Between June 21 and September 21, 2024, I analyzed the surface temperatures of all 2,123 registered playgrounds in Madrid using Landsat 8/9 imagery (Level-2 Surface Temperature products). This investigation, an extension of my previous reflection on urban heat and environmental justice in Geovisualization.net (May 2025), highlights how thermal exposure is patterned by geography, planning legacies, and demographic vulnerability in the Spanish capital.
Category Archives: Urban heat analysis
Urban delineation methods beyond administrative boundaries
As a geographer working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), I am particularly interested in exploring urban delineation methods that move beyond the constraints of administrative boundaries. Instead of relying on official municipal limits—which can often be outdated or misaligned with functional realities on the ground—I focus on delineating urban areas based on physical indicators such as built-up surface, population density, and spatial continuity. This approach allows for a more accurate and dynamic understanding of urban space.
Urban Heat Islands, Trees, and Climate Justice in the Anthropocene: A Remote Sensing-Based Reflection
In recent years, the need to understand the urban environment has grown more urgent than ever. Climate change is not an abstract future scenario; it is already here, reshaping our cities day by day. Among the many phenomena that demand our attention, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect stands out—not only for its environmental and public health impacts but also for its socio-political implications. Through satellite imagery and remote sensing, we can now visualize and quantify these dynamics with increasing precision. This post reflects on such an analysis I conducted using LANDSAT 8 imagery (Scene ID: LC08_L2SP_201032_20250328_20250401_02_T1, Date Acquired: 2025/03/28), and discusses the findings in the broader context of urban planning, climate justice, and the urgent need to protect urban vegetation.
Geovisualization.net 