| Summary: | Rapid increases in urban sprawl affect the observational environment around meteorological stations by changing the land use/land cover (LULC) and the anthropogenic heat flux (AHF). Based on remote sensing images and GIS technology, we investigated the impact of changes in both LULC and AHF induced by urbanization on the meteorological observational environment in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) during 2000–2018. Our results show that the observational environments around meteorological stations were significantly affected by the rapid expansion of built-up areas and the subsequent increase in the AHF, with a clear spatiotemporal variability. A positive correlation was observed between the proportion of built-up areas and the AHF around meteorological stations. The AHF was in the order urban stations > suburban stations > rural stations, but the increases in the AHF were greater around suburban and rural stations than around urban stations. Some meteorological stations need to be relocated to address the adverse effects induced by urbanization. The proportion of built-up areas and AHF around the new stations decreased significantly after relocation, weakening the urban heat island effect on the meteorological observations and substantially improving the observational environment. As a result, the observed daily mean temperature (relative humidity) decreased (increased) around the new stations after relocation. Our study comprehensively shows the impact of rapid urban sprawl on the observational environment around meteorological stations by assessing changes in both LULC and the AHF induced by urbanization. These findings provide scientific insights for the selection and construction of networks of meteorological stations and are therefore helpful in scientifically evaluating and correcting the impact of rapid urban sprawl on meteorological observations.
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