A Data-Driven Micro-Urban Heat Island (UHI) Model for University Campuses – Case of Birzeit University Campus, Palestine

Description

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a phenomenon that occurs when an urban area experiences higher temperature than nearby rural areas, or when certain areas experience hotter temperatures within a city. Global warming and climate change in addition to urban expansion play a role in amplifying the effect of (UHI) (Xiang et al., 2023). In most cases, UHI research focuses on city-scale analysis using satellite imagery. University campuses represent a unique micro-urban environment with specific patterns of occupation where variations in surface materials, vegetation, shading conditions, and building configurations can create strong localized heat patterns. University campuses are considered a cell of the mosaic of the city in which the micro-UHI conditions directly influence users’ thermal comfort, walkability, health, and energy demand in academic buildings (Dichtl, 2023). Very limited research has taken place in Palestine to evaluate the (UHI) effect (Al Abadla et al., 2020; Helal & Zawawi, 2024; Aburmalah & Üzümcüoğlu, 2025; Atawneh & Alqadi, 2025). In this context and under climate change conditions, there is a growing need for fine-scale, field-based, and data-driven methodologies capable of capturing microclimate variations at pedestrian scale and translating them into actionable design and planning recommendations. The aim is To develop a data-driven predictive model that maps and explains micro-UHI intensity across a university campus using a 20 m × 20 m spatial grid, linking measured thermal conditions to surface, shading, vegetation, and urban form parameters.