Identification of the Anthropogenic Land Surface Temperature Distribution by Land Use Using Satellite Images: A Case Study for Seoul, Korea

UHI (Urban Heat Island) is an important environmental issue occurring in highly developed (or urbanized) area such as Seoul Metropolitan City of Korea due to modification of the land surface by man-made structures. With the advance of the remote sensing technique, land cover types and LST (Land Surface Temperature) influencing UHI were frequently investigated describing that they have a positive relationship. However, the concept of land cover considers material characteristics of the urban cover in a comprehensive way and does not provide information on how human activities influence on LST in detail. Instead, land use reflects ways of land use management and human life patterns and behaviors, and explains the relationship with human activities in more details. Using this concept, LST was segmented according to land use types from the Landsat imagery to identify the human-induced heat from the surface and interannual and seasonal variation of LST with GIS. The result showed that the LST intensity of Seoul was greatest in the industrial area and followed by the commercial and residential areas. In terms of size, the residential area could be defined as the major contributor among six urban land use types (i.e., residential, industrial, commercial, transportation, etc.) affecting UHI during daytime in Seoul. For temperature, the industrial area was highest and could be defined as a major contributor. It was found that land use type was more appropriate to understand the human-induced effect on LST rather than land cover. Also, there was no significant change in the interannual pattern of LST in Seoul but the seasonal difference provided a trigger that the human life pattern could be identified from the satellite-derived LST.