Exploring land use/land cover changes and their effect on land surface temperature and urban heat island: a case study of Lahore, Pakistan

This study investigates the intensity of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect across Lahore District and its surrounding urban and peri-urban areas. Landsat satellite data were utilized to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of LST, identify UHI zones, and assess changes in land use and land cover (LULC), the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). The built-up area exhibited rapid expansion, increasing from 22.99% in 2000 to 36.06% in 2010 and 47.17% in 2020, while the vegetation/agriculture land cover declined from 53.21% in 2000 to 46.16% in 2020. A substantial rise in mean LST was also observed, from 33 °C in 2000 to 34.8 °C in 2020. The results revealed a strong positive correlation between LST and NDBI, with R 2 values of 0.7549 in 2000 and 0.6192 in 2020, whereas a strong negative correlation was found between LST and NDVI, with R 2 values of 0.6141 in 2000 and 0.4753 in 2020. These findings provide comprehensive insights into the influence of LULC dynamics on LST and UHI intensity, offering valuable guidance for environmental engineers and urban planners in promoting sustainable urban development.