Won Hoi Hwang

Date of Award

2007

Degree Name

Geography

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

M.S.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Anita Walz

Second Advisor

Larry Jarrett

Third Advisor

James Leonard

Abstract

As one of the effective methods to control urban temperatures, the effects of trees and other vegetation have come into focus. Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing data, Digital Orthophoto Quarter-Quadrangle (DOQQ) and Landsat Thematic Mapper (Landsat TM), have been applied in this study to analyze the UHI. The effect of road-side trees on local micro-climate was examined with in-situ temperature measurement and simulated shade. Regression analyses revealed significant negative slopes for all time periods. This trend continued throughout the entire night until sunrise the next morning. The relationship between thermal patterns and vegetation distributions was investigated using the Landsat TM images. The result of regression analyses showed that vegetation affects surface temperature across study sites. Where the higher the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the surface temperature was lower. It was observed in most seasons except winter. This relationship became stronger into summer, and then weaker into autumn.

Subject(s)

Vegetation dynamics.

Vegetation and climate.

Climatic changes.

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