TITLE:
Urban Heat Island Characterization and Isotherm Mapping Using Geo-Informatics Technology in Ahmedabad City, Gujarat State, India
AUTHORS:
Ram Joshi, Hardik Raval, Maharshi Pathak, Sumit Prajapati, Ajay Patel, Vijay Singh, Manik H. Kalubarme
KEYWORDS:
Surface Temperature, Urban Heat Island (UHI) Phenomena, Hot Spots, Landsat TM, Thermal Infrared, Isotherms, Industrial Area, IR Gun, Geo-Informatics
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.6 No.3,
March
26,
2015
ABSTRACT: India has witnessed
tremendous industrialization in the last five decades. This has led to
migration of masses from rural areas towards cities for jobs and businesses.
With increase in the population, the demand for residences has also increased
which has escalated growth of slum areas and haphazard planning in suburbs.
City of Ahmedabad is one such urban metropolis in the state of Gujarat, India.
Being the financial capital of Gujarat, population of the city has increased
many folds since 1980s. Congested and unsustainable planning and increasing in
the emissions from industries and vehicles in certain areas of the city have
given birth to many climatic issues. One of these major problems is the Urban
Heat Island (UHI) phenomena. This has increased the temperature by four to five
degrees and has also severely affected air quality. Satellite based Remote
sensing data can provide temperature information of various land use classes.
Remote Sensing data along with in-situ surface measurements can help to
identify urban heat island intensities and hotspots in the cities. A study on
heat island characterization and isotherm mapping was taken up in Ahmedabad
City. In the present study, Surface Heat Island (SHI) effect is studied using
satellite data along with field measurements. Thermal infrared data from
Landsat ETM band-6 have been effectively used for monitoring temperature
differences of various land use classes in urban areas. The study aims to
identify and study the urban hot spots using the data from LANDSAT-5 and field
data collected using IR Gun in various zones of Ahmedabad City. The results of
this study indicated that the surface temperature near industrial areas and
dense urban areas was higher as compared to other suburban areas in the
Ahmedabad City.