Spatio-Temporal Trends of Urban Heat Island and Surface Temperature in Izmir, Turkey

The distinct characteristics of urban and non-urban land cover usually results with a positive difference in surface temperatures and is referred to as the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. This paper assesses the spatio-temporal formation of UHI and land surface temperatures (LSTs) in Izmir, Turkey, situated in a Mediterranean climate region. LSTs were obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Terra over the period 2000 – 2015. UHI intensity was examined using the temperature differences between urban and non-urban areas and non-parametric Mann-Kendall (M-K) test to identify trends in LSTs and UHI intensity. The results indicate that day-time UHI is higher at Izmir with a seasonal variation. M-K test of LSTs shows increasing trends in nighttime temperatures for both urban and non-urban areas especially for winter and spring.