Effect of the Urban Land Use Dynamics on Land Surface Temperature: A Case Study of Kohat City in Pakistan for the Period 1998-2018

Over the past few decades, the majority of the global population has resided in urban areas, which is one of the environmental issues. The rush of people to cities has put a strain on land resources, particularly in emerging nations where the aspiration for a wealthy life persists. Population increase necessitates the expansion and intensification of agriculture, hastening the transition from agricultural to built-up regions. Changes in land use land cover (LULC) impact urban heat and are regarded as one of the most significant human changes to the Earth's climate. With this in mind, the purpose of this research is to investigate the land-use dynamics and their influence on the Land Surface Temperature of Kohat City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The Landsat satellite images of Kohat city for 1998 were acquired from USGS, 2008 were acquired from SUPARCO, and for 2018 from SAS Planet. The acquired images were classified into 6 different LULC classes i.e. built up, farmland, open spaces/barren land, natural vegetation, orchards, and water bodies. The land surface temperature (LST) was computed with the radiance values of thermal bands from Landsat TM, ETM+, and Landsat OLI data. The analysis reveals an increase in the built-up area from 3969.04 hectares in 2000 to 6147.06 hectares in 2017. The computed LST reveals that in 1998 the LST ranged between 4.24 and 42.80 degrees C, with a mean of 31.81 degrees C. The LST of 2018 ranged from 6.86 to 46.90 degrees C with a mean of 36.17 degrees C. Overall mean temperature showed an increasing trend, i.e. from 31.81 degrees C in 1998 to 36.17 degrees C in 2018. According to the study, the greatest shift in LST occurred in densely populated areas, with 42.8 degrees C in 2000 and 46.9 degrees C in 2018, and the lowest in water and orchards. The LST of farmland was changed from 37.67 degrees C in 2000 to 41.47 degrees C in 2018, water 4.24 degrees C in 2000 to 6.86 degrees C in 2018; natural vegetation 37.19 degrees C and 40.17 degrees C, respectively.

Automated summary

Over the past few decades, the majority of the global population has been residing in urban areas, leading to a strain on land resources. This research investigates the land-use dynamics and their impact on the Land Surface Temperature in Kohat City, Pakistan.