Population growth and urban sprawl have contributed to the formation of
significant urban heat island phenomena in Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the
United States. The population growth in Houston was 25.8% between 1990 and 2000
nearly double the national average. The demand for information concerning the effects
of urban and suburban development is growing. Houston is currently the only major US
city lacking any kind of comprehensive city zoning ordinances.
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a
surrogate variable to estimate land surface temperatures at higher spatial resolutions,
given the fact that a high-resolution remotely sensed NDVI can be created almost
effortlessly and remotely sensed thermal data at higher resolutions is much more
difficult to obtain. This has allowed researchers to study urban heat island dynamics at a
micro-scale. However, this study suggests that a vegetation index alone might not be the
best surrogate variable for providing information regarding the independent effects and
level of contribution that tree canopy, grass, and low-lying plants have on surface
temperatures in residential neighborhoods. This research combines LIDAR (Light
Detection and Ranging) feature height data and high-resolution infrared aerial photos to measure the characteristics of the micro-structure of residential areas (residentialstructure),
derives various descriptive vegetation measurement statistics, and correlates
the spatial distribution of surface temperature to the type and amount of vegetation cover
in residential areas. Regression analysis is used to quantify the independent influence
that different residential-structures have on surface temperature. In regard to
implementing changes at a neighborhood level, the descriptive statistics derived for
residential-structure at a micro-scale may provide useful information to decision-makers
and may reveal a guide for future developers concerned with mitigating the negative
effects of urban heat island phenomena.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4281 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Clemonds, Matthew A |
| Contributors | Liu, Hongxing |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 9761026 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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