Impact of land use dynamics on land surface temperature using optical remote sensing data integrated with statistical analysis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Changes in land use and cover (LULC) are now considered as a significant concern because they have a great impact on biodiversity loss and climate changes. Therefore, the present study was applied to assess the effect of land use dynamic on land surface temperature (LST). LULC maps of years; 1991, 2001, 2014, and 2022 were applied using Maximum likelihood classification MLC) while the LST was developed using thermal bands of Landsat images. LULC maps showed a considerable development and improvement in vegetation cover and urbanization. Results showed a negative and positive correlation between LST with NDVI and NDBI respectively. It was revealed that the estimated and predicted LST confirm the reliability of the present model with R2 = 0.95. The study calculated that the maximum LST in 2022 to simulate current state of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the results were 32.1, 45.5, 38.7 and 41.3 in winter, summer, autumn and spring respectively. We are now sounding the alarm because the state must act quickly and decisively to stop intensive forestation if it is to avoid very high temperatures by 2030. Our findings point to the need for environmental protection in response to the study area's quick conversion of LULC and increasing trend of LST.