Derivation of the characteristics of the Surface Urban Heat Island in the Greater Toronto area using thermal infrared remote sensing

For the past decades, there have been increasing concerns about urban environmental degradation, especially under the circumstance of urbanization. This paper compares the trends between air temperature and surface temperature, and characterizes spatial distribution and connection with relevant urban characteristics, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario in the context of surface urban heat island (SUHI). The trends in annual and seasonal temperature were investigated in the GTA from 1984 to 2014. A local scale investigation was continued by applying Landsat and ASTER thermal-band images in order to characterize SUHI intensity in the study area. Results show that strong SUHI phenomenon is mainly observed at downtown Toronto and industrial areas and the temperature variation is consistent with the pace of urbanization, such as low NDVI, land use change, increasing population and new roads.