Analysis of the Surface Urban Heat Island Changes according to Urbanization in Sejong City Using Landsat Imagery

Urbanization due to population growth and regional development can cause various environmental problems, such as the urban heat island phenomenon. A planned city is considered an appropriate study site to analyze changes in urban climate caused by rapid urbanization in a short-term period. In this study, changes in land cover and surface heat island phenomenon were analyzed according to the development plan in Sejong City from 2013 to 2020 using Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager/ Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI/TIRS) satellite imagery. The surface temperature was calculated in consideration of the thermal infrared band value provided by the satellite image and the emissivity, and based on this the surface heat island effect intensity and Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) change analysis were performed. The level-2 land cover map provided by the Ministry of Environment was used to confirm the change in land cover as the development progressed and the difference in the surface heat island intensity by each land cover. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the urbanized area increased by 15% and the vegetation decreased by more than 28%. Expansion and intensification of the heat island phenomenon due to urban development were observed, and it was confirmed that the ecological level of the area where the heat island phenomenon occurred was very low. Therefore, It can suggest the need for a policy to improve the residential environment according to the quantitative change of the thermal environment due to rapid urbanization.