دور الجزر الحرارية في الكشف عن الازدحام المروري باستخدام نظم المعلومات الجغرافية والاستشعار عن بعد (دراسة تطبيقية على مدينة مكة المكرمة)

The role of heat islands in revealing road traffic jamming in Makkah Almukarramah, using Geographic Information System and Remote sensing

Alroheily, Amina, Ata Allah, Assistant Prof., Climatology and Remote Sensing, Geography Department, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, aarohiliy@uqu.edu.sa.

 Abdarrhman, Manal, Ali, Assistant Prof, Transportation Geography and Geographic Information System, Geography Department, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, maabdulrahman@uqu.edu.sa.

Abstract:

The study of heat islands is one of the important climatological studies in the field of geography.  It is a useful tool in urban planning of large cities. Arguably, heat islands are a phenomenon in urban areas, where the congestion of human activities raises air temperatures over them. The phenomenon is also attributed to the changes made by people in land use patterns, particularly those of the interior parts of the cities, such as clearing extensive areas of trees and farmlands. An example of these changes includes the tendency to replace them by concrete building and asphalted roads.  This increases the earth's absorption of the insolation results in more city earth heating. The problem of heat island and heat concentration on cities gets more complicated by road intensification and the increasing number of vehicles. As a result, road traffic jamming and a gradual deterioration of the urban environment occur. To elaborate more on, the present study aims to delimit areas of road traffic congestions in Makkah. It examines heat islands data obtained from the analysis of satellite images and GIS and monitors the changes that happen to the urban heat island in Makkah city on a daily and seasonal basis. The study also aims to calculate the heat island relationships during working days, vacations, and at the weekends. Besides, it monitors the changes that happen to the urban heat island at all levels and analyzes each one of them using methods and earth monitoring tools. The findings will help to propose and predict future planning for cities.

Key words:  Heat Islands – Traffic Jamming – LIS – LST – FLDAS – GIS – Remote Sensing (RS).