Li et al. (2025) Multi-Scale Remote Sensing Evaluation of Land Surface Thermal Contributions Based on Quality–Quantity Dimensions and Land Use–Geomorphology Coupling

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Land
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-25
• Authors: Zhe Li, Jun Yang, He Liu, Xiao Xie
• DOI: 10.3390/land14122318

Research Groups

Not provided in the given text.

Short Summary

This study develops an integrated assessment framework combining land use and geomorphology to analyze comprehensive thermal contributions in the Yellow River Basin, revealing that synergistic effects are crucial for accurate regional thermal assessments and that single-factor evaluations lead to biased results.

Objective

• To systematically analyze the comprehensive thermal contributions of different underlying surfaces in the Yellow River Basin by constructing an integrated assessment framework that combines a dual “quality–quantity” perspective with land use–geomorphology coupling.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Yellow River Basin (YRB)
• Temporal Scale: Not explicitly specified, but based on MODIS and Landsat 8 satellite data.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Integrated assessment framework combining a dual “quality–quantity” perspective with land use–geomorphology coupling.
• Data sources: MODIS-derived land surface temperature, Landsat 8-based land use, Fathom DEM-derived geomorphological datasets.

Main Results

• The Yellow River Basin exhibits diverse underlying surfaces, transitioning from natural (forest, grassland) to human-dominated (cropland, construction land) land uses, and from high-altitude, large undulating mountains to low-altitude, small undulating plains along the source-to-downstream gradient.
• The average Land Surface Temperature (LST) is 17.97 °C, displaying a south–north and east–west gradient. Human disturbance intensity drives thermal responses at the land use level, with natural surfaces contributing to cooling regulation, while artificial and desert surfaces generate heat accumulation. Geomorphology jointly shapes the thermal distribution, with high mountains acting as cold sources and plains/hills as heat sources.
• Dual “quality–quantity” dimensional evaluation reveals that temperature-based assessments alone overestimate localized extremes (e.g., towns, extremely high mountains) and underestimate broad, moderate surfaces (e.g., drylands, large and medium undulating high mountains). This “area-neglect effect” may lead to biased regional thermal assessments and unbalanced resource allocation.
• Coupled land use–geomorphology analysis uncovers multi-scale composite mechanisms of thermal formation and mitigates single-factor assessment biases. Geomorphology defines macro-scale energy exchange, while land use regulates local heat responses.

Contributions

• Developed an integrated assessment framework considering the synergistic effects of underlying surface composition and geomorphological context, addressing limitations of single-factor analyses.
• Identified the “area-neglect effect” in temperature-based assessments, highlighting how they can overestimate localized extremes and underestimate broad, moderate surfaces.
• Demonstrated how coupled land use–geomorphology analysis provides a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of thermal formation mechanisms across multiple scales.
• Provided scientific support for large-scale thermal assessment and refined management strategies in ecologically fragile regions like the Yellow River Basin.

Funding

Not provided in the given text.

Citation

@article{Li2025MultiScale,
  author = {Li, Zhe and Yang, Jun and Liu, He and Xie, Xiao},
  title = {Multi-Scale Remote Sensing Evaluation of Land Surface Thermal Contributions Based on Quality–Quantity Dimensions and Land Use–Geomorphology Coupling},
  journal = {Land},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/land14122318},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/land14122318}
}