The Relationship between the Seasonal Dynamics of Surface Temperature and NDVI in Urbanized Areas of an Arid Zone. The Case of the Volgograd Agglomeration

• Published in: Izvestiya. Atmospheric and oceanic physics Vol. 57; no. 12; pp. 1576 - 1585
• Main Authors: Shinkarenko, S. S., Kosheleva, O. Yu, Gordienko, O. A., Dubacheva, A. A., Omarov, R. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Agricultural land; Arable land; Arid regions; Arid zones; Climatology; Coefficients; Cooling effects; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Daily temperatures; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geophysics/Geodesy; Island effects; Land surface temperature; Mean daily temperatures; Mean temperatures; Methods and Tools for Processing and Interpreting Space Information; MODIS; Municipalities; Night; Night-time; Nighttime; Normalized difference vegetative index; Plant cover; Sea surface temperature; Seasonal variation; Seasonal variations; Spatial distribution; Surface temperature; Temperature; Urban heat islands; Vegetation; Vegetation cover; Vegetation effects; Vegetation index; underlying surface; urban heat island; land surface temperature; sealed soils; Volgograd; agglomeration; landscaping; MODIS
• ISSN: 0001-4338; 1555-628X
• DOI: 10.1134/S0001433821120197

Land surface temperatures and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values were determined throughout the Volgograd agglomeration using data of MODIS products. Landscape zoning of the agglomeration was performed on the basis of Sentinel-2 images: five land categories differing in the ratio between sealed surfaces, green spaces, and reservoirs (including those within the boundaries of administrative and territorial units) have been distinguished. A map showing the spatial distribution of landscape zones within the Volgograd agglomeration was produced, and areas occupied by each land category were determined. Correlation coefficients have been computed for relationships between daytime, nighttime, and daily mean temperatures, on the one hand, and NDVI values, on the other hand, and their seasonal variations were identified. Specific features of relationships between the NDVI and surface temperature were established for various land categories and individual municipalities. Analysis shows that the weakest relationships between the surface temperature and NDVI are observed in municipalities with the predomination of nonirrigated arable lands and wastelands, while the strongest relationships are found in the greenest areas. It is established that, in areas with a predominance of buildings, the urban-heat-island effect is manifested at nighttime regardless of the state of vegetation cover. In areas with a predominance of green spaces, the relationship between the NDVI and surface temperature is virtually not expressed, with a cooling effect of vegetation being registered only in summer.