A look at spatial and temporal climate change on the urban fringe

Local land use and climate variations for the Phoenix area are currently being investigated as part of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research (CAP-LTER). One approach to the study of spatial and temporal climate change on the urban fringes is the application of satellite analysis and remote sensing. This research found that there are dramatic differences between satellite images from 1985, 1990 and 1998, indicative of urban expansion. Urban environmental changes have been shown to affect the local climate. An available thermal band in the Landsat TM imagery allows the extraction of temperature information. These data are examined for changes over time with a concentration on the temperature information. Ancillary data used were available from an urban-rural observational network called PRISMS (Phoenix Real-time Instrumentation for Surface Meteorological Studies) that has been in place since the 1990's to monitor the climate variations for Phoenix. Additional ancillary data were available from Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMET), Flood Control District for Maricopa County (FCDMC) and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The research is the evaluation the relationship of climate change on the urban fringe as determined from satellite data.