Understanding the Linkages Between Spatio-temporal Urban Land System Changes and Land Surface Temperature in Srinagar City, India, Using Image Archives from Google Earth Engine

Abstract Land-use and land-cover (LULC) is a necessary component of sustainable natural resource management. There are considerable negative effects on the environment, ecosystem services, and natural resources as a result of the rapid anthropogenic land system changes. One of the significant negative implications of the rapidly changing urban LULC is the increase in the Land Surface Temperature (LST) resulting in the urban heat island effect. In this study, we used a time series of Landsat satellite images from 1992 to 2020 in the Srinagar city of the Kashmir valley, North-western Himalayas India to understand the linkages between LULC dynamics and Land Surface Temperature (LST), derived from the archived images using the Google Earth Engine (GEE). Furthermore, the relation between LST and biophysical indices, i.e., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) was also analysed. LULC change detection analysis revealed that the built-up area has increased significantly, while the vegetation cover and water bodies extent has decreased during the study period. The results showed that the built-up in the city has increased significantly from 12% in 1992 to 40% in 2020, the corresponding plantation has decreased from 26–17% in 2020, Forests have decreased from 4–2% and waterbody extent has declined from 6–4%2 in 28 years. Urban development of Srinagar city has resulted in the depletion of natural land covers, modification of natural drainage, and loss of green and blue spaces over the past few decades. The study revealed that the maximum LST in the city has increased by 11°C from 1992 to 2020. During the same period of time, the minimum LST in the city has increased by 4°C, indicating the impact of urbanization on the city environment. It was found that the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI), two important urban environmental indices are negatively correlated with LST. The findings shall serve as a vital source of knowledge for urban planners and decision-makers to better develop sustainable urban environmental management strategies for Srinagar city.