Objectives  With the development of urbanization, the urban heat island has attracted a lot attention because of its adverse effects on health of residents and urban sustainability. Local climate zone(LCZ)provides a novel framework of land-cover classification for the study of urban heat island. In this research, we investigated the impact of urban morphology on the seasonal variations of land surface temperature(LST) in different LCZs in Shenzhen, which is a core city of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and a pilot demonstration zone with Chinese characteristics.

  Methods  Multi-view high-resolution remote sensing images were employed to map the LCZs in the neighborhood scale. Additionally, the Pearson partial correlation and stepwise regression models were applied to analyze the influence of urban morphology on the seasonal characteristics of LST in different LCZs.

  Results  LST varies greatly among seasons in the different LCZs. In addition, urban morphology plays important roles in the variations of LST among LCZs. And the two-dimensional metrics correlate more strongly with LST than the three-dimensional metrics in the LCZ1-LCZ3. The effects of the three-dimensional metrics in the LCZ4-LCZ6 and LCZ8 are more pronounced than that in the LCZ1-LCZ3.

  Conclusions  Urban morphological variables of LCZs in different seasons have different effects on the surface temperature. Compared with the three-dimensional metrics, the two-dimensional metrics have a stronger correlation with the surface temperature. Moreover, the influence of three-dimensional metrics is enhanced in non-compact construction.