Characteristics of the Thermal Environment and its Guidance to Ecological Restoration in a Resource-Based Area in the Loess Area

The thermal environment is a crucial part of ecological environments. It is vital to study the distribution and generation of thermal environments for regional sustainable development. Mining area, agricultural area and urban area were taken as the research object, and remote sensing data were used to study the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the thermal environment. The relationship between the thermal environment and land use types was analyzed, and the effect of mining and reclamation on the thermal environment was emphasized. The main findings were: (1) the thermal effect zone in the study area was dispersed. The area ratio of the thermal effect zone accounted for 69.70%, 68.52%, 65.85%, 74.20% and 74.66% in the year 2000, 2003, 2009, 2013 and 2018, respectively. The contribution to the overall thermal effect was in the order of agricultural area > mining area > urban area. (2) The proportion of forest and the average grid temperature always showed a significant negative correlation in different scales and had the highest correlation and the greatest influence. (3) The land surface temperature (LST) of opencast areas was higher than the surrounding temperature, and the temperature difference was 3–5 °C. The LST of reclaimed sites was lower than the surrounding temperature, and the temperature difference was −7 to 0 °C. The quantitative study found that reclamation mode, shape and spatial location could affect the cooling effect of the reclaimed site. This study can provide a reference for the mitigation of thermal effects and the identification of influences of mining and reclamation on the thermal environment in the coordinated development of similar regions.