Assessment of spatio-temporal intra-rural heat island variability based on IoT monitoring

While there has been considerable research on heat island in urban, research on the spatiotemporal variability of intra-rural heat islands is particularly weak. Monitoring such heat island variability requires field measurement solutions with a sufficient level of data granularity at affordable costs. In this study, we tested the Air Temperature Internet of Things (AT-IoT) devices with long measurement duration and monitoring in real-time. A typical rural area in Guangzhou (China) was selected as the study area, and 28 AT-IoTs were installed in five typical landscapes, including town settlement, village, farmland, industrial area, and water body, to collect air temperature from February 3 to August 15, 2021. This study found the proposed AT-IoT provides real-time air temperature data at a low labor and material costs. The AT-IoT could serve as a useful device for obtaining reliable and detailed air temperature with high spatial flexibility in real-time. Heat island exists in rural area, with town settlements and industrial areas experiencing stronger heat island intensity than villages and water body. Heat island changes were generally similar in different climate conditions for the different landscape types. This study provides new insight into real-time air temperature monitoring technology and an in-depth understanding of heat island variability in a rural area.