Spatial–Temporal Variability of Land Surface Temperature Spatial Pattern: Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis

In order to investigate the spatial–temporal variability of land surface temperature (LST) spatial distribution in the context of rapid urbanization, we introduced the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) to the LST patterns in Xiamen city and Xiamen Island, China, during 1994–2015. Results reveal the almost same long-range dependence of the LST spatial pattern both in Xiamen city and Xiamen Island. LST has a long memory for a certain spatial range of LST values, such that a large increment in LST value is likely to be followed by a large increment in LST values of a certain spatial range. On the other hand, the LST spatial pattern possesses a multifractal nature, which shows an increasing trend over time as urbanization increased both in the whole study area and in the Xiamen Island. The irregularity of fractal structure exhibits a similar change from 1994 to 2015 in Xiamen city, as revealed by the multifractal spectrum with left-hook shapes. However, the multifractal spectrums exhibit different shapes for different study years in Xiamen Island, capturing the evolution from right-hook shape to left-hook shape and finally to a symmetrical shape. The difference in land surface change in small spatial scale leads to the variation in multifractal parameters. Meantime, differentiated from the previous study, we found that this long-range dependence is probably influenced by the natural factors, such as the local climate, atmospheric circulation, and any other factors.