Measuring heat transfer index (HTI): A new method to quantify the spatial influence of land surface temperature between adjacent urban spaces

Research on the impact of landscape characteristics on land surface temperature (LST) at the block scale remains relatively limited, especially in terms of thermal effects between patches. Therefore, this study proposed an index of heat transfer index (HTI) that characterizes the thermal propose between patches, and used this index to analyze the spatial influence of LST between adjacent urban spaces in Beijing, China. The analysis results showed that HTI had a significant positive linear correlation with LST, and exhibited a stronger explanatory power (R = 0.343) on the LST of neighboring urban spaces, compared to other 10 indices representing patch size, shape, spatial distribution, and three-dimensional characteristics. The LST changes of different landscape characteristics scenarios based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation had verified the accuracy of spatial impact of HTI on LST. The linear regression results showed that for every 1 increase in HTI, the LST of the urban spaces would increase by 0.188 °C. Moreover, this study constructed a functional model using the HTI and landscape features, which effectively explained the trend of real LST changes. The findings provide a reference for urban planners to effectively mitigate urban thermal environment in urban design.