Articles | Volume 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-2-27-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-2-27-2021
04 Jun 2021
 | 04 Jun 2021

How do green areas influence the temperature of cities? Web map to help local decision making about cities and the climate emergency

Carla Garcia-Lozano, Anna Peliova, and Josep Sitjar

Keywords: urban heat island, land surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, greenery area, climate change, Landsat 8, Barcelona

Abstract. The positive effect of urban greenery on the city’s microclimate is well known, as is its ability to reduce the ambient temperature in urban areas. Our results show how the areas with the lowest surface temperature clearly coincide with the vegetated areas in the city of Barcelona. This phenomenon demonstrates the importance of increasing the urban greenery in large compact cities, such as the city of Barcelona, in order to regulate the local temperature and mitigate the effects of global warming on a large scale. The web map presented here can be used as a tool for decision makers to identify the warmest areas in the city of Barcelona and to increase greenery in an efficient manner.

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