Review
Plant Sciences
Amir Reza Shahtahmassebi, Chenlu Li, Yifan Fan, Yani Wu, Yue Lin, Muye Gan, Ke Wang, Arunima Malik, George Alan Blackburn
Summary: Remote sensing technologies play an important role in analyzing urban green spaces, but a comprehensive evaluation of the current status, challenges and potential in this area is lacking. Studies have focused on mapping UGSs and classifying species, with fewer examples of non-tree species mapping, change detection, biomass mapping, and vegetation health assessment within UGSs.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Qian Zhang, Dian Zhou, Duo Xu, Alessandro Rogora
Summary: This study focuses on 36 green spaces in Xi'an and explores the impact of urban spatial indicators, such as building density and building floor area ratio, on the cooling effect of green spaces. The results show a significant correlation between these urban indicators and the cooling effect of green spaces. The study also finds that the relative position between the surrounding area and green space plays a role in the cooling effect, with the best effect observed when the green space is located on the north side.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiyoung Kim, Abdou Khouakhi, Ronald Corstanje, Alice S. A. Johnston
Summary: Urban green spaces, especially trees, are effective in mitigating urban heat islands by reducing local air temperature. The cooling effects of green spaces are influenced by background climate and plant characteristics, while urban characteristics have minimal impact. Trees play a dominant role in reducing temperature and have the greatest potential for mitigating urban heat islands, especially in mild climates.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ashok K. Pritipadmaja, Rahul Dev Garg, Ashok K. Sharma
Summary: This study aims to assess the cooling effect of blue-green spaces in Bhubaneswar, India, and explores their implications for mitigating UHI effects. Satellite images processed with Google Earth Engine (GEE) revealed significant spatial variations in land surface temperatures (LST), with higher temperatures observed in built-up areas and lower temperatures in proximity to blue-green spaces. The study highlights the importance of leveraging remote sensing and GEE for urban UHI analyses.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiacheng Zhao, Xiang Zhao, Shunlin Liang, Haoyu Wang, Naijing Liu, Ping Liu, Donghai Wu
Summary: The study utilized Landsat-based time series data to analyze changes in permanent UGS greenness, surface-cooling effects, and their biophysical responses in Beijing over the past 40 years (1984-2020). The results revealed segmented changes in UGS surface cooling, mainly tied to canopy transpiration and albedo responses to vegetation conditions. During the recent two decades of rapid greening, transpiration cooling surpassed albedo-induced warming, providing noticeable cooling enhancement.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Heather S. Sussman, Aiguo Dai, Paul E. Roundy
Summary: The study found that urban LST in Bengaluru is primarily controlled by vegetation, which limits evaporative cooling and increases surface heat retention. Increased specific humidity can lead to warming of the surface at night. Therefore, urban heat in Bengaluru is predominantly influenced by vegetation.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Fei Yang, Rasoul Yousefpour, Ying Zhang, Hongcheng Wang
Summary: In rapidly developing cities, the fragmentation of blue-green space and the expansion of impervious surfaces are found to be the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the thermal environment. This study focuses on the central urban area of Tianjin and estimates the absolute and relative cooling capacity of blue-green space during the rapid development period of 2001 to 2021. The results show that the cooling capacity of blue-green space has distinct phased characteristics and its explanatory ability for the overall cool environment of the city remains relatively stable. However, its explanatory ability for the cooling ability of the surrounding environment shows a yearly decline. The study also identifies that compositional features, configuration features, and blue-green spatial relationships have different levels of importance in influencing the cooling capacity of blue-green space.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Nils Noelke
Summary: The study introduced a neural network approach for assessing urban trees in Bengaluru, India, resulting in a new map of estimated tree cover. This method has the potential to improve the accuracy of global maps in detecting urban trees.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Bijay Halder, Jatisankar Bandyopadhyay, Papiya Banik
