| Summary: | The spatial and temporal features of urban heat island (UHI) intensity in complex urban terrain are barely investigated. This study examines the UHI intensity variations in mountainous Chongqing using a dense surface monitoring network. The results show that the UHI intensity is closely related to underlying surfaces, and the strongest UHI intensity is confined around the central urban areas. The UHI intensity is most prominent at night and in warm season, and the magnitude could reach ~4.5 °C on summer night. Our quantitative analysis shows a profound contribution of urbanization level to UHI intensity both at night and in summer, with regression coefficient <i>b</i> = 4.31 and 6.65, respectively. At night, the urban extra heat such as reflections of longwave radiation by buildings and release of daytime-stored heat from artificial materials, is added into the boundary layer, which compensates part of urban heat loss and thus leads to stronger UHI intensity. In summer, the urban areas are frequently controlled by oppressively hot weather. Due to increased usage of air conditioning, more anthropogenic heat is released. As a result, the urban temperatures are higher at night. The near-surface wind speed can serve as an indicator predicting UHI intensity variations only in the diurnal cycle. The rural cooling rate during early evening transition, however, is an appropriate factor to estimate the magnitude of UHI intensity both at night and in summer.
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