Page 120 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 1

INVESTIGATING COOLING CAPACITY OF URBAN
COOL AREAS, CASE OF İZMİR

Yasemin ŞENTÜRK - Kemal Mert ÇUBUKÇU

ABSTRACT
With the reduction of vegetation, the increasingly dense impermeable sur-
faces in urban centers cause the sun's rays to be absorbed throughout the
day. The heat absorbed during the day increases the air temperature in cities,
especially at night, and accordingly causes higher temperatures to be ob-
served compared to rural areas. This event is called as urban heat island. In
this context, urban heat island mitigation is becoming an important issue for
spatial planning. This study aims to investigate spatial pattern and cooling
capacity of relative cooler areas in urban areas. In the study, temperature
was measured using land surface temperature (LST). To detect urban cold
area boundaries, spatial correlation method was used, which helped to ana-
lyze spatial clusters of LST. The relationship between the cooling capacity
and vegetation, land cover and features of urban cool areas was measured
and compared using rank-order correlation statistics within urban cold area
polygons. Results of the study indicated that 1) the strongest relationship be-
tween sizes of urban cold area is an important factor 2) both spatial configu-
ration of vegetation and abundance of vegetation is important and 3) there is
a need to decrease impervious surfaces in urban areas to mitigate UHI effect.
LST was measured as 32oC on the cold areas, showing a relative cooling in
the urban area. This situation showed that UHI is an important risk in terms
of public health for İzmir. To sum up, the results contributed information on
spatial planning practice to deal with climate change while generating deci-
sions and strategies.

Keywords: Climate Change, Urban Heat İsland, Land Surface Temperature,
Remote Sensing, Urban Green Area, Spatial Autocorrelation, İzmir.

Year 1 / Issue 1 / Jan 2022 105