Summary: Urban heat island effect can be triggered by climate change and rapid urbanization, leading to higher temperatures in urban areas compared to rural areas. The study in Kolkata municipality explored land use changes, land surface temperature analysis, and correlations between various factors like LST, LULC, NDVI, and NDBI. Proper planning is needed to address future urban expansion and environmental degradation for better livelihoods and protection of the environment.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chunbo Li, Linlin Lu, Zongtang Fu, Ranhao Sun, Luyang Pan, Liying Han, Huadong Guo, Qingting Li
Summary: Cities in tropical regions are facing high heat risks due to the urban heat island effect. Urban green space can effectively reduce urban heat island effect and provide local cooling. This study developed enhanced land surface temperature data in three tropical megacities using a fusion method, and explored the spatiotemporal variations of surface urban heat island. The optimal size of green space associated with its cooling effect was assessed. Landscape metrics such as total area, shape index, normalized difference vegetation index, and land surface temperature were analyzed to understand the relationship with urban cooling island intensity and range.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
S. Bouketta
Summary: The rapid urbanization of cities has led to changes in local climate, resulting in high temperatures and a lack of water and vegetation in urban environments. This study focuses on evaluating the cooling effect of plant cover and water in urban spaces, and their impact on the microclimate of the built environment.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vladka Kirschner, Karel Macku, David Moravec, Jan Manas
Summary: This study systematically analyzed the cooling effect of 71 urban green spaces (UGS) in Prague on residential areas within 400 m of the UGS. The results showed that compact UGS of 10-25 ha with dense trees had the most pronounced cooling effect, with a mean decrease in Land Surface Temperature (LST) within 400 m of 2.3 degrees C compared to the least effective UGS type. The findings can be applied in urban planning and design to improve microclimates in cities.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zhong-Jian Shen, Bing-Hua Zhang, Ru-Hong Xin, Jun -Yang Liu
Summary: This study focuses on the supply and demand of cooling effect in blue and green spaces (BGSs) in the Fujian Delta urban agglomeration. The results show a negative correlation between the supply capacity and demand level, with a clear spatial spillover effect. The matching state exhibits polarization, and the coordination level is low.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiaqi Yao, Shuqi Wu, Yongqiang Cao, Jing Wei, Xinming Tang, Liuru Hu, Jianjun Wu, Huicai Yang, Jianhua Yang, Xinhui Ji
Summary: This study quantified the dry deposition effect of PM2.5 and PM10 on vegetation using a mathematical model and estimated the effect of dry deposition on PM2.5 and PM10 in China's urban green spaces using satellite remote sensing data. The analysis of long-term spatial and temporal changes and the influence of environmental factors showed that the dry deposition effect initially increased and then decreased due to local policies, and broad-leaved forests had the main dry deposition effects in urban spaces. The study also found coherences between PM2.5 and PM10 reduction and environmental factors, with precipitation being the best variable to explain the change in PM2.5 and PM10. These findings are important for urban air pollution control, green space planning, and sustainable development.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Haeyun Lee, Kyungsu Lee, Jun Hee Kim, Younghwan Na, Juhum Park, Jihwan P. Choi, Jae Youn Hwang
Summary: The proposed LSS-Net utilizes cosine similarity measurement and content loss function for better urban land change detection in remote sensing. Through systematic experiments, a suitable feature similarity measurement method was determined to enhance the change detection performance, surpassing other state-of-the-art methods.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. S. Nanditha, Karin van der Wief, Udit Bhatia, Daithi Stone, Frank Selton, Vimal Mishra
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2020)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Deep Shah, Vimal Mishra
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Akarsh Asoka, Vimal Mishra
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2020)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shanti Shwarup Mahto, Vimal Mishra
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2020)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Deep Shah, Vimal Mishra
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2020)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Akarsh Asoka, Vimal Mishra
Summary: Groundwater depletion in India is mainly attributed to irrigation pumping. The study reveals a negative correlation between crop growth and groundwater storage on annual and seasonal scales in north India. Precipitation shows varied associations with groundwater storage in different regions, while groundwater plays a significant role in crop growth during both Kharif and Rabi seasons.
