A GIS-based approach to microclimate monitoring in Singapore's high- rise housing estates

Abstract

Surface temperature data of urban areas derived from satellite thermal sensors are under-utilized in planning applications due to the inability to demonstrate meaningful relationships between the satellite-derived data and the urban microclimate. The study uses GIS operations to demonstrate such relationships for high rise housing estates in a tropical city where climate control is of paramount importance. The procedure for emissivity correction decreased the pixel size to 30 metres and enhanced the spatial characteristics of vegetated areas to approximate the high spatial frequency of the urban environment. This gave a high correlation between satellite derived surface temperature and biomass indices, as well as similarity with air temperature data. While noting the limitations of the data for obtaining absolute quantitative values for ambient air temperature, the study suggests specific planning contexts in which image-derived values can be input into planning models