Abstract
Cities have been formed by buildings and streets in urban spaces, defined as city canyons. The geometrical characteristics of canyons affect outdoor thermal conditions. Therefore, this study uses satellite images to determine the thermal conditions of city canyons in the Kurtuluş Neighborhood, which is located in hot-humid Adana city. The study methodology consists of four steps: (i) determination of the land surface temperature (LST) by Landsat 8 thermal images; (ii) classification of canyons according to their geometric characteristics, including orientation and aspect ratio; (iii) determining the statistical relationship between LST and geometric characteristics; and (iv) developing suggestions for future city plans. The study results show that the lowest LSTs (34.0-35.5℃) were determined in deep canyons with a high shadow ratio and green spaces with dense canopy layers. In contrast, the highest LSTs (36.5-37.2℃) were determined in the canyons, where the sun exposure is high, and the shade ratio is low (spaces, train stations, stadiums, etc.). In deep canyons, E-W oriented areas have lower LST than the N-S oriented canyons, and these canyons are statistically distinguished (p<0.05). On the contrary, in shallow and medium-deep canyons, E-W oriented canyons have a higher temperature than the N-W canyons, and these canyons have statistically significant differences (p<0.05).