JOURNAL OF HYDROMETEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shalinee Bharat, Vimal Mishra
Summary: Understanding water availability sensitivity in the Indian sub-continent is crucial for food and water security. North river basins experienced decreased precipitation while south basins saw increased precipitation. There is uncertainty in estimating water budget and runoff sensitivity using different models, highlighting the importance of considering multiple models for accurate estimation.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Saran Aadhar, Vimal Mishra
Summary: The study found that the worst soil moisture drought in South Asia occurred in 2002, affecting more than 65% of the land and leading to a decline in rice yield. Climate projections show that the frequency of the worst droughts is expected to increase by 1.5 times in the future, with droughts likely to be more intense and widespread.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Deep Shah, Vimal Mishra
Summary: The rapid depletion of groundwater in India due to human activity has significant implications on flood potential, as observed and simulated data show declines or increases in terrestrial water storage in various river basins in the Indian subcontinent from 2002 to 2016. Changes in groundwater storage have a greater impact on flood potential than precipitation in most subcontinental river basins.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Vimal Mishra, Saran Aadhar, Shanti Shwarup Mahto
Summary: Flash droughts lead to rapid soil moisture depletion, causing significant impacts on crop health and irrigation demands. Research shows that flash droughts in India mainly occur during the summer monsoon season, driven by intraseasonal variability of monsoon rainfall. In the future, the risk of flash droughts is expected to increase due to climate change and anthropogenic warming.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2021)
Editorial Material
Engineering, Civil
Vimal Mishra, Saran Aadhar
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGIC ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Deep Shah, Harsh L. Shah, Hari Manish Dave, Vimal Mishra
Summary: The study found that human activities have different effects on agricultural and hydrological droughts in India. While human activities reduced the intensity of agricultural droughts, they intensified hydrological droughts. Excessive groundwater pumping and irrigation may exacerbate hydrological droughts, leading to significant environmental implications.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Harsh Mittal, Arpit Shah
Summary: This study examines the emergence and discursive dominance of metro-TOD policies in urban transport policies in India, highlighting the crucial role played by the Urban Mobility India conference organized by the Indian federal government in the (im)mobility of these policies. It contributes to understanding the power-laden nature of policy circulation and addresses concerns about lack of analytical attention to marginalized policy pathways and immobile elements of mobile policies in UPM literature. The study proposes moving beyond the analytical binaries of mobile/immobile policies by utilizing concepts of argumentative discourse analysis to closely examine the discursive politics at play in policy-related conferences.
ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING C-POLITICS AND SPACE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Xuezheng Zong, Xiaorui Tian, Xianli Wang
Summary: Climate change has caused longer fire seasons and more intense wildfires worldwide, leading to significant economic and environmental impacts. A study conducted in Southwest China evaluated the effectiveness of different fuel treatment designs in mitigating wildfire risk under varying fire severity conditions. The results showed that fuel treatments were effective in reducing risk under low and normal fire severity scenarios, but their effectiveness was limited under high fire severity conditions.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Jian Peng, Xiaoyu Wang, Huining Zheng, Zihan Xu
Summary: This study developed an index system to evaluate the trade-off between grain production service and water purification service in the Dongting Lake Basin. The results showed that converting cropland with high nitrogen output into forest land can minimize this trade-off.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Francois Chiron, Romain Lorrilliere, Carmen Bessa-Gomes, Piotr Tryjanowski, Joan Casanelles-Abella, Lauri Laanisto, Ana Leal, Anskje Van Mensel, Marco Moretti, Babette Muyshondt, Ulo Niinemets, Marta Alos Orti, Pedro Pinho, Roeland Samson, Nicolas Deguines
Summary: In cities, green areas play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation, and the heterogeneity of land cover is an important factor. The relationship between area and heterogeneity affects the richness of bird species in urban green areas, with urban avoider species benefiting from large and heterogeneous patches.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Aleksandra Lis, Karolina Zalewska, Pawel Iwankowski, Katarzyna Betkier, Paulina Bilska, Viktoriia Dudar, Aleksandra L. Lagiewka
