The intensification of heat waves and the increase in average temperatures, particularly evident in the Mediterranean context, underline the urgency of strengthening sustainable spatial planning, introducing concrete tools to understand and manage how urban form, land-use and local microclimate interact with each other. In this direction, the paper proposes an integrated methodological path to map territorial exposure to surface heat stress in densely urbanised contexts, applying it to the case study of the Caserta conurbation. The approach uses several levels of analysis: (i) the estimation of the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the calculation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) from the Landsat series (1987–2022), using radiance/reflectance measurements and deriving LST from the Top-of-Atmosphere Brightness Temperature (BT) and from the Land Surface Emissivity (LSE); (ii) the consistency check of satellite-derived surface temperature using meteorological station data from the archive of the Multi-Risk Functional Center of the Civil Protection of the Campania Region, fed by the measurements of the sensors installed in the area by the Campania Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC); (iii) the evaluation of the intensity of the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) as the difference between LST values extracted from paired urban and non-urbanised reference areas; (iv) the verification of the relationship between NDVI and LST by linear regression, with NDVI as the explanatory variable and LST as the dependent variable, showing a statistically consistent inverse relationship. The results support a multi-scalar reading of the intervention priorities, highlighting that the potential relevance of nature-based solutions (NBS) and cooling strategies varies according to local urban morphology, geographical configuration, and degree of soil sealing, requiring context-specific planning evaluations.
SOURCES AND DATA FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TERRITORIAL EXPOSURE TO SURFACE URBAN HEAT ISLAND (SUHI) PHENOMENA: Methodological Notes from the Caserta Conurbation Case Study
LOSCO S.;CERULLO C.
2026
Abstract
The intensification of heat waves and the increase in average temperatures, particularly evident in the Mediterranean context, underline the urgency of strengthening sustainable spatial planning, introducing concrete tools to understand and manage how urban form, land-use and local microclimate interact with each other. In this direction, the paper proposes an integrated methodological path to map territorial exposure to surface heat stress in densely urbanised contexts, applying it to the case study of the Caserta conurbation. The approach uses several levels of analysis: (i) the estimation of the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the calculation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) from the Landsat series (1987–2022), using radiance/reflectance measurements and deriving LST from the Top-of-Atmosphere Brightness Temperature (BT) and from the Land Surface Emissivity (LSE); (ii) the consistency check of satellite-derived surface temperature using meteorological station data from the archive of the Multi-Risk Functional Center of the Civil Protection of the Campania Region, fed by the measurements of the sensors installed in the area by the Campania Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC); (iii) the evaluation of the intensity of the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) as the difference between LST values extracted from paired urban and non-urbanised reference areas; (iv) the verification of the relationship between NDVI and LST by linear regression, with NDVI as the explanatory variable and LST as the dependent variable, showing a statistically consistent inverse relationship. The results support a multi-scalar reading of the intervention priorities, highlighting that the potential relevance of nature-based solutions (NBS) and cooling strategies varies according to local urban morphology, geographical configuration, and degree of soil sealing, requiring context-specific planning evaluations.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
