This study examines the spatial and temporal effects of Istanbul Airport, a mega-scale infrastructure project, on land surface temperature (LST) and the urban heat island effect ratio (UHIER) in the neighbouring settlement area of Arnavutköy district. Landsat 8–9 satellite images from December and July of 2013 and 2023 were processed using remote sensing techniques, and the UHIER value was calculated and classified into six intensity levels. According to the research findings, a significant decrease was observed in both maximum and minimum LST values in the December 2023 assessments. Specifically, LST maximum decreased by 49%, and LST minimum decreased by 60%. A similar situation was observed in rural areas, where the average LST decreased by 61% from 10 °C in 2013 to 4 °C in 2023. In contrast, July data showed stability in the maximum LST value, while the minimum LST increased by 6% and the average LST increased by 1%. In contrast to the change in LST, UHIER levels increased significantly in December 2023, with 78% of the study area in high, very high, and extremely high categories, compared to only 8% in 2013. This situation shows that, despite the overall decrease in LST, there has been an increase in UHIER values due to the increase in the temperature difference between urban and rural areas. Especially in winter, increased openness and air circulation following forest loss led to greater cooling in rural areas, which in turn increases the thermal difference with urban areas and raises UHIER values. In July 2023, 95% of the region was classified as high, very high, and extremely high, whereas in 2013, this percentage was 58% in the same categories. The most notable change in July 2023 occurred in the low category. It was observed that the UHIER difference maps for December showed more intense changes compared to July. The results highlight how large-scale infrastructure projects such as Istanbul Airport can affect thermal dynamics in their surroundings and are expected to contribute to sustainable urban planning and climate adaptation strategies.
Ozenen-Kavlak et al. (Thu,) studied this question.