Summary: Appleton's prospect-refuge theory suggests that the presence of dense vegetation, topography, and people in a park can influence the safety and privacy felt by visitors in different ways. This study aimed to understand the relationship between observation point height, vegetation location, presence of other people, and perceived privacy and safety. The results showed that flat or lower ground without the presence of others was considered the safest, while landscapes higher up with dense vegetation and no other people were rated highest in terms of privacy. The findings have practical implications in terms of providing privacy without compromising safety.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Jianting Zhao, Guibo Sun, Chris Webster
Summary: This study developed a geospatial database to document the locations and urban environments of pandemic-induced street experiments on a global scale, and conducted quantitative analysis based on spatial and temporal visualizations. The study aims to enhance comparability of built environment indicators between cities and provide a robust foundation for future research on tactical urbanism.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Huaqing Wang, Louis G. Tassinary
Summary: This study investigated the influence of urban greenspace spatial morphology on non-communicable diseases and found that neighborhoods with more connected, aggregated, coherent, and complex-shaped greenspace had a lower prevalence of these diseases. Such associations were mediated by air pollution and physical inactivity. The results suggest that the spatial morphology of designed urban greenspace plays a significant role in neighborhood health.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Chiwei Xiao, Yi Wang, Mingyan Yan, Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka
Summary: Regional integration initiatives, such as cross-border transportation corridors, have significant impacts on land use changes and landscape patterns. This study examines the China-Laos Railway as a case study to evaluate the extent and significance of these impacts. Using land-use data and geospatial analysis, the study quantifies and compares the effects of the railway on land use changes within a buffer zone along the corridor.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Review
Ecology
Astrid Zabel, Mara-Magdalena Hausler
Summary: Developing a green infrastructure is an important environmental policy goal in many countries around the world. Different countries have different requirements on the spatial allocation of conservation sites for green infrastructure. Price-type and procedural instruments are commonly used, but the utilization of incentive mechanisms that internalize the benefit of clustering is relatively low. There is a need for more studies on incentive mechanisms and green infrastructure policies in the global South.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Timothy Fraser, Olivia Feeley, Andres Ridge, Ava Cervini, Vincent Rago, Kelly Gilmore, Gianna Worthington, Ilana Berliavsky
Summary: This study examines the inequality of social infrastructure in Boston, finding significant racial and income disparities in access. These disparities have implications for the health and resilience of neighborhoods.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Yutian Lu, Running Chen, Bin Chen, Jiayu Wu
Summary: The inequitable distribution of urban green spaces has become a significant concern, with variations found between cities in different development stages, and socioeconomic factors playing a crucial role in the spatial equity of urban green spaces.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Di Chen, Jie Yin, Chia-Pin Yu, Shengjing Sun, Charlotte Gabel, John D. Spengler
Summary: Observational and experimental studies have shown that exposure to greenness is beneficial for long-term health and well-being. However, more evidence is needed regarding the short-term health impacts of nearby nature in urban areas. This study used immersive virtual reality technology to investigate how transitions between built and natural environments affect urban residents. Results showed that transitioning from built to natural environments led to reductions in negative mood and transient anxiety, while transitions from natural to built environments had the opposite effect. Additionally, participants showed more emotional responses to nature through physiological measures. The study also highlighted the influence of contextual factors, such as physical health conditions, stress levels, experience with nature, and growth environments, on stress recovery. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the promotion of nearby nature in urban built environments.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Daniele Codato, Francesca Peroni, Massimo De Marchi
Summary: This study examines climate justice in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region (EAR), highlighting the multiple injustices caused by oil extraction activities. Using spatial analysis, the study shows that the EAR has been a major producer of oil since 1972, leading to environmental impacts such as oil spills and pollution. The results emphasize the need to include these territories in climate justice discussions and promote the rights to a non-toxic environment.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Jingli Yan, Wendy Y. Chen, Zixiao Zhang, Wenxing Zhao, Min Liu, Shan Yin
Summary: Vegetation barriers are an effective strategy in urban planning to mitigate traffic-induced air pollution and reduce exposure. This study uses field measurements and numerical modeling to show that constructing vegetation barriers with short bushes can effectively reduce PM2.5 pollution in open-road environments, while higher coverage of tall bushes may worsen the pollution.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2024)
