Impact Assessment of Changing LULC on LST and UHI Pattern. A Case Study of Srinagar City Jammu and Kashmir (2010-2022)

Shafiq Ahmed; Habibullah; Inzamam Ul Haq; Rahul Manhas; Naveen Kumar; Mansoor Ahmad; Md Sarfaraz Asgher  lowast

doi:10.53989/bu.ga.v14i1.24.203

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Geographical analysis

DOI: 10.53989/bu.ga.v14i1.24.203

Year: 2025, Volume: 14, Issue: 1, Pages: 67-76

Original Article

Impact Assessment of Changing LULC on LST and UHI Pattern. A Case Study of Srinagar City Jammu and Kashmir (2010-2022)

Shafiq Ahmed¹, Habibullah¹, Inzamam Ul Haq¹, Rahul Manhas¹, Naveen Kumar², Mansoor Ahmad¹, Md Sarfaraz Asgher^1∗

¹Department of Geography, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
²Department of Geography, Government Degree college, Udhampur, 182101, Jammu and Kashmir, India

*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]

Received Date:19 October 2024, Accepted Date:10 August 2025

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The rapid urbanization of Srinagar city, located in the Himalayan region, has led to significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC), resulting in an increase in the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. This study investigates the relationship between Land Surface Temperature (LST) and LULC changes over a decade, from 2010 to 2022, focusing on four key categories: built-up areas, agricultural land, water bodies, and natural vegetation. Using Landsat satellite data, we analysed seasonal variations in LST across these categories and calculated the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) to assess the ecological impact. The findings reveal a substantial increase in LST, particularly in built-up areas, where maximum temperature increased from 34.6°C in 2010 to 37.19°C in 2022. Additionally, the UTFVI analysis showed a decline in areas with "Excellent" ecological conditions, dropping from 57.91% in December 2010 to 47.24% in December 2022, while areas categorized as "Worst" ecological conditions increased, indicating a worsening UHI effect. These results highlight the growing environmental challenges posed by urbanization in Srinagar city, necessitating urgent sustainable urban planning interventions.

Keywords: Land surface temperature (LST), Urban heat island (UHI), Urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI), Land use land cover (LULC), Urbanisation

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© 2025 Ahmed et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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