Appraisal of Urban Heat Island over Gujranwala and its Environmental Impact Assessment using Satellite Imagery (1995-2016).

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and concretization are the main sources of formation and existence of Urban Heat Island (UHI). Due to high concentration of pollutants in urban environments, the residents are exposed to unexpected health issues. This study aims at delineating the temporal variations in the spatial extent of UHI over Gujranwala using Landsat thermal imagery. It also aims at determining the variations in pollutant concentration in the atmosphere due to vehicle’s tailpipe emissions and fossil fuel burning by industrial plants. We used various indices e.g., NDVI, NDBI, NDWI and land surface temperature calculations to investigate spatio-temporal variations in urban growth patterns and their impacts on the UHI. The results show that the UHI enlarged in all direction specially in the north west during the study period which is similar to urban growth trends. There also exist positive correlation between industrial and vehicle’s discharge with pollutant’s concentration in atmosphere. Remote sensing tools proved elegant in trend mapping and analysis.