Local Climate Zones, Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Interactions: Case Study of Hradec Králové, the Czech Republic

Abstract

The current application of local climate zones (LCZs) often ends with (inter)zonal comparation of land surface temperature (LST) or air temperature (AT). LST evaluation employs an enhanced concept of LCZs together with cluster analysis for LCZs grouped based on LST. The paper attempts to combine them into a complex approach derived from the case study on a medium-sized Central European city (Hradec Králové, the Czech Republic). In particular, the paper addresses the following. (i) The relation of LST and AT, when the daily course of temperature profile ranging clear off the surface up to 2 m was fitted by a rational 2D function. The obtained equation enables derivation of the AT from LST and vice versa. (ii) The differences in thermal response of LCZs based on LST or AT, where the highest average LST and average maximum LST show LCZs 10, 2, 3 and 8, i.e., with a significant proportion of artificial surfaces. The cluster of LCZs with a significant representation of vegetation, LCZs 9, B, D, A and G, have significantly lower LST. (iii) The contribution of LCZs to understanding of LST/AT relation and whether their specific relation could be expected in particular LCZs, when subsequent interaction assessment of LST and AT revealed statistically their significant correlation in LCZs for certain cases.

Phenological response of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) to climate change in the Western Carpathian climatic-geographical zones

“…Numerous studies dating back to the early 21st century (Chmielewski and Rötzer, 2001;Walther et al, 2002;Menzel et al, 2006;Bertin, 2008;Malyshev et al, 2022) have evaluated the impact of gradual climate change by observing dynamic phenological changes in plants and trees. For example, meteorological droughts have been linked to an earlier onset of leaf senescence and a shortened growing season (Chuchma et al, 2016;Strědováet al, 2021), underscoring the importance of phenology as a bioindicator in today's changing ecosystems (Rafferty et al, 2020;Wenden et al, 2020. Phenology is crucial for assessing the impact of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems' development. Trends of earlier spring leaf development and delayed autumn leaf coloring, as manifestations of this change, are likely to influence the competitive balance among tree species.…”