Satellite-measured growth of the urban heat island of Houston, Texas

Growth of the surface temperature urban heat island (UHI) of Houston, TX is determined by comparing two sets of heat island measurements taken 12 years apart. Individual heat island characteristics are calculated from radiative temperature maps obtained using the split-window infrared channels of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on board National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar-orbiting satellites. Eighty-two nighttime scenes taken between 1985 and 1987 are compared to 125 nighttime scenes taken between 1999 and 2001. Analysis of the UHI characteristics from these two intervals reveals a mean growth in magnitude of 0.8 K, or 35%. The growth of the mean area of the UHI is found to range between 170 and 650 km2, or from 38% to 88%, depending on the method of analysis.