Abstract
Crucial changes in urban climate can be witnessed due to rapid urbanisation of cities across the world. It is important to find a balance between urban expansion and thermal environment quality to guarantee sustainable urban development. Thus, it is a major research priority to study the urban heat island (UHI) in various fields, i.e., climate change urban ecology, urban climatology, urban planning, mitigation and management, urban geography, etc. The present study highlighted the interrelationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the abundance of impervious cover and green cover in the Varanasi city of Uttar Pradesh, India. For this purpose, we used various GIS and remote-sensing techniques. Landsat 8 images, land-use–land-cover pattern including urban/rural gradients, and grid- and metric-based multi-resolution techniques were used for the analysis. From the study, it was noticed that LST, density of impervious cover, and density of green cover were correlated significantly, and an urban gradient existed over the entire city, depicting a typical UHI profile. It was also concluded that the orientation, randomness, and aggregation of impervious cover and green cover have a strong correlation with LST. From this study, it is recommended that, when planning urban extension, spatial variation of impervious cover and green cover are designed properly to ensure the comfort of all living beings as per the ecological point of view.
Highlights
Urban heat islands (UHIs) can be defined as the local rise in temperature because of urban/landscape growth
The interrelation between land surface temperature (LST), SUHI abundance, and spatial distribution of impervious cover and green cover of Varanasi city was highlighted in this study
A relationship was observed between average LST and impervious-cover density along urban/settlement gradients of the Varanasi city
Summary
Urban heat islands (UHIs) can be defined as the local rise in temperature because of urban/landscape growth It is unintentional climate modification when both atmosphere and surfaces in urbanised areas have warmth characteristics compared to their non-urbanised surroundings [1,2]. A major cause of a UHI is the heat generated from urban structures and other heat sources when they consume and re-radiate solar radiations [3,4]. These are caused by anthropogenic activities, population outbursts, elevated emissions, air pollution, thermal power plants, greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and so on [1,5,6]. The urban population is forecasted to be 5 billion by 2030 [12], and cities with a large population and extensive urban fabric are more prone to UHI-related problems [13]
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