Research on Summer Hourly Climate-Influencing Factors in Suburban Areas of Cities in CFA Zone—Taking Chengdu, China as an Example

Abstract

Elevated temperatures in urban centers have become a common problem in cities around the world. However, the climate problems in suburban areas are equally severe; there is an urgent need to find zero-carbon ways to mitigate this problem. Recent studies have revealed the thermal performance of vegetation, buildings, and water surfaces. They functioned differently regarding the climate at different periods of the day. Accordingly, this study synthesizes remote sensing technology and meteorology station observation data to deeply explore the differences in the role of each climate-influencing factor in the suburban areas of Chengdu. The land surface temperature (LST) and air temperature (Ta) were used as thermal environmental indicators, while the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), and altitude were used as environmental factors. The results showed that the relevant influences of the environmental factors on the climate in the sample areas were significantly affected by the time of the day. The NDVI (R2 = 0.5884), NDBI (R2 = 0.3012), and altitude (R2 = 0.5638) all showed strong correlations with Ta during the night (20:00–7:00), which gradually weakened after sunrise, yet the NDWI showed a poorer cooling effect during the night, which gradually strengthened after sunrise, reaching a maximum at 15:00 (R2 = 0.5012). One reason for this phenomenon was the daily weather changes. These findings facilitate the advancement of the understanding of the climate in suburban areas and provide clear directions for further thermal services targeted towards people in different urban areas.