A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Heat Island Intensity Influenced by the Substantial Urban Growth between 1990 and 2020: A Case Study of Al-Ahsa Oasis, Eastern Saudi Arabia

A significant link between urbanization and heat island (UHI) intensity was identified at Al-Ahsa Oasis, Saudi Arabia, despite no marked increase in UHI temperature over 30 years. The study found that while built-up areas expanded from 17.15% to 45.8% of land use/cover between 1990 and 2020, UHI intensity remained relatively stable (10.4 °C in 1990 vs. 8.7 °C in 2020). Hot spot clustering correlated with dense urban areas, while cold spots aligned with date and palm tree regions, both with 99% confidence. Spatial autocorrelation further confirmed the temperature-urbanization relationship, with Moran’s indices of 0.41 (1990) and 0.45 (2020), and a p-value of 0.001. The research employed change detection, hot spot analysis, and spatial autocorrelation to robustly assess UHI dynamics.

Hassaballa, A., & Salih, A. (2023). A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Heat Island Intensity Influenced by the Substantial Urban Growth between 1990 and 2020: A Case Study of Al-Ahsa Oasis, Eastern Saudi Arabia. Applied Sciences, 13(5), 2755. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13052755