Monitoring the effects of vegetation cover change on land surface temperature in Nimbia Forest Reserve, Nigeria

Abstract

Vegetation cover regulates the surface temperature through shading and evapotranspiration. The loss of vegetation cover is a major factor causing higher Land Surface Temperature (LST). This study analyses the effect of forest cover change on LST in Nimbia forest reserve, Nigeria using Landsat data. Maximum-likelihood algorithm was used to classify the area into vegetation and non-vegetation areas. Single-channel algorithm and Normalised Difference vegetation Index (NDVI) were used to extract LST and vegetation density respectively. The relationship between vegetation cover and LST was quantified by correlation analysis. The results revealed that from 2013 to 2020, the forest area decreased from 11.50km2 (81.28%) to 10.14 km2 (71.68%). The average NDVI also declined from 0.63 to 0.42 which led to the increase in the mean LST from 30°C to 34.5°C. There is a need for monitoring the forest reserve for proper conservation.