{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T05:06:42Z","timestamp":1780981602082,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]],"date-time":"2020-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583798400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)","award":["DK W1237-N23"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DK W1237-N23"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In many areas of the world, population growth and land development have increased demand for land and other natural resources. Coastal areas are particularly susceptible since they are conducive for marine transportation, energy production, aquaculture, marine tourism and other activities. Anthropogenic activities in the coastal areas have triggered unprecedented land use change, depletion of coastal wetlands, loss of biodiversity, and degradation of other vital ecosystem services. The changes can be particularly drastic for small coastal islands with rich biodiversity. In this study, the influence of human modification on land surface temperature (LST) for the coastal island Hainan in Southern China was investigated. We hypothesize that for this island, footprints of human activities are linked to the variation of land surface temperature, which could indicate environmental degradation. To test this hypothesis, we estimated LST changes between 2000 and 2016 and computed the spatio-temporal correlation between LST and human modification. Specifically, we classified temperature data for the four years 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2016 into 5 temperature zones based on their respective mean and standard deviation values. We then assessed the correlation between each temperature zone and a human modification index computed for the year 2016. Apart from this, we estimated mean, maximum and the standard deviation of annual temperature for each pixel in the 17 years to assess the links with human modification. The results showed that: (1) The mean LST temperature in Hainan Island increased with fluctuations from 2000 to 2016. (2) The moderate temperature zones were dominant in the island during the four years included in this study. (3) A strong positive correlation of 0.72 between human modification index and mean and maximum LST temperature indicated a potential link between human modification and mean and maximum LST temperatures over the 17 years of analysis. (4) The mean value of human modification index in the temperature zones in 2016 showed a progressive rise with 0.24 in the low temperature zone, 0.33 in the secondary moderate, 0.45 in the moderate, 0.54 in the secondary high and 0.61 in the high temperature zones. This work highlighted the potential value of using large and multi-temporal earth observation datasets from cloud platforms to assess the influence of human activities in sensitive ecosystems. The results could contribute to the development of sustainable management and coastal ecosystems conservation plans.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12050888","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]],"date-time":"2020-03-10T11:59:36Z","timestamp":1583841576000},"page":"888","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Assessing the Link between Human Modification and Changes in Land Surface Temperature in Hainan, China Using Image Archives from Google Earth Engine"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3834-3394","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lixia","family":"Chu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Schillerstrasse 30, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Oloo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Schillerstrasse 30, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"},{"name":"Hydrology and Earth Observation Lab, The Technical University of Kenya, Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi P.O. Box 52428-00200, Kenya"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helena","family":"Bergstedt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Schillerstrasse 30, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"},{"name":"Institute of Northern Engineering, Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1860-8458","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Blaschke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics\u2014Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Schillerstrasse 30, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"528","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01675","article-title":"Impact of urbanization and land-use change on climate","volume":"423","author":"Kalnay","year":"2003","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1257","DOI":"10.1016\/S1872-2032(07)60026-2","article-title":"Analysis of the ecological vulnerability of the western Hainan Island based on its landscape pattern and ecosystem sensitivity","volume":"27","author":"Penghua","year":"2007","journal-title":"Acta Ecol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"D16","DOI":"10.1029\/2008JD009916","article-title":"Urbanization effects in large-scale temperature records, with an emphasis on China","volume":"113","author":"Jones","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecss.2011.05.004","article-title":"Typhoon-induced precipitation impact on nutrient and suspended matter dynamics of a tropical estuary affected by human activities in Hainan, China","volume":"93","author":"Herbeck","year":"2011","journal-title":"Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Howard, L. (1818). The Climate of London, W. Philips."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"113","article-title":"The form of the urban heat island in Hamilton, Canada","volume":"108","author":"Oke","year":"1970","journal-title":"WMO Tech."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(03)00079-8","article-title":"Thermal remote sensing of urban climates","volume":"86","author":"Voogt","year":"2003","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1002\/joc.859","article-title":"Two decades of urban climate research: A review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island","volume":"23","author":"Arnfield","year":"2003","journal-title":"Int. J. