Integrated Influencing Mechanism of Potential Drivers on Seasonal Variability of LST in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, India

Increasing land surface temperature (LST) is one of the major anthropogenic issues and is significantly threatening the urban areas of the world. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the spatial variations and patterns of LST during the different seasons in relation to influencing factors in Kolkata Municipality Corporation (KMC), a city of India. The spatial distribution of LST was analyzed regarding the different surface types and used 25 influencing factors from 6 categories of variables to explain the variability of LST during the different seasons. All-subset regression and hierarchical partitioning analyses were used to estimate the explanatory potential and independent effects of influencing factors. The results show that high and low LST corresponded to the artificial lands and bodies of water for all seasons. In the individual category regression model, surface properties gave the highest explanatory rate for all seasons. The explanatory rates and the combination of influencing factors with their independent effects on the LST were changed for the different seasons. The explanatory rates of integration of all influencing factors were 89.4%, 81.4%, and 88.7% in the summer, transition, and winter season, respectively. With the decreasing of LST (summer to transition, then to winter) more influencing factors were required to explain the LST. In the integrated regression model, surface properties were the most important factor in summer and winter, and landscape configuration was the most important factor in the transition season. LST is not the result of single categories of influencing factors. Along with the effects of surface properties, socio-economic parameters, landscape compositions and configurations, topographic parameters and pollutant parameters mostly explained the variability of LST in the transition (11.22%) and summer season (15.22%), respectively. These findings can help to take management strategies to reduce urban LST based on local planning.

Automated summary

This study examines the spatial variations and patterns of land surface temperature (LST) in different seasons in Kolkata Municipality Corporation (KMC), India. The results show that surface properties have the highest explanatory rate for all seasons. The combination and independent effects of influencing factors vary across seasons.