Thermal based functional evaluation of urban park vegetation

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Thermal based functional evaluation of urban park vegetation

--An evaluation of the urban park vegetation was conductedby integrating airborne multispectral scanning system (MSS) thermalband data with meteorological. MSS data acquired in the morning andafternoon were utilized to assess the radiant energy budget ofdifferent ground cover types and its relationship with the surfacetypes. The spatial distribution of surface temperature (Ts) andsurface albedo (A) varied between different surfaces. However, thespatial variability of net radiation (Rn) was reduced by negativefeedback of A-Ts relationship. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) had a negative correlation with Ts but positivelycorrelated to Rn of the different surface types. Thermal responsenumber (TRN), which expresses the dissipative behavior of radiantenergy, correctly characterized each ground cover type according tothe validated surface property. Forested and lawn covered sites hadthe highest TRN values consistent with their tendency to resistmicroclimatic change. The approach shows that by utilizing the MSSthermal signatures, we can relate the microenvironment processes tothe biophysical character of each site offering an opportunity todiagnose site-specific problems. The approach is proposed as adirect and easily adaptable method for monitoring the urban greenpark areas and for making objective decisions about theirmanagement.