1,2,1,1,1- 1Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sezione Osservatorio Nazionale Terremoti, Italy
- 2University of Trieste, Department of Mathematics and Geosciences, Italy
Climate change is driving a sustained increase in global temperatures and an intensification of extreme events, including heatwaves. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable, as they are characterized by higher temperatures compared to surrounding suburban and rural environments, a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). This effect is primarily associated with the presence of buildings and inhomogeneous surfaces, which modify surface energy and water exchanges as well as local wind circulation. Additional factors, such as land-use changes, reduction of vegetated areas, local anthropogenic heat emissions (e.g. traffic and air conditioning), and air pollution, further alter the urban heat balance.
The UHI strongly affects urban climate, ecosystems, air quality, and human thermal comfort, and its impact is exacerbated during heatwaves, posing significant risks to human health. Therefore, monitoring and characterizing UHI is crucial for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Satellite-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) provides an effective means to investigate the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI), enabling comprehensive spatial and temporal analyses of urban thermal patterns, identification of hot- and cold-spots, and assessment of mitigation measures such as high-albedo materials and urban green areas.
In this study, thermal infrared satellite observations are used to analyze LST over selected urban areas in Central and Southern Italy, with the aim of characterizing SUHI dynamics. Long-term variations (>10 years) are investigated using Landsat 8 data (100 m spatial resolution, 16-day revisit time, available since 2013). For recent years, Landsat 8 and 9 observations (8-days revisit time when used in combination) are combined with ECOSTRESS data (70 m spatial resolution, variable overpass times, 1–2 day revisit), significantly enhancing temporal sampling. This multi-sensor approach enables an improved assessment of urban temperature evolution and its response to climate change.
This work was supported by the ASI SpaceItUp contract N. 2024-5-E.0, CUP
I53D24000060005., SPOKE 5 and SPOKE 7 activities.
How to cite: Pecci, M., Scalabrini, A., Buongiorno, M. F., Musacchio, M., Silvestri, M., and Rabuffi, F.: Satellite high-resolution thermal infrared imagery for UHI monitoring, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-13195, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-13195, 2026.
