Abstract

This study examined the impact of land use changes on land surface temperature in Akure, South-western Nigeria. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were used to detect changes that have occurred in land use and its subsequent impact on Land Surface Temperature (LST). The land use types identified were classified using maximum likelihood classification by assigning training samples to the features. The features on the image were grouped into four different classes based on their spectral signatures while the grouping was done for the January images of Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS for year 1985, 2000 and 2015 respectively. The four classes used are built-up area, vegetation, bare land surface and wetland/water body. The result showed high land surface temperature mean values corresponding to: built-up area ranging from 26.2 to 29.5^oC; vegetation 21.0 to 25.2^oC; wetland, 23.5 to 28.5^oC and bare land 23.4 to 28.8^oC while low LST mean values were observed over vegetative surface with a calculated mean temperature of 20 to 25^oC between 1985 and 2015 respectively. The study recommends planting of green cover trees around the cities which could lower both surface and air temperature by providing shade and cooling for the surrounding atmosphere.

Key Words: Land use, Land surface temperature, Built-up area, Vegetation, Akure, Nigeria