TITLE:
Impact of the Human Activities on the Local Climate and Environment of the Suez City in Egypt
AUTHORS:
Mona Fouad Kaiser
KEYWORDS:
Urban Heat Island, Urbanization, Vegetation Expansion, North Gulf of Suez, Image Classification
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.5 No.7,
June
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Surface
temperature and vegetation are the major land cover changes that significantly
affect on the thermal environment. In the present study, remote sensing
techniques were applied to identify the relationship between anthropogenic
activities and the thermal environment in the North Gulf of Suez area. Results
have indicated that the urbanization and agricultural expansion have been
increased during the last 25 years. Although urban areas increased from 49 km2 in 1987 to 57 km2 in 2012, the urban heat island-range declined from
very high and high, to moderate and low. An expansion in cultivated areas from
3 km2 in 1987 to 26 km2 in 2012 was responsible for the
decline. The results of this study provided valuable information for
understanding the local thermal changes that associate rapid urbanization and
expansion of cultivated areas. Consequently, this work recommends that proper
planning and management regimes for land use and cover changes associated with
rapid urbanization will result in positive impacts on the local climate and
environment.