Urban Heat Islands Significantly Reduced by COVID‐19 Lockdown

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  • Zihan Liu
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China
  • Jiameng Lai
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China
  • Wenfeng Zhan
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China
  • Benjamin Bechtel
    Department of Geography Ruhr‐University Bochum Bochum Germany
  • James Voogt
    Department of Geography Western University London ON Canada
  • Jinling Quan
    State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research CAS Beijing China
  • Leiqiu Hu
    Department of Atmospheric Science University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville AL USA
  • Peng Fu
    Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA
  • Fan Huang
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China
  • Long Li
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China
  • Zheng Guo
    National Satellite Meteorological Center Beijing China
  • Jiufeng Li
    Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology International Institute for Earth System Science Nanjing University Nanjing China

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The significant reduction in human activities during COVID‐19 lockdown is anticipated to substantially influence urban climates, especially urban heat islands (UHIs). However, the UHI variations during lockdown periods remain to be quantified. Based on the MODIS daily land surface temperature and the <jats:italic>in‐situ</jats:italic> surface air temperature observations, we reveal a substantial decline in both surface and canopy UHIs over 300‐plus megacities in China during lockdown periods compared with reference periods. The surface UHI intensity (UHII) is reduced by 0.25 (one S.D. = 0.22) K in the daytime and by 0.23 (0.20) K at night during lockdown periods. The reductions in canopy UHII reach 0.42 (one S.D. = 0.26) K in the daytime and 0.39 (0.29) K at night. These reductions are mainly due to the near‐unprecedented drop in human activities induced by strict lockdown measures. Our results provide an improved understanding of the urban climate variations during the global pandemic.</jats:p>

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