Relationship between vegetation greenness and urban heat island effect in Beijing City of China

In this paper, brightness temperature (Tb) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were quantitatively derived from Landsat TM images of Beijing City. Feature profiles of Tb and NDVI were drawn in the directions of NE-SW and NW-SE using the technologies of RS and GIS. Laws of spatial distribution of the relationships between Tb and NDVI were discussed. The following conclusions are drawn. (1) there is a significant negative correlation between Tb and NDVI. (2) The less distance between the other profiles and the central profile is, the stronger the negative correlation between Tb and NDVI is. (3) The relationship between Tb and NDVI is affected by the complexity of underlying surface land use structures. The more complex the land use structure is, the stronger the relationship between Tb and NDVI of feature profile is. The spatial correlations between vegetation and temperature are effectively revealed in this paper and thus certain scientific supports for Beijing's urban and greenland planning in the future could be provided. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.