Landsat TM/ETM and MODIS thermal infrared satellite data during 1995-2012 were used to investigate Shanghai area's urban thermal environment from time, space and urban heat island effect ratio(UHIER) aspects. The results show that: in the time series, on the one hand, the land brightness temperature of Shanghai area is the strongest, followed by spring, and then autumn and winter. On the other hand, the main body of Shanghai area's urban thermal environment has transformed from secondary-medium temperature ...