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1801","DOI":"10.1002\/joc.1555","article-title":"Urban and rural temperature trends in proximity to large US cities: 1951\u20132000","volume":"27","author":"Stone","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1811","DOI":"10.1002\/joc.1822","article-title":"Detection of urban warming in recent temperature trends in Japan","volume":"29","author":"Fujibe","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2005.11.016","article-title":"Remote sensing image-based analysis of the relationship between urban heat island and land use\/cover changes","volume":"104","author":"Chen","year":"2006","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"65","article-title":"Measures to mitigate urban heat islands","volume":"18","author":"Yamamoto","year":"2006","journal-title":"NISTEP Sci. Technol. Foresight Center"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2016.10.195","article-title":"Effects of landscape composition and pattern on land surface temperature: An urban heat island study in the megacities of Southeast Asia","volume":"577","author":"Estoque","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"67","article-title":"Urban heat island: Causes, effects and mitigation measures-a review","volume":"3","author":"Nuruzzaman","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) (2008). Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"965","DOI":"10.1016\/0098-3004(95)00033-5","article-title":"Mapping micro-urban heat islands using Landsat TM and a GIS","volume":"21","author":"Aniello","year":"1995","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"769","DOI":"10.1016\/0004-6981(73)90140-6","article-title":"City size and the urban heat island","volume":"7","author":"Oke","year":"1973","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"1","article-title":"The energetic basis of the urban heat island","volume":"108","author":"Oke","year":"1982","journal-title":"Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1007\/s10980-009-9402-4","article-title":"Urban heat islands and landscape heterogeneity: Linking spatiotemporal variations in surface temperatures to land-cover and socioeconomic patterns","volume":"25","author":"Buyantuyev","year":"2010","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"467","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2003.11.005","article-title":"Estimation of land surface temperature\u2013vegetation abundance relationship for urban heat island studies","volume":"89","author":"Weng","year":"2004","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11160","DOI":"10.1038\/srep11160","article-title":"The footprint of urban heat island effect in China","volume":"5","author":"Zhou","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1007\/s40808-016-0135-5","article-title":"Analyzing land surface temperature distribution in response to land use\/land cover change using split window algorithm and spectral radiance model in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, India","volume":"2","author":"Sahana","year":"2016","journal-title":"Model. Earth Syst. Environ."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"859","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-013-3427-5","article-title":"Determining the impact of urban components on land surface temperature of Istanbul by using remote sensing indices","volume":"186","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. Monit. Assess."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1007\/s10980-012-9833-1","article-title":"Landscape configuration and urban heat island effects: Assessing the relationship between landscape characteristics and land surface temperature in Phoenix, Arizona","volume":"28","author":"Connors","year":"2013","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2006.07.016","article-title":"The impact of land use and land cover changes on land surface temperature in a karst area of China","volume":"85","author":"Xiao","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"219","article-title":"Potential impacts of human-induced land cover change on East Asia monsoon","volume":"37","author":"Fu","year":"2003","journal-title":"Glob. Planet. Chang."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2015.12.040","article-title":"A time series analysis of urbanization induced land use and land cover change and its impact on land surface temperature with Landsat imagery","volume":"175","author":"Fu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1753","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2011.02.006","article-title":"Is everyone hot in the city? Spatial pattern of land surface temperatures, land cover and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics in Baltimore, MD","volume":"92","author":"Huang","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scs.2017.05.005","article-title":"An urban heat island study in Nanchang City, China based on land surface temperature and social-ecological variables","volume":"32","author":"Zhang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sustain. Cities Soc."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.1007\/s10980-006-9032-z","article-title":"Regional relationships between surface temperature, vegetation, and human settlement in a rapidly urbanizing ecosystem","volume":"22","author":"Jenerette","year":"2007","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.14549","article-title":"Managing the middle: A shift in conservation priorities based on the global human modification gradient","volume":"25","author":"Kennedy","year":"2019","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. Biol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2017.06.031","article-title":"Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone","volume":"202","author":"Gorelick","year":"2017","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1543","DOI":"10.1007\/s11434-015-0864-2","article-title":"Modulation of the urban heat island by the tourism during the Chinese New Year holiday: A case study in Sanya City, Hainan Province of China","volume":"60","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9493.2007.00288.x","article-title":"Rapid urbanization in a transitional economy in China: The case of Hainan Island","volume":"28","author":"Gu","year":"2007","journal-title":"Singap. J. Trop. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.1016\/S0025-326X(03)00070-5","article-title":"The status of the ecological environment and a proposed protection strategy in Sanya Bay, Hainan Island, China","volume":"47","author":"Huang","year":"2003","journal-title":"Mar. Pollut. Bull."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"631","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2011.03.091","article-title":"Accumulation and partitioning of seven trace metals in mangroves and sediment cores from three estuarine wetlands of Hainan Island, China","volume":"190","author":"Qiu","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1118","DOI":"10.2112\/JCOASTRES-D-12-00039.1","article-title":"Tourism-Led Land-Use Changes and their Environmental Effects in the Southern Coastal Region of Hainan Island, China","volume":"29","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Coast. Res."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Hainan Provincial Bureau of Statistics & Survey Office of the National Burean of Statistics in Hainan (2018) (2020, February 05). Hainan Statistics Yearbook 2018, Available online: http:\/\/www.stats.gov.cn\/tjsj\/ndsj\/2018\/indexeh.htm."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02418941","article-title":"Relationships between landcover proportion and indices of landscape spatial pattern","volume":"7","author":"Gustafson","year":"1992","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"484","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cosust.2013.06.002","article-title":"Challenges and opportunities in mapping land use intensity gIobally","volume":"5","author":"Kuemmerle","year":"2013","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1859","DOI":"10.1007\/s10980-013-9941-6","article-title":"A general model to quantify ecological integrity for landscape assessments and US application","volume":"28","author":"Theobald","year":"2013","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1080\/23754931.2015.1014272","article-title":"Taking advantage of the improved availability of census data: A first look at the Gridded Population of the World, version 4","volume":"1","author":"Macmanus","year":"2015","journal-title":"Pap. Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2102","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2013.2271445","article-title":"A global human settlement layer from optical HR\/VHR RS data: Concept and first results","volume":"6","author":"Pesaresi","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Waldner, F., Fritz, S., Di Gregorio, A., Plotnikov, D., Bartalev, S., Kussul, N., and Defourny, P. (2016). A unified cropland layer at 250 m for global agriculture monitoring. Data, 1.","DOI":"10.3390\/data1010003"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Robinson, T.P., William Wint, G.R., Conchedda, G., Van Boeckel, T.P., Ercoli, V., Palamara, E., and Gilbert, M. (2014). Mapping the global distribution of livestock. PLoS ONE, 9.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0096084"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barrington-Leigh, C., and Millard-Ball, A. (2017). The world\u2019s user-generated road map is more than 80% complete. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0180698"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/S0924-2716(01)00040-5","article-title":"Night-time lights of the world: 1994\u20131995","volume":"56","author":"Elvidge","year":"2001","journal-title":"ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12435","DOI":"10.1111\/conl.12435","article-title":"An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas","volume":"11","author":"Schulze","year":"2018","journal-title":"Conserv. Lett."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"289","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-005-0296-6","article-title":"Landscape Development Intensity Index","volume":"101","author":"Brown","year":"2005","journal-title":"Environ. Monit. Assess."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1007\/s10021-009-9229-5","article-title":"GLOBIO3: A Framework to Investigate Options for Reducing Global Terrestrial Biodiversity Loss","volume":"12","author":"Alkemade","year":"2009","journal-title":"Ecosystems"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"524","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolind.2019.05.032","article-title":"Spatial heterogeneity of the thermal environment based on the urban expansion of natural cities using open data in Guangzhou, China","volume":"104","author":"Yang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ecol. Indic."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1386","DOI":"10.1007\/s12665-016-6202-4","article-title":"Response of land cover types to land surface temperature derived from Landsat-5 TM in Nanjing Metropolitan Region, China","volume":"75","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Environ. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scib.2019.03.002","article-title":"Stable classification with limited sample: Transferring a 30-m resolution sample set collected in 2015 to mapping 10-m resolution global land cover in 2017","volume":"64","author":"Gong","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5969","DOI":"10.3390\/rs5115969","article-title":"Simulating land cover changes and their impacts on land surface temperature in Dhaka, Bangladesh","volume":"5","author":"Ahmed","year":"2013","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"610","DOI":"10.1038\/nature03089","article-title":"Human contribution to the European heatwave of 2003","volume":"432","author":"Stott","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nature"}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/12\/5\/888\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:05:48Z","timestamp":1760173548000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/12\/5\/888"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3]]}},"alternative-id":["rs12050888"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs12050888","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]]}}}