Assessment of urban thermal field variance index and thermal comfort level of Addis Ababa metropolitan city, Ethiopia

Land use land cover (LULC) conversion around urban areas is the root cause for the increasing trend of land surface temperature (LST) in many cities. The increase in LST is driven by the replacement of vegetation cover and other LULC by impervious surface. This study is aimed to assess the extent of urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI) and thermal comfort level of Addis Ababa city using geospatial techniques and linear regression model. Landsat image of 1990 TM, 2000 of ETM+ and 2020 of OLI/TIRS are used to analyze LST and Urban Heat Islands (UHI) for assessing UTFVI and urban thermal comfort level. The results showed that the UHI over Addis Ababa city is substantial increased over the past decades. The results reveled that LST has increased by 7.9 degrees C due to decline of vegetation cover and expansion of built-up area. Results show that about 225 km(2) (42.7%) is excellent comfort for urban resident while about 241.4 km(2 )(45.8%) is categorized as worst ecological evaluation index, which results discomfort to the city dwellers. The key findings of from this study are crucial for informing city administrators and urban planners to reduce urban heat islands by investing on urban green areas and open spaces.