High-Resolution Mapping of Anthropogenic Heat in China from 1992 to 2010

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Wangming Yang¹  Bing Chen² 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; E-Mail:;State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; E-Mail:

关键词: anthropogenic heat;    urban heat island;    DMSP-OLS;    major metropolis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110404066

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Anthropogenic heat generated by human activity contributes to urban and regional climate warming. Due to the resolution and accuracy of existing anthropogenic heat data, it is difficult to analyze and simulate the corresponding effects. This study exploited a new method to estimate high spatial and temporal resolutions of anthropogenic heat based on long-term data of energy consumption and the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) data from 1992 to 2010 across China. Our results showed that, throughout the entire study period, there are apparent increasing trends in anthropogenic heat in three major metropoli, i.e., the Beijing-Tianjin region, the Yangzi River delta and the Pearl River delta. The annual mean anthropogenic heat fluxes for Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2010 were 17 Wm⁻², 19 and 7.8 Wm⁻², respectively. Comparisons with previous studies indicate that DMSP-OLS data could provide a better spatial proxy for estimating anthropogenic heat than population density and our analysis shows better performance at large scales for estimation of anthropogenic heat.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.