Abstract
Global warming has obtained more attention because of increasing global mean surface temperature since the late 19th century. Urbanization is considered an important contributor to global warming in big cities. Cairo is one of the heavily populated cities in the world, which has rapid urbanization that resulted in remarkable temperature variation compared to the rural surrounding areas. This phenomenon is known as Urban Heat (UHIs) that influence both local and regional climate, environment, and socio-economic development. In this research time series of satellite images were used to map the spatial variability of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Heat Islands in Cairo city. Historical and contemporary record of Landsat images nearly 16 dates from 1990 to 2014 were used to retrieve LST and land cover categories. Results showed that LST was highly influenced by Land use and land cover changes; heat island effect was dominant in urbanized areas, bare/desert land and industrial zones (e.g. Shobra El-khema). The industrial zones, in particular, were possibly high due to the aluminum roof material plus the thermal energy from production activities and high emissions of air pollutants. The pattern of spatial distribution of heat islands has significantly changed from bare/desert land and built up areas (as warmer) to cultivated land and water bodies (as colder). To analyze the relationship between Heat Islands and land-cover changes a quantitative correlation between LST and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and Normalized Difference Build-up Index (NDBI) was employed. It was found that the correlation between LST and NDVI and MNDWI was negative with r 2 of 0.8 and 0.57 respectively; however, the correlation with NDBI was strongly positive with r 2 of 0.81. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this research will contribute to GEOSS for global integration and correlation.
Highlights
Global warming phenomenon has obtained more attention due to the recognized increase of the global mean surface temperature since the late 19th century
The rapid population growth and urban expansion, to IJARSG– An Open Access Journal (ISSN 2320 – 0243). Meet such population, with dense urban infrastructure have significantly affected the quality of life of urban inhabitants and negatively changed the urban environment and climate [1, 2]. This has introduced the phenomenon of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) that was first documented by Howard [3]
Key element of studying the heat islands in big cities is to understand the changes of land cover
Summary
Global warming phenomenon has obtained more attention due to the recognized increase of the global mean surface temperature since the late 19th century. Meet such population, with dense urban infrastructure have significantly affected the quality of life of urban inhabitants and negatively changed the urban environment and climate [1, 2]. This has introduced the phenomenon of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) that was first documented by Howard [3]. Since that time it has been studied in many cities around the world. Throughout the last decade, heat islands have been observed and examined in many cities around the globe such as Lódz, Poland [5], Athens, Greece [6], Beijing, China [7], Hong Kong, China [ 8], Shanghai, China [9], Glasgow, UK [10], Leipzig, Germany [11], Nagoya city, Japan [12], in some Asian mega cities including Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Pyongyang, Bangkok, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City [13], the largest cities of Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Patra and Heraklion) [2], in addition to a total of 263 European cities were studied by [4]
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