Fractal analysis of the structure and dynamics of a satellite‐detected urban heat island

In this Letter, three fractal models—surface, profile and pixel models are developed to analyse the structure and dynamics of an urban heat island (UHI). These three models were tested using data from Shanghai taken in 1990, 1995 and 1998. The surface model is capable of capturing the fractal dimension of the entire study area. The profile model can be used to analyse the structural characteristics of the UHI along certain directions and is capable of revealing changes in the texture characteristics of UHI. The pixel model can describe the changes in thermal characteristics surrounding each pixel in a particular locale and is suitable for analysing the micro‐structure of the UHI.