Vegetation, surface temperature ande urban morphology: a portrait of the São Paulo metropolitan region.

Author(s)

Luciana Schwandner Ferreira

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU/SBI)
• Defense date: 2019-06-25

Examining board members

Denise Helena Silva Duarte; Teodoro Isnard Ribeiro de Almeida; Eugênio Fernandes Queiroga; Humberto Ribeiro da Rocha; Luciana Rodrigues Fagnoni Costa Travassos

• Advisor: Denise Helena Silva Duarte

Abstract

The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between vegetation, surface temperature and urban morphology in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), both in space and time. Vegetation indices and daytime and nighttime thermal images of the Aqua-MODIS satellite from 2002 to 2017 are used, as well as mapping of urban morphology according to the local climate zones concept. The hypotheses that guide this research are that areas with the presence of vegetation present a lower surface temperature throughout the year and that the suppression of vegetation leads to an increase in surface temperature. Results show higher daytime and nighttime surface temperature at the urbanized areas, compared to their less urbanized surroundings, however, the urbanized area is not homogeneous: Areas with higher vegetation indexes and / or higher buildings have lower surface temperatures compared to other urban typologies in the daytime period, and areas with high buildings and low vegetation indexes have higher nighttime surface temperature, a feature compatible with the surface heat island pattern. The areas that presented extensive vegetation losses and urban interventions, such as pavement, showed an increase in surface temperature, with temporal results strongly depending on the scale of analysis. The correlation between surface temperature and vegetation indices is high and negative for the whole period analyzed. The correlation remains high in seasons with surface temperatures above the average and those with precipitation below the average, indicating the role of vegetation in the attenuation of the surface temperatures in the MRSP and also its possible resilience to extreme events of high temperatures and low precipitation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/17360-5 - Impact of vegetation loss on urban microclimate: coupling of remote sensing studies and soil measurements.Subsidies for urban vegetation planning.
• Grantee: Luciana Schwandner Ferreira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate