Abstract: Characterized by rapid urban population growth and rapid expansion of urban land use，the urban heat
island effect is becoming more and more significant． To quickly extract urban surface temperature information and
explore the spatial and temporal distribution of urban heat island effect，based on the medium-resolution
conventional and easily available radiation information of Landsat images in 2000-2018，the Changchun，a
typical northern city with a significant heat island effect is taken as example to be explored． Using the single
window algorithm to calculate the surface temperature of the images in different years and generate the thematic
map of Changchun surface temperature． The experiment is combined with the ground observation temperature
data in the corresponding period to identify the temporal-spatial changes of the heat island effect in Changchun
and to explore the regular of change and influence factors of the intensity of the heat island effect in typical areas．
The results show that the temporal change characteristics of the heat island effect in Changchun during the study
period are strong at night and weak by day; strong in autumn and winter，while weak in spring and summer．
Spatial variation show obvious spatial differences． But a whole， the high temperature zone increases．
The relationship between the heat island effect of the land type: Building land ＞ Green land ＞ Forest land ＞Water
body．

Key words: heat island effect, temperature inversion, spatial-temporal variation law, Changchun city