Spatial–temporal characteristics of surface thermal environment and its effect on Lake surface water temperature in Dianchi Lake basin

Abstract

The surface thermal environment plays an important role in urban sustainable development and ecological environment protection. Existing researches mainly focus on the formation process and mechanism of the surface thermal environment and lack the analysis of its effect on the lake ecological environment under the influence of human activities. Therefore, based on the analysis of the variations in land surface temperature (LST) and lake surface water temperature (LSWT) of Dianchi Lake at multiple spatio-temporal scales, this study evaluated the response of LSWT by using the methods of spatial influence, the center of gravity migration trajectory, trend analysis, and correlation analysis. The results show that: (1) Urbanization has a greater warming effect on LSWT than on LST, and the warming effect at night is greater than that at daytime. From 2001 to 2018, the warming trend of LSWT in daytime and night was 0.01°C/a and 0.02°C/a, respectively, while the cooling trend of LST in daytime was −0.03°C/a and the warming trend of LST in night was 0.01°C/a. (2) Areas with high human activity are warming faster, both in the eastern and northern coastal areas of lake and the heavily urbanized sub-basins. (3) The spatial influence of LST and LSWT are highly correlated, and the response of the outer buffer in the range of 2 km is obvious, and the direction of gravity center migration trajectory is consistent. The results are of great significance for the control and improvement of urban heat island and ecological environment protection of Dianchi Lake in Kunming and can provide data support and decision support for urban planning, promoting the construction of the ecological civilization city in Kunming, and reducing the accumulation of urban surface heat.