Spatio-temporal characterization of microbial heat production on undisturbed soil samples combining infrared thermography and zymography

•Spatio-temporal detection of hot spots and hot moments.•Intersection of high-resolution spatial soil properties to predict heat production.•Initial β-glucosidase activity determines heat production.•Soil moisture contents and soil organic carbon affect soil surface temperature.•k-Means clustering enables untangling microscale microbial dynamics.