Thermal condition of Santa Fe city- Argentina during the period 2013-2022

Abstract

The extensive modernization and population migration to large cities, implies the impermeabilization of the surface and the concentration of buildup areas with materials that concentrate heat. This, added to the increase in temperature, impacts on urban heat islands (UHI) that degrade the environment in many ways. This paper proposes a new way of monitoring the (UHI) from the Environmental Criticality Index (ECIm), using the surface temperature condition and a vegetation index. The method was applied to Santa Fe city, Argentina, with images of the Landsat 8 mission and the Google Earth Engine platform. Santa Fe registered an increase in high-rise constructions starting in 2002 which was intensified in 2011, that deserves attention. The results suggest that this city generally has a healthy thermal environment, except for the downtown (the oldest area), that presents critical ECIm values, due to the densification of construction with absorbent materials and the traffic.