analyze_and_visualize_uhi: Urban Heat Island Analysis & Visualization

In greenR: Green Index Quantification, Analysis and Visualization

Urban Heat Island Analysis & Visualization

Description

Performs a comprehensive UHI analysis: fetches thermal data (ECOSTRESS or Landsat), retrieves environmental data using get_osm_data (green spaces, trees, highways), computes green coverage using fast raster-based methods, calculates built-up coverage, performs spatial hotspot analysis, and generates interactive and static maps.

Usage

analyze_and_visualize_uhi(
  location,
  date_range = c("2023-06-01", "2023-08-31"),
  hex_resolution = 9,
  ghsl_path = NULL,
  tree_canopy_radius = 5,
  thermal_source = c("auto", "ecostress", "landsat"),
  composite_scenes = FALSE,
  max_scenes = 5,
  lst_percentile_filter = c(0.01, 0.99),
  correlation_method = c("spearman", "pearson"),
  use_exactextract = TRUE,
  parallel = FALSE,
  n_cores = NULL
)

Arguments

location	Character or numeric vector. Either a city name (e.g., "Paris, France") or a bounding box as c(xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax) in EPSG:4326.
date_range	Character vector of length 2. Date range for satellite imagery in ISO format, e.g., c("2023-06-01", "2023-08-31"). Summer months recommended for UHI analysis.
hex_resolution	Integer. H3 hexagon resolution (default 9). Higher values = smaller hexagons. Range: 0-15.
ghsl_path	Character or NULL. Path to GHSL Built-S raster (.tif) for built-up coverage. If NULL (default), uses OSM buildings as fallback.
tree_canopy_radius	Numeric. Buffer radius for tree points in meters (default 5). Represents approximate canopy spread.
thermal_source	Character. One of "auto", "ecostress", or "landsat". Default "auto" tries ECOSTRESS first, then Landsat.
composite_scenes	Logical. Whether to composite multiple satellite scenes using median (default FALSE). Useful for reducing cloud gaps.
max_scenes	Integer. Maximum number of scenes to composite if composite_scenes=TRUE (default 5).
lst_percentile_filter	Numeric vector of length 2 or NULL. Lower and upper percentiles for LST outlier removal (default c(0.01, 0.99)). Set to NULL to disable filtering.
correlation_method	Character. Correlation method: "spearman" (default, robust) or "pearson".
use_exactextract	Logical. Use exactextractr package for faster raster extraction if available (default TRUE). Falls back to terra::extract if not installed.
parallel	Logical. Reserved for future parallel processing (currently ignored).
n_cores	Integer or NULL. Reserved for future use (currently ignored).

Details

CRAN policy note: This function downloads data from the internet (OpenStreetMap, Microsoft Planetary Computer STAC API for satellite imagery). Internet access is required for this function to work. The function will fail gracefully with informative error messages if network access is unavailable.

Data Sources:

• Land Surface Temperature: ECOSTRESS (70m) or Landsat 8/9 (100m thermal) via Microsoft Planetary Computer STAC API

• Green spaces, trees, buildings, water bodies: OpenStreetMap via osmdata

• Optional: GHSL Built-S raster for built-up coverage

• Optional: NDVI from Landsat for satellite-based vegetation index

Analysis Components:

• H3 hexagonal grid aggregation at configurable resolution

• Green coverage from OSM polygons, tree points (with canopy buffer), and NDVI

• Built-up coverage from GHSL or OSM buildings (fallback)

• Water body masking to exclude water hexagons from land-based analyses

• Getis-Ord Gi* hotspot analysis with significance testing

• Moran's I spatial autocorrelation

• Correlation and regression analysis (LST vs Green/Built)

Output Maps:

• Interactive Leaflet map with toggleable layers (LST, Deviation, Green, Built, Hotspots)

• Static ggplot2 maps for publication

• Scatter plot dashboard with regression diagnostics

Value

A list with the following components:

results

An sf object with hexagon-level results including LST_mean, LST_diff, Green_Pct, Built_Pct, Water_Pct, Gi_Star, Hotspot_Category, etc.

maps

A list of map objects:

• interactive: Leaflet map with all layers

• lst, deviation, green, built, hotspot: Individual ggplot2 maps

• combined: Patchwork combined static map

• scatter: Scatter plot dashboard

stats

A list with descriptive statistics, correlations, regression results, and spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I)

meta

Metadata including location, data sources, processing parameters, and timing information

export_geojson

Function to export results to GeoJSON

export_results

Function to export results to multiple formats (geojson, gpkg, csv, shp)

Examples

## Not run: 
# Basic usage with city name
result <- analyze_and_visualize_uhi(
  location = "Basel, Switzerland",
  date_range = c("2023-06-01", "2023-08-31")
)

# View interactive map
result$maps$interactive

# View static combined map
print(result$maps$combined)

# View statistics
print(result$stats$descriptive)
print(result$stats$correlations)

# Export results
result$export_geojson("basel_uhi_results.geojson")
result$export_results("basel_uhi", formats = c("geojson", "csv"))

# Using bounding box instead of city name
result_bbox <- analyze_and_visualize_uhi(
  location = c(7.55, 47.53, 7.65, 47.58),  # Basel area
  date_range = c("2023-07-01", "2023-07-31"),
  thermal_source = "landsat",
  hex_resolution = 9  # Larger hexagons
)

# With GHSL built-up data for more accurate built coverage
result_ghsl <- analyze_and_visualize_uhi(
  location = "Zurich, Switzerland",
  date_range = c("2023-06-01", "2023-08-31"),
  ghsl_path = "path/to/ghsl_built.tif"
)

## End(Not run)

greenR documentation built on Nov. 30, 2025, 5:06 p.m.