Zhang et al. (2025) Dominant Role of Meteorology and Aerosols in Regulating the Seasonal Variation of Urban Thermal Environment in Beijing

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-03
• Authors: Shiyu Zhang, Yan Yang, Haitao Wang, Hao Fan, Ji Qi, Xide Lai
• DOI: 10.3390/rs17233921

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study quantified the independent and interactive effects of aerosols, meteorological conditions, and urban features on Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Beijing using multisource data and a random forest model, revealing nonlinear responses where meteorological and aerosol factors have a greater impact than urban landscape, with significant seasonal aerosol cooling and specific urban feature influences.

Objective

• To quantify the independent and interactive effects of aerosols, meteorological conditions, and urban features on Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Beijing.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Beijing (city-scale)
• Temporal Scale: Seasonal (e.g., spring, summer) and annual variations implied to capture seasonal shifts in aerosol impact.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random forest model
• Data sources: Multisource data, including aerosol optical depth (AOD), meteorological conditions (e.g., precipitation, wind speed), urban landscape indices (e.g., tree coverage, building height), and land use type.

Main Results

• The effects of meteorological factors and aerosol optical depth (AOD) on LST were significantly greater than those of the urban landscape index.
• The response of LST to multiple factors is nonlinear.
• Interactions of precipitation with wind speed and vegetation have the strongest cooling effects on LST.
• The aerosol impact shifts seasonally, with its direct radiative effect dominating in spring and inducing a cooling of up to approximately 2.0 °C.
• Land use type plays a background role in determining LST; the average LST decreases by approximately 1.5 °C for every 50% increase in tree coverage.
• As building height increases by 10%, the summer LST increases by approximately 2 °C.

Contributions

• Elucidates the nonlinear interactions among aerosol, meteorological, and urban features, moving beyond isolated factor analysis.
• Offers mechanism cognition for urban planning strategies by highlighting the complex interplay of factors affecting urban heat.
• Emphasizes the significant, often overlooked, impact of atmospheric environmental changes (aerosols) on urban LST.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Zhang2025Dominant,
  author = {Zhang, Shiyu and Yang, Yan and Wang, Haitao and Fan, Hao and Qi, Ji and Lai, Xide},
  title = {Dominant Role of Meteorology and Aerosols in Regulating the Seasonal Variation of Urban Thermal Environment in Beijing},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/rs17233921},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17233921}
}