Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon exacerbates thermal discomfort in urban areas and significantly contributes to urban overheating when combined with climate change. This study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity (SUHII) in six major cities of Pakista...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Ecological Informatics |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124005284 |
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| author | Shoaib Ahmad Anees Kaleem Mehmood Syed Imran Haider Raza Sebastian Pfautsch Munawar Shah Punyawi Jamjareegulgarn Fahad Shahzad Abdullah A. Alarfaj Sulaiman Ali Alharbi Waseem Razzaq Khan Timothy Dube |
| author_facet | Shoaib Ahmad Anees Kaleem Mehmood Syed Imran Haider Raza Sebastian Pfautsch Munawar Shah Punyawi Jamjareegulgarn Fahad Shahzad Abdullah A. Alarfaj Sulaiman Ali Alharbi Waseem Razzaq Khan Timothy Dube |
| author_sort | Shoaib Ahmad Anees |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon exacerbates thermal discomfort in urban areas and significantly contributes to urban overheating when combined with climate change. This study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity (SUHII) in six major cities of Pakistan, focusing on the interplay between urban expansion, vegetation cover, and SUHII. To quantify SUHII dynamics, the impact of urban sprawl and vegetation changes was analyzed. The study offers critical insights into the implications for urban planning and policymaking in Pakistan. Using remote sensing data from Landsat satellites, analyzed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, estimates of SUHII, urban expansion, and vegetation cover were derived. Specifically, imagery from Landsat-5 (2010−2013) and Landsat-8 (2014–2022), obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS), was employed. Statistical analyses, including Pearson's correlation and linear regression, were conducted to assess relationships between these variables from 2010 to 2022. SUHII was found to increase annually by 0.18 °C in Islamabad and 0.19 °C in Peshawar, with corresponding urban expansion rates of 8.07 km2 (8967.75 pixels) and 1.67 km2 (1860.42 pixels) per year, respectively. Vegetation indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) were inversely correlated with SUHII, explaining up to 50 % of the variance in Peshawar. However, weaker correlations in Lahore suggest the presence of additional factors influencing SUHII. A distinct spatial relationship between increased vegetation and cooler areas was observed. For instance, Islamabad has greater vegetation cover and cool zones over 41.5 km2. In contrast, Lahore's hot spots spanned 127.1 km2, compared to Abbottabad's 10.4 km2, underscoring the thermal impact of reduced vegetation. The findings emphasize the effectiveness of urban greening, particularly in Islamabad's neutral thermal regions, in mitigating SUHII. This study offers important insights for urban planners in developing sustainable, climate-resilient cities within similar urban contexts. While the results are specific to Pakistani cities, the role of vegetation in mitigating SUHII may hold broader relevance for urban planning strategies in comparable settings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5a1961513df9403cab4eff1cf7bb246e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1574-9541 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Ecological Informatics |
| spelling | doaj-art-5a1961513df9403cab4eff1cf7bb246e2025-01-19T06:24:44ZengElsevierEcological Informatics1574-95412025-03-0185102986Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani citiesShoaib Ahmad Anees0Kaleem Mehmood1Syed Imran Haider Raza2Sebastian Pfautsch3Munawar Shah4Punyawi Jamjareegulgarn5Fahad Shahzad6Abdullah A. Alarfaj7Sulaiman Ali Alharbi8Waseem Razzaq Khan9Timothy Dube10Department of Forestry, The University of Agriculture, Dera Ismail Khan 29050, Pakistan; Corresponding authors.College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, PR China; Institute of Forest Science, University of Swat, Main Campus Charbagh, 19120 Swat, Pakistan; Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, PR ChinaPunjab Forest Department, Lahore, PakistanUrban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW 2150, AustraliaDepartment of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanKing Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Prince of Chumphon Campus, Chumphon 86160, ThailandMapping and 3S Technology Center, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, ChinaDepartment of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box. 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box. 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Forestry Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia UPM, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia; Corresponding authors.Institute for Water Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South AfricaThe Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon exacerbates thermal discomfort in urban areas and significantly contributes to urban overheating when combined with climate change. This study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity (SUHII) in six major cities of Pakistan, focusing on the interplay between urban expansion, vegetation cover, and SUHII. To quantify SUHII dynamics, the impact of urban sprawl and vegetation changes was analyzed. The study offers critical insights into the implications for urban planning and policymaking in Pakistan. Using remote sensing data from Landsat satellites, analyzed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, estimates of SUHII, urban expansion, and vegetation cover were derived. Specifically, imagery from Landsat-5 (2010−2013) and Landsat-8 (2014–2022), obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS), was employed. Statistical analyses, including Pearson's correlation and linear regression, were conducted to assess relationships between these variables from 2010 to 2022. SUHII was found to increase annually by 0.18 °C in Islamabad and 0.19 °C in Peshawar, with corresponding urban expansion rates of 8.07 km2 (8967.75 pixels) and 1.67 km2 (1860.42 pixels) per year, respectively. Vegetation indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) were inversely correlated with SUHII, explaining up to 50 % of the variance in Peshawar. However, weaker correlations in Lahore suggest the presence of additional factors influencing SUHII. A distinct spatial relationship between increased vegetation and cooler areas was observed. For instance, Islamabad has greater vegetation cover and cool zones over 41.5 km2. In contrast, Lahore's hot spots spanned 127.1 km2, compared to Abbottabad's 10.4 km2, underscoring the thermal impact of reduced vegetation. The findings emphasize the effectiveness of urban greening, particularly in Islamabad's neutral thermal regions, in mitigating SUHII. This study offers important insights for urban planners in developing sustainable, climate-resilient cities within similar urban contexts. While the results are specific to Pakistani cities, the role of vegetation in mitigating SUHII may hold broader relevance for urban planning strategies in comparable settings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124005284Urban Heat IslandRemote sensingUrban expansionVegetation coverClimate change mitigation |
| spellingShingle | Shoaib Ahmad Anees Kaleem Mehmood Syed Imran Haider Raza Sebastian Pfautsch Munawar Shah Punyawi Jamjareegulgarn Fahad Shahzad Abdullah A. Alarfaj Sulaiman Ali Alharbi Waseem Razzaq Khan Timothy Dube Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities Ecological Informatics Urban Heat Island Remote sensing Urban expansion Vegetation cover Climate change mitigation |
| title | Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal analysis of surface Urban Heat Island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major Pakistani cities |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal analysis of surface urban heat island intensity and the role of vegetation in six major pakistani cities |
| topic | Urban Heat Island Remote sensing Urban expansion Vegetation cover Climate change mitigation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124005284 |
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