The relationship between vegetation dynamics and land surface temperature by using different satellite imageries; A Case study of Metropolitan cities of Pakistan

Land surface temperature (LST) is an essential parameter for the urban thermal environment and global climate change studies. The significant of LST is being acknowledged gradually and indicates that Vegetation cover has an immediate impact of Land surface temperature (LST). The main objective of this study is, retrieval of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and its relationship with Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) by using the different satellite imageries including Landsat 5 (TM); Landsat 7 (ETM+); and Landsat 8 (OLI) for 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 in Lahore and Peshawar city (Pakistan). Combined techniques of GIS and Remote Sensing has been applied for retrieval of LST and NDVI, and further, their relationship was checked by using correlation regression. Results indicate a rising trend of LST and decreasing trend of NDVI in Lahore, while the pattern of LST in Peshawar shows declining trend and NDVI shows an increasing trend. R² Coefficient value between LST and NDVI is very significant. The areas with low vegetation cover have a high temperature as compared to the areas which contain vegetation cover.