An investigation into urban heat mitigation by adopting local climate zones and land surface temperatures in the Tokyo prefecture

Abstract

Abstract This study aimed to investigate urban forms susceptible to heightened heat intensities in the Tokyo Prefecture in Japan. Adopting Landsat 8 data at a pixel resolution of 100 m, local climate zones (LCZ) were identified. LCZs contain urban forms which are primarily defined by building compactness and height. Daytime spatial distribution of land surface temperatures (LST) was provided by MODIS 100 m resolution data from 2013 to 2021. Median LSTs for compact and super high‐rise, high‐rise, mid‐rise, and low‐rise LCZs were 34.4, 35.5, 37.3, and 38.1°C, respectively. Additionally, LSTs for open and super high‐rise, high‐rise, and mid‐rise LCZs were 37.4, 37.5, and 37.1°C, respectively. Therefore, this suggests lower‐rise and open LCZs are prone to increased urban heat intensities and higher‐rise and compact LCZs are an urban heat mitigation strategy. Open mid‐rise also offers heat reduction capabilities. Compact low‐rise and open mid‐rise spatial analysis also confirmed this trend with vegetation indices validating urban configuration as significantly influencing LSTs. Furthermore, due to LSTs constituting heat health risks, 11 municipalities comprised of predominantly compact low‐rise LCZs were identified as a priority for urban heat mitigation. Among these, Nakano, Nerima, and Suginami posed the greatest heat risks.

Keywords

• land surface temperature
• Landsat
• local climate zones
• MODIS
• urban heat island