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Remote sensing is a key application in global-change science for urban climatology and landuse/landcover dynamics analysis. Multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite imagery (LANDSAT TM, ETM ;SAR ) over 1984 - 2004 period for Bucharest metropolitan area provide the most reliable monitoring technique of different urban structures regarding the net radiation and heat fluxes associated with urbanization at the regional scale. Bucharest City, the biggest industrial, commercial center in Romania experienced a rapid urban expansion during the last decades. A large amount of forest and agricultural land have been converted into housing, infrastructure and industrial estates. The resultant impervious urban surface alters the surface energy balance and surface runoff, which in turn could pose serious environmental problems for its inhabitants (e.g., urban waterlogged and thermal pollution).Investigation of radiation properties, energy balance and heat fluxes is based on satellite data from various satellite sensors and in-situ monitoring data , linked to numerical models and quantitative biophysical information extracted from spatially distributed data and net radiation. The changes over the years of surface biophysical parameters are examined in association with landuse changes to illustrate how these parameters respond to rapid urban expansion in Bucharest and surrounding region. For detailed landuse classifications in a digital form these properties were analyzed in a statistical way. This study attempts to provide environmental awareness to urban planners in future urban development. The land cover information, properly classified, can provide a spatially and temporally explicit view of societal and environmental attributes and can be an important complement to in-situ measurements.
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