration

Arid · Atmospheric sciences · Climate change · Daytime · Geography · Impervious surface · Land use · Meteorology · Physical geography · Precipitation · Surface runoff · Urban climate · Urban heat island · Urbanization · Vegetation (pathology · Environmental Science · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Urban Green Space and Health · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Ecology · Geology