Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps

Local Climate Zones (LCZs) are essential for understanding urban climates, providing crucial information for urban planning, environmental monitoring, and addressing challenges like the urban heat island effect. This study evaluates the accuracy of various LCZ maps, including those from the World Ur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: A. S. Akbulut, E. Sertel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-05-01
Series:The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
Online Access:https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-M-6-2025/15/2025/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-6-2025-15-2025.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849326882737094656
author A. S. Akbulut
E. Sertel
author_facet A. S. Akbulut
E. Sertel
author_sort A. S. Akbulut
collection DOAJ
description Local Climate Zones (LCZs) are essential for understanding urban climates, providing crucial information for urban planning, environmental monitoring, and addressing challenges like the urban heat island effect. This study evaluates the accuracy of various LCZ maps, including those from the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT), and two independent studies by Demuzere et al. (2022) and Oliveira et al. (2020). Our analysis focuses on five major cities: Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Paris, and explores how geographic, historical, and urban planning factors influence both LCZ classifications and their accuracy. We identify and analyze misclassifications within these maps, investigating the root causes of errors, such as misaligned or insufficient sample data, low spatial resolution of input images and inadequate vector data. Our results reveals that while LCZ maps generally perform well in certain urban settings, their accuracy diminishes in more complex or heterogeneous environments. The findings underscore the importance of refining data quality, classification methods, and spatial resolution to improve the reliability of LCZ maps, offering valuable insights for urban and regional planning, environmental management, and future research on urban climate dynamics.
format Article
id doaj-art-d63e4bccee334f85839aab050b24e414
institution Kabale University
issn 1682-1750
2194-9034
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Copernicus Publications
record_format Article
series The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
spelling doaj-art-d63e4bccee334f85839aab050b24e4142025-08-20T03:48:02ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences1682-17502194-90342025-05-01XLVIII-M-6-2025152110.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-6-2025-15-2025Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone MapsA. S. Akbulut0E. Sertel1ITU Graduate School, Geomatics Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, TürkiyeITU Civil Engineering Faculty, Geomatics Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, TürkiyeLocal Climate Zones (LCZs) are essential for understanding urban climates, providing crucial information for urban planning, environmental monitoring, and addressing challenges like the urban heat island effect. This study evaluates the accuracy of various LCZ maps, including those from the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT), and two independent studies by Demuzere et al. (2022) and Oliveira et al. (2020). Our analysis focuses on five major cities: Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Paris, and explores how geographic, historical, and urban planning factors influence both LCZ classifications and their accuracy. We identify and analyze misclassifications within these maps, investigating the root causes of errors, such as misaligned or insufficient sample data, low spatial resolution of input images and inadequate vector data. Our results reveals that while LCZ maps generally perform well in certain urban settings, their accuracy diminishes in more complex or heterogeneous environments. The findings underscore the importance of refining data quality, classification methods, and spatial resolution to improve the reliability of LCZ maps, offering valuable insights for urban and regional planning, environmental management, and future research on urban climate dynamics.https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-M-6-2025/15/2025/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-6-2025-15-2025.pdf
spellingShingle A. S. Akbulut
E. Sertel
Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
title Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
title_full Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
title_fullStr Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
title_short Evaluating the Accuracy of Different Local Climate Zone Maps
title_sort evaluating the accuracy of different local climate zone maps
url https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-M-6-2025/15/2025/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-6-2025-15-2025.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT asakbulut evaluatingtheaccuracyofdifferentlocalclimatezonemaps
AT esertel evaluatingtheaccuracyofdifferentlocalclimatezonemaps