Detection of the urban heat island in Beijing using HJ-1B satellite imagery

Satellite images are used extensively in studying the urban heat island(UHI) phenomenon.We evaluated the suitability of thermal infrared(TIR) data from the HJ-1B satellite for detecting UHI using a case study in Beijing.Two modified algorithms for retrieving the land surface temperature(LST) from HJ-1B data were tested.The results were compared with LST images derived from a Landsat TM thermal band and the MODIS LST output.The spatial pattern of UHI generated using HJ-1B data matched well with that produced using TM and MODIS data.Of the two algorithms,the mono-window algorithm performed better but further tests are necessary.With more frequent coverage than TM and higher spatial resolution than MODIS,the HJ-1B TIR data present a unique opportunity to study thermal environments in cities in China and neighboring countries.