Urban Thermal Contrasts Across Regions Comparing Land Surface Temperature in Erbil, London, Paris and São Paulo 2014–2024

Abstract

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key parameter for understanding climate–surface interactions and urban thermal environments, yet comparative analyses across different climatic zones remain limited. In this study, we used Landsat 8 and 9 thermal data and the Mono-Window Algorithm to evaluate spatio-temporal variations in LST between 2013 and 2024 across four metropolitan regions representing contrasting climates: Erbil (semi-arid), London (temperate maritime), Paris (continental), and São Paulo (tropical). The results reveal a consistent trend of surface warming across all cities, with substantial variation in magnitude and spatial distribution depending on climate zone. São Paulo exhibited the most pronounced increase (0.197 °C per year), followed by Paris (0.078 °C per year), Erbil (0.059 °C per year), and London (0.015 °C per year). While tropical and continental cities showed extensive and continuous warming across their urban cores, semi-arid Erbil displayed a more heterogeneous pattern with concentrated increases in the urban centre, and temperate London showed gradual but spatially limited changes. These findings align with previous research on urban heat islands while providing new evidence of the role of climate context in modulating LST dynamics. The study underscores that mitigation and adaptation strategies must be climate-zone specific, as urban warming manifests differently in tropical, continental, temperate, and semi-arid settings.