Abstract
As natural landscapes are increasingly replaced by impervious surface materials associated with urbanization, urban areas tend to
experience higher surface temperatures when compared to rural areas, which is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. In
this study the impact of urbanization on land surface temperature (LST) and the UHI effect were examined based on two Landsat
Thematic Mapper (TM) imageries of 1987 and 2007. Results show that Wuhan experienced rapid urban expansion from 1987 to
2007, while the areal extent with higher temperatures did not always correspond to the urbanized area. The percent impervious
surface area (ISA) was found to efficiently explain the LST variation in urban areas, especially in high-density ones. The
normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was a sufficient indicator to express surface temperature variation only in natural
context. These findings help urban planners and greening designers make appropriate decisions on urban planning and thermal
management.