Abstract:
Human interactions with the environment are identified as one of the leading causes of climate change and variation.
Modification, conversion and maintenance of land cover are all forms of anthropogenic interactions with the environment that result in
a variety of vital changes to the environment that either positively or negatively feedback to the environment and climate. The
identification and monitoring of these Land Use/ Land Cover Changes (LULCC) is therefore important since changes in land cover,
occasioned more often than not by anthropogenic land use, alter land-atmosphere interactions upon which ecosystem services rely thus
resulting in climate change and variation. Land Surface Temperature (LST) is a property of the land surface and refers to the
temperature of the interface between the earth’s land surface and the atmosphere. It is therefore an important variable in landatmosphere interactions and a climate change indicator which varies over space and in time as a function of vegetation cover, surface
moisture, soil types, topography and meteorological conditions. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a numerical
indicator derived from the Visible (Red) and Near Infrared (NIR) bands of the electromagnetic spectrum used in remote sensing to
assess the concentration of green leaf vegetation and plant phenology. It is also an accepted and widely used parameter in
characterization and assessment of vegetation change. This study uses a remote sensing approach in one of the most ecologically rich
and diverse ecosystems to investigate the effect of Land Use/ Land Cover Change and in particular vegetation change on Land Surface
Temperature (LST). The study area is in the Mara ecosystem located in South Western Kenya. LANDSAT satellite images for 1985,
1995, 2003 and 2010 were used to derive NDVI and LST. We found that human related Land Use/ Land Cover Change (LULCC) in the
form of conversion of land for cultivation purposes has been and is taking place around the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR).
We also found that a negative correlation exists between LST and NDVI thus indicating that with decrease in vegetation cover and
conversion to cultivated land, there is increase in Land Surface Temperature (LST).
