Dynamism of land use changes on surface temperature in Kenya: a case study of Nairobi City

Abstract

Land surface temperature (LST) forms an important climate variable related to climate change and is an indicator of the energy balance at the surface since it’s a key parameter in the physics of the land surface processes. The main aim of the study is to examine the dynamic effects of land use changes on land surface temperature through analysis of the relationship of LST, NDVI and LULC for a period of 24 years. The study area is Nairobi between 36°4´ and 37°10´. Landsat satellite images of 1986, 1995, 2002 and 2010 was used to derive land use land cover (LULC), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and LST. It was found out that urbanization was taking place with forest, plantations, shrubs, grassland and bare land changing to built-up. It was also clear that there exist a negative correlation between NDVI and LST hence indicating a reduction in vegetation cover to bare land or built-up would lead to increase in land surface temperature (LST).