Abstract

LOPEZ GONZALEZ, Francisco Martín; NAVARRO NAVARRO, Luis Alan; DIAZ CARAVANTES, Rolando Enrique  and  NAVARRO-ESTUPINAN, Javier. Vegetation cover and urban heat islands/oases distribution in Hermosillo City, Sonora.Translated byLuis Cejudo-Espinosa. Frontera norte [online]. 2021, vol.33, e2088.  Epub Sep 13, 2021. ISSN 2594-0260.  https://doi.org/10.33679/rfn.v1i1.2088.

The case of an arid Northwest city of Mexico is studied with the general objective of assessing the influence of the percentage of vegetation cover (VC) in Land Surface Temperature (LST) and mapping its spatial distribution, through a geographic information system using remote sensing data. Results showed: 1) on average, 12% (min. 0 to max. 59%) of a city block is covered with vegetation, 38% of the blocks had % VC ≤ 10; 2) the LST regression model estimated temperatures range from 37 to 45°C, the main explanatory variable was % VC, increasing % VC in 10 is associated with cooling effect of 1.1 °C. The spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of LST can be interpreted as the human effect modifying the climate on a small scale; this creates internal diurnal oasis.

Keywords : Urban heat island; Urban oasis effect; Vegetation; Hermosillo; Northwest Mexico.