Changing land surface temperature in response to land use changes in Kashmir valley of northwestern Himalayas

Abstract

LST variability in a region is significantly impacted by changes in LULC. The current study makes use of satellite data to examine the historical link between LULC and LST in Kashmir Valley. Using the Mono-window algorithm method, the study area has seen substantial changes in LST owing to the conversion of various LULC classes. Results reveal that in LULC agriculture has been transformed to horticulture and built up area with around 80% of the area of Kashmir valley seeing a consequent shift in LST patterns from low category of LST to medium and high category LST. These rapid changes can mainly be attributed to changing economic structure, population growth, the resultant increase in settlements and infrastructure activities, and vegetation dynamics. Strong policy measures are needed to mitigate the impacts of rapid land system changes on the environment keeping in view the sensitivity of the mountainous Kashmir Himalayan region.

Keywords:

• LULC
• mono-window algorithm
• urbanization
• Kashmir valley
• landsat

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank USGS for keeping the Landsat data freely downloadable. The authors would also like to thank their respective organizations for constant support and infrastructure facilities.

Author contributions

CRediT roles: Conceptualization: MUS, JAT; Data curation: MUS, ZUI, JAT; Formal analysis: MUS, ZUI, JAT, JQ; Investigation: MUS, JAT; Methodology: MUS, JAT, JQ; Resources: JAT, JQ; Software: MUS, JAT; Supervision: ZUI and PA; Validation: MUS, JAT; Visualization: MUS, JQ and ZUI; Writing - original draft: MUS, ZUI and PA.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that we have no financial and non-financial conflict of interests.

Data availability

The datasets associated with this manuscript will be made available on request.