The heat transfer mechanisms of nucleate boiling are associated with how the liquid-vapor phase and the surface temperature are distributed and interact beneath a single bubble on a heated surface. A comparative analysis of the hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of a single bubble may contribute greatly to the understanding of nucleate boiling heat transfer. In this paper, a technique to simultaneously measure the liquid-vapor phase boundary, temperature distribution, and heat transfer distribution at a boiling surface is described. The technique is fully synchronized in time and spatially resolved, and is applied to explore single-bubble nucleate boiling phenomena in a pool of water subcooled by 3 degrees C under atmospheric pressure. The temperature and heat flux distributions at the boiling surface are quantitatively interpreted in relation to the distribution and dynamics of the dry and wet areas, the triple contact line, and the microlayer underneath the single bubble. The results show that intensive wall heat transfer during single-bubble nucleate boiling exactly corresponds to the extended microlayer region. However, the overall contribution of the microlayer evaporation to the growth of a bubble is relatively small, and amounts to less than 17% of the total heat transport. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.