Scale effect on the relationship between urban landscape patterns and land surface temperature

Great efforts have been made to examine the linkages between land surface temperature (LST) and urban landscape patterns (ULPs), which, however, focus on a single spatial scale and linear relationships. This study aims to examine the influence range of four key ULP indicators on LST, namely the sky view factor (SVF) and three indices of built-up area, greens, and blue spaces. The analyses are conducted at the street block level in 38 big cities in China and leverage a multiscalar approach to investigate change patterns of indicators within multiple buffer zones and identify the buffer distance that yields the greatest influence. Results reveal that (1) the greatest local impacts are produced within 0 − 150 m buffer zones in most cities for all key ULP metrics; (2) the maximum impacts of most indicators in summer are greater than in other seasons; and (3) the influence magnitude of key ULP indicators increases after considering the scale effect, and the influence of SVF varies significantly across cities. Results suggest that the consideration of maximum influence ranges of ULP indicators can better explain LST spatial variations. Our findings offer evidence on the local impact of ULPs on LST and contribute to urban design in urban heat mitigation.