Capturing Small-Scale Surface Temperature Variation across Diverse Urban Land Uses with a Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Urbanization increases the urban land surface temperature (LST), challenging society and environment. This study measured LST of diverse uses (LU) in Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) using a high-resolution (8 cm) thermal infrared sensor onboard small, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). LUs included park (PA), industrial (IA), residential low-cost (RLC), high-cost (RHC) areas. was collected by UAV at different times on eight nonconsecutive days. UAV-collected compared with that from Landsat 8-9 situ measurements. RHC reported highest mean LST, PA showed lowest LST. Dark-colored asphalt shingle roofs had range 35.67 °C. Lower shaded areas under thick green cover, whereas thin cover occasionally higher than pavements. The micro-urban heat island (MUHI) calculated between within types (roof, pavement, green, water). MUHI varied 4.83 °C to 15.85 0.2 23.5 for less 1 km2 area. While demonstrated similar trend variation, more intense MUHI. An average percent bias (PBIAS) 5.1% helps inform design process demonstrating how use decisions impact locally provides valuable insight studies concerned fine-scale variability.