IMPACT OF LAND USE CHANGE AND URBANIZATION ON URBAN HEAT ISLAND IN LUCKNOW CITY

Abstract

Assessment of the impact of urbanization on land surface temperature and local environment of the city are the major concern now days for environmental scientist and planners due to rising trend of urban temperature and its effect are very serious health issues in the urban setup. In this study, impact of urbanization over a time and its effect on increasing trend of temperature and effect on urban ecology has been assessed for the pre-monsoon season using the Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite datasets and field survey of Lucknow city, India. Land surface temperature (LST) estimation, land use change map, assessment of vegetation cover using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and ecological evaluation of the city was carried out using the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). Results indicated that the spatial distribution of the land surface temperature was affected by the land use/land cover change and anthropogenic causes. The mean land surface temperature difference between the years 2000 and 2017 was found 17.41% (6.16 0C). The observed results showed that the outer part of the city exhibited the highest surface temperature compared to the central area due to harvesting of crops in the pre monsoon season, the areas having dense built-up also displayed higher temperatures and the areas covered by vegetation and water bodies exhibited lower temperatures. Strong correlation is observed between land surface temperatures (LSTs) with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and UTFVI. Isotherm maps are also plotted for the study area for both the years. The observed LST of the area also validated trough the Google Earth Images. Ecological evaluation of the area showed that the city has worst ecological index in the barren area in the outer of the city. The present study provides very scientific information on impact of urbanization and anthropogenic activities which causes major changes on the entire ecosystem of the city in the pre monsoon season. Keywords : UHI, LST, UTFVI, LULC, Urbanization