  Field measurement campaigns have grown exponentially in recent years,
stemming from the need for reliable data to validate urban climate models and
obtain a better understanding of urban climate features. Also contributing to
this growth is the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) scheme, firstly developed to
enhance the accuracy in the contextualisation of urban measurements, and lately
used for characterising urban areas. Due to its relative novelty, researchers
are still investigating the potential of LCZs and its indicators for urban
temperature variability detection. In this respect, the present study
introduces the results of an extensive monitoring campaign carried out in the
city of Madrid over a two-year period (2016-2018). The aim of this work is to
further examine the relationships between LCZs and air temperature differences,
with emphasis on their hourly and seasonal evolution. A graphical and
statistical analysis to identify temperature variability trends for each LCZ is
performed. Results support the existing evidence suggesting a high level of
effectiveness in capturing the heat island (UHI) profile of different urban
areas, while underperforming when it comes to capturing diurnal temperature
variability. The incorporation of indicators that explain the daytime
temperature variation phenomenon into the LCZ scheme is therefore recommended,
warranting further research.
