Temporal variations of urban cold island formation in cold cities

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Koç A., Koç C., Bingül Bulut M. B., Angin S. N., ANGIN İ., Şenyiğit Doğan S.

Present Environment and Sustainable Development, cilt.20, sa.1, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)

Özet

Climate change is a global phenomenon whose effects are increasing. Climate change triggers extreme conditions, and these extreme conditions occur as rapid warming and/or cooling. Like rapid warming, cooling down affects the physiological structure of the human being. This study was carried out in Erzurum, one of the coldest cities in Turkey. In the study, the Landsat data band was analyzed with the support of remote sensing. The results of the analysis were confirmed by field study data. UCI formations were observed during the cold months between the years 2014 and 2022. According to observations, UCIs showed an irregular change. The highest UCI formation occurred in 2017 with a size of 6.08 km2, and that year in the study area, the surface temperatures of minimum -42.1°C, maximum -24.1°C, and average -35.6°C were measured. In 2018, the lowest UCI formation was determined, with a size of 0.155 km2 over an 8-year period. In the cold month of 2018, the surface temperature was measured at a minimum of -19.8°C, a maximum of -5.8°C, and an average of -10.5°C. The study determined that UCI formations in the winter are inevitable in the Erzurum city center, and these formations vary depending on the temperature. The aim of this study is, first, to reveal the temporal changes of UCI formations in the cold city of Erzurum; second, to determine the effect of urban morphology on these changes; and third, to discuss possible solutions.