Mapping Local Climate Zones and ExplorMapping Local Climate Zones and Exploring Temperature Dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Florenceing Temperature Dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Florence

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This paper investigates the temperature dynamics within the Metropolitan Area of Florence, and particularly in the “Piana Fiorentina”. It focuses on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect by utilising Local Climate Zones (LCZs), Land Surface Temperature (LST), and crowdsourced air temperature data. The study aims to map LCZs and explore temperature variations across urban and peri-urban landscapes. A supervised classification combining remote sensing data from Sentinel-2 and geospatial urban morphology parameters was employed to generate an LCZ map of the Florence-Prato-Pistoia area. LST data were used to analyse temperature differences across LCZs, highlighting seasonal and spatial variations. Additionally, the study incorporated air temperature measurements from Citizen Weather Stations (CWS) to assess intra-urban temperature dynamics, representing the first use of such data in this context. The results revealed significant thermal contrasts between urban and natural LCZs, demonstrating the UHI effect, its seasonal variability, and the diurnal-to-nocturnal cycle. This work contributes to the understanding of urban climate behaviour in and around Florence and highlights the usefulness of LCZs mapping and CWS data for urban climate studies.