---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '22534'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Tree planting is a prevalent strategy to mitigate urban heat. Tree cooling
    efficiency(TCE), defined as the temperature reduction for a 1% tree cover increase,
    plays animportant role in urban climate as it regulates the capacity of trees
    to alter the sur-face energy and water budget. However, the spatial variation
    and more importantly,temporal heterogeneity of TCE in global cities are not fully
    explored. Here, we usedLandsat-based tree cover and land surface temperature (LST)
    to compare TCEs at areference air temperature and tree cover level across 806
    global cities and to exploretheir potential drivers with a boosted regression
    tree (BRT) machine learning model.From the results, we found that TCE is spatially
    regulated by not only leaf area index(LAI) but climate variables and anthropogenic
    factors especially city albedo, withouta specific variable dominating the others.
    However, such spatial difference is attenu-ated by the decrease of TCE with tree
    cover, most pronounced in midlatitude cities.During the period 2000–2015, more
    than 90% of analyzed cities showed an increas-ing trend in TCE, which is likely
    explained by a combined result of the increase in LAI,intensified solar radiation
    due to decreased aerosol content, increase in urban vaporpressure deficit (VPD)
    and decrease of city albedo. Concurrently, significant urbanafforestation occurred
    across many cities showing a global city-scale mean tree coverincrease of 5.3
    ± 3.8% from 2000 to 2015. Over the growing season, such increasescombined with
    an increasing TCE were estimated to on average yield a midday sur-face cooling
    of 1.5 ± 1.3°C in tree-covered urban areas. These results are offeringnew insights
    into the use of urban afforestation as an adaptation to global warmingand urban
    planners may leverage them to provide more cooling benefits if trees areprimarily
    planted for this purpose.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Jiacheng
  full_name: Zhao, Jiacheng
  last_name: Zhao
- first_name: Xiang
  full_name: Zhao, Xiang
  last_name: Zhao
- first_name: Donghai
  full_name: Wu, Donghai
  last_name: Wu
- first_name: Naika
  full_name: Meili, Naika
  last_name: Meili
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
citation:
  ama: Zhao J, Zhao X, Wu D, Meili N, Fatichi S. Satellite‐based evidence highlights
    a considerable increase of urban tree cooling benefits from 2000 to 2015. <i>Global
    Change Biology</i>. 2023;29(11):3085-3097. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667">10.1111/gcb.16667</a>
  apa: Zhao, J., Zhao, X., Wu, D., Meili, N., &#38; Fatichi, S. (2023). Satellite‐based
    evidence highlights a considerable increase of urban tree cooling benefits from
    2000 to 2015. <i>Global Change Biology</i>. Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667">https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667</a>
  chicago: Zhao, Jiacheng, Xiang Zhao, Donghai Wu, Naika Meili, and Simone Fatichi.
    “Satellite‐based Evidence Highlights a Considerable Increase of Urban Tree Cooling
    Benefits from 2000 to 2015.” <i>Global Change Biology</i>. Wiley, 2023. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667">https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667</a>.
  ieee: J. Zhao, X. Zhao, D. Wu, N. Meili, and S. Fatichi, “Satellite‐based evidence
    highlights a considerable increase of urban tree cooling benefits from 2000 to
    2015,” <i>Global Change Biology</i>, vol. 29, no. 11. Wiley, pp. 3085–3097, 2023.
  ista: Zhao J, Zhao X, Wu D, Meili N, Fatichi S. 2023. Satellite‐based evidence highlights
    a considerable increase of urban tree cooling benefits from 2000 to 2015. Global
    Change Biology. 29(11), 3085–3097.
  mla: Zhao, Jiacheng, et al. “Satellite‐based Evidence Highlights a Considerable
    Increase of Urban Tree Cooling Benefits from 2000 to 2015.” <i>Global Change Biology</i>,
    vol. 29, no. 11, Wiley, 2023, pp. 3085–97, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16667">10.1111/gcb.16667</a>.
  short: J. Zhao, X. Zhao, D. Wu, N. Meili, S. Fatichi, Global Change Biology 29 (2023)
    3085–3097.
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:24Z
date_published: 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T08:28:41Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1111/gcb.16667
extern: '1'
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '36876991 '
intvolume: '        29'
issue: '11'
keyword:
- Climate change
- Remote sensing
- Tree cooling efficiency
- Tree cover
- Urban afforestation
language:
- iso: eng
month: '06'
oa_version: None
page: 3085-3097
pmid: 1
publication: Global Change Biology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1365-2486
  issn:
  - 1354-1013
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Satellite‐based evidence highlights a considerable increase of urban tree cooling
  benefits from 2000 to 2015
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 29
year: '2023'
...