IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jgeogr/v3y2023i4p33-653d1252528.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatiotemporal Variation of Summertime Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Its Correlation with Particulate Matter (PM2.5) over Metropolitan Cities in Alabama

Author

Listed:
  • Gamal El Afandi

    (College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA)

  • Hossam Ismael

    (College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA)

Abstract

More than half of the global population lives in urban areas, which can cause the phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island (UHI). UHI is a phenomenon where urban areas experience higher temperatures compared to their rural surroundings. The occurrence of UHI in large cities is primarily due to urbanization and increased vehicular emissions. Factors such as wind speed and direction, solar flux, and the thermodynamic properties of surface materials determine the intensity of UHI. It can cause thermal air circulation, leading to high concentrations of urban air pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5). These pollutants can remain suspended in the air and cause asthma and allergies. It is essential to understand the characteristics of UHI intensity and its effect on air quality. This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of UHI and their correlation with PM2.5 concentration in three Alabama cities, namely Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile, during the summer seasons of 2002, 2012, and 2022. The study also compares UHI in these cities with nearby rural areas to determine the effect of urbanization by calculating the Normalized Difference Building Index (NDBI). To achieve these objectives, the Land Surface Temperature (LST), UHI intensity, and NDBI Datasets were analyzed. The results showed that PM2.5 concentrations in the cities have been decreasing annually since 2002, leading to an improvement in air quality. There was a negative linear correlation between UHI intensity and PM2.5 concentration. However, LST remained consistently high throughout the study period. The correlation between UHI intensity and NDBI was positive. The findings of this study can help us better understand the dynamics and driving mechanisms of the urban heat environment. Furthermore, they can assist urban metropolitan planners in developing more efficient mitigation strategies that reduce the negative impacts of UHI and PM2.5 concentrations on the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Gamal El Afandi & Hossam Ismael, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Variation of Summertime Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Its Correlation with Particulate Matter (PM2.5) over Metropolitan Cities in Alabama," Geographies, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-32, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgeogr:v:3:y:2023:i:4:p:33-653:d:1252528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7086/3/4/33/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7086/3/4/33/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Linda Shi & Eric Chu & Isabelle Anguelovski & Alexander Aylett & Jessica Debats & Kian Goh & Todd Schenk & Karen C. Seto & David Dodman & Debra Roberts & J. Timmons Roberts & Stacy D. VanDeveer, 2016. "Roadmap towards justice in urban climate adaptation research," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 131-137, February.
    2. Yuanyuan Chen & Xinli Ke & Min Min & Yue Zhang & Yaqiang Dai & Lanping Tang, 2022. "Do We Need More Urban Green Space to Alleviate PM 2.5 Pollution? A Case Study in Wuhan, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Liukuan Zhang & Xiaoxiao Shi & Qing Chang, 2022. "Exploring Adaptive UHI Mitigation Solutions by Spatial Heterogeneity of Land Surface Temperature and Its Relationship to Urban Morphology in Historical Downtown Blocks, Beijing," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Iman Rousta & Md Omar Sarif & Rajan Dev Gupta & Haraldur Olafsson & Manjula Ranagalage & Yuji Murayama & Hao Zhang & Terence Darlington Mushore, 2018. "Spatiotemporal Analysis of Land Use/Land Cover and Its Effects on Surface Urban Heat Island Using Landsat Data: A Case Study of Metropolitan City Tehran (1988–2018)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Linda Shi & Eric Chu & Isabelle Anguelovski & Alexander Aylett & Jessica Debats & Kian Goh & Todd Schenk & Karen C. Seto & David Dodman & Debra Roberts & J. Timmons Roberts & Stacy D. VanDeveer, 2016. "Correction: Corrigendum: Roadmap towards justice in urban climate adaptation research," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(6), pages 634-634, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meghan Klasic & Amanda Fencl & Julia A. Ekstrom & Amanda Ford, 2022. "Adapting to extreme events: small drinking water system manager perspectives on the 2012–2016 California Drought," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Karlijn Muiderman & Aarti Gupta & Joost Vervoort & Frank Biermann, 2020. "Four approaches to anticipatory climate governance: Different conceptions of the future and implications for the present," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    3. Kythreotis, Andrew P. & Hannaford, Matthew & Howarth, Candice & Bosworth, Gary, 2024. "Translating climate risk assessments into more effective adaptation decision-making: the importance of social and political aspects of place-based climate risk," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122155, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Danielle Zoe Rivera, 2022. "Disaster Colonialism: A Commentary on Disasters beyond Singular Events to Structural Violence," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 126-135, January.
    5. Asad Asadzadeh & Amir Reza Khavarian-Garmsir & Ayyoob Sharifi & Pourya Salehi & Theo Kötter, 2022. "Transformative Resilience: An Overview of Its Structure, Evolution, and Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    6. Isabelle Anguelovski & James J. T. Connolly & Helen Cole & Melissa Garcia-Lamarca & Margarita Triguero-Mas & Francesc Baró & Nicholas Martin & David Conesa & Galia Shokry & Carmen Pérez Pulgar & Lucia, 2022. "Green gentrification in European and North American cities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Sara Meerow & Carrie L. Mitchell, 2017. "Weathering the storm: The politics of urban climate change adaptation planning," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(11), pages 2619-2627, November.
    8. Pollack, Adam & Helgeson, Casey & Kousky, Carolyn & Keller, Klaus, 2023. "Transparency on underlying values is needed for useful equity measurements," OSF Preprints kvyxr, Center for Open Science.
    9. Forsyth, Tim & McDermott, Constance L. & Dhakal, Rabindra, 2022. "What is equitable about equitable resilience? Dynamic risks and subjectivities in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Eakin, Hallie & Keele, Svenja & Lueck, Vanessa, 2022. "Uncomfortable knowledge: Mechanisms of urban development in adaptation governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    11. Eric K Chu, 2018. "Urban climate adaptation and the reshaping of state–society relations: The politics of community knowledge and mobilisation in Indore, India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(8), pages 1766-1782, June.
    12. Claudia V. Diezmartínez & Anne G. Short Gianotti, 2022. "US cities increasingly integrate justice into climate planning and create policy tools for climate justice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Hannah M. Stroud & Paul H. Kirshen & David Timmons, 2023. "Monetary evaluation of co-benefits of nature-based flood risk reduction infrastructure to promote climate justice," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-21, January.
    14. Enora Robin & Vanesa Castán Broto, 2021. "Towards A Postcolonial Perspective On Climate Urbanism," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 869-878, September.
    15. Elisabeth M. Hamin & Yaser Abunnasr & Max Roman Dilthey & Pamela K. Judge & Melissa A. Kenney & Paul Kirshen & Thomas C. Sheahan & Don J. DeGroot & Robert L. Ryan & Brain G. McAdoo & Leonard Nurse & J, 2018. "Pathways to Coastal Resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Cláudia M. Viana & Jorge Rocha, 2020. "Evaluating Dominant Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Predicting Future Scenario in a Rural Region Using a Memoryless Stochastic Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-28, May.
    17. Biao Zhang & Dian Shao & Zhonghu Zhang, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution Dynamic, Effect and Governance Policy of Construction Land Use in Urban Agglomeration: Case Study of Yangtze River Delta, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-36, May.
    18. Md. Omar Sarif & Rajan Dev Gupta, 2022. "Spatiotemporal mapping of Land Use/Land Cover dynamics using Remote Sensing and GIS approach: a case study of Prayagraj City, India (1988–2018)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 888-920, January.
    19. Kian Goh, 0. "Urbanising climate justice: constructing scales and politicising difference," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(3), pages 559-574.
    20. Hiteva, Ralitsa & Sovacool, Benjamin, 2017. "Harnessing social innovation for energy justice: A business model perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 631-639.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jgeogr:v:3:y:2023:i:4:p:33-653:d:1252528. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.