Spatio-temporal Assessment of Land Use Land Cover Changes and Their Impact on Variations of Land Surface Temperature in Aligarh Municipality

Urbanization is a global phenomenon. However, it has been rapid in the developing world since the late twentieth century. This anthropogenic process is largely responsible for modifying earth's surface, causing substantial transformations in land use land cover (LULC) and resulting in considerable changes in land surface temperature (LST) and increasing intensity of urban heat islands (UHIs). Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh is also observing rapid urbanization since the last few decades due to its proximity to the national capital, i.e. (Delhi), and thus experiencing a notable shift in land use land cover and LST. Using Landsat TM and OLI data for the years 2000, 2010 and 2019, this article attempts to assess modifications in land use and land cover and also how they influence land surface temperature in the present study. The results indicate that among all the LULC classes, area under the built-up class has increased dramatically over the span of nineteen years from 1900.8 ha in 2000 to 2680.11 ha in 2019. However, all other classes except vegetation, i.e. open land, agriculture and water bodies, have recorded a reduction in their area by - 9.99%, - 7.17% and - 0.5%, respectively, from 2000 to 2019. LST is extracted for the month of May and December during the same time period and depicts that the maximum temperature for both months is reported around the built-up area and open land. UHIs are also created which reveal a close relationship with LULC and LST. Various statistical techniques like correlation, regression and scatter plots are utilized to show the relationship of each LULC with LST and UHIs and also with three spatial indices, i.e. NDBI, NDVI and NDWI.