Land surface temperature relation with normalized satellite indices for the estimation of spatio-temporal trends in temperature among various land use land cover classes of an arid Potohar region using Landsat data

In terrestrial landscape architecture, land surface temperature (LST) is a key estimator of local climate, vegetation growth, and urban transition. It also represents the environmental factors that influence the land cover patterns using temperature variation over land use land cover (LULC) classes. In the present study, various geospatial techniques have been implemented to analyze the spatio-temporal trends in temperature among different LULC of an arid Potohar region of Pakistan using Landsat 7 (ETM+) and 8 (OLI & TIRS) and the relationship between different normalized satellite indices and LST. Results of the seasonal fluctuation in winter showed temperature range of 0–57, 0–50, 04–31 and 7–39 °C for the year 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015, respectively, while the summer exhibited the temperature range of 24–48, 27–57, 22–48, and 12–41 °C for the year 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015, respectively. The analysis established a direct correlation between LST and normalized difference vegetation index and normalized difference water index, and an indirect correlation among LST and normalized difference soil index, normalized difference built-up index and built-up index. The findings are critically important for planning and development division for sustainable use of land resources for urbanization extension projects. Future research will highlight the change in the area occupied by different land featured classes and their impacts on LST over a specified period.