Land surface temperature retrieval from TIRS data and its relationship with land surface indices

Gaya is the second largest city of South Bihar in India along the Falgu River, which has a historical significance. In order to meet the needs of present and future generations in terms of social, economic, and environmental aspects, the existing and present trend of urbanization of the city must be studied. Urbanization and rapid modification create considerable impacts on the land surface temperature (LST) of the Gaya district. The extensive rise of the LST creates urban heat island (UHI) effects in the cities. This study examined the effect of UHI by analyzing the LST and Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) of the Gaya district. The present study has been performed using OLI/TIRS data of Landsat 8 satellite. This study, further, focuses on the relationship between LST and two land surface indices, i.e., soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI). The results of the study showed that the LST has a positive correlation with NDBI while a negative correlation with SAVI. This LST and NDBI relationship suggest that the built-up land can strengthen the effect of UHI, and the relationship between LST and SAVI suggests that the green land can weaken the effect on UHI. The study also revealed that this correlation has variation according to the availability of LST in the area. This type of study can be very useful for urban planners to cater the needs of any city planning. It also helps in the assessment of the health of the developing cities by assessing the urban expansion and their relationships with LST. © 2021, Saudi Society for Geosciences.