Temporal Correction of Mobile Air Temperature Measurements and Local Climate Zone Analysis in Bologna, Italy

Urban air temperature can vary considerably at the intra-urban scale due to differences in urban form, land cover, vegetation, and surface characteristics. Mobile air-temperature measurements provide detailed spatial information but are also affected by background temperature changes during a survey. This study develops and evaluates a spatially distributed temporal-correction framework for mobile air-temperature measurements in Bologna, Italy, and investigates the thermal behaviour of different Local Climate Zones (LCZs). Two mobile routes were surveyed on 22 July 2026. Temperature observations from 32 reference meteorological stations were used to model background temperature changes. After quality control (R² ≥ 0.70), 30 stations were retained. Station-specific temporal-model coefficients were spatially interpolated using Ordinary Kriging and applied to mobile observations according to measurement time and location. Corrected temperatures were analysed by LCZ class and surrounding LCZ composition within 100, 200, and 300 m neighbourhoods. The temporal-model coefficients did not show sufficiently clear and consistent differences among LCZ classes to justify an LCZ-specific temporal correction. However, corrected measurements showed spatial thermal differences among LCZ environments. Compact mid-rise areas generally showed higher corrected temperatures than more vegetated environments, although differences varied between routes. Some LCZ–temperature relationships remained relatively consistent across neighbourhood sizes, while others were route-dependent. Overall, the study provides a framework combining reference-station-based temporal correction, spatial interpolation, mobile air-temperature measurements, and LCZ-based analysis.