Analysis of land surface temperature distribution in response to land use land cover change in agroforestry dominated area, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes have a significant impact on Land Surface Temperature
(LST) by altering the surface properties and energy balance. The current study aimed to
analyze the LST distribution due to LULC change over the agroforestry-dominated Gedeo
Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Multi-temporal satellite images acquired by Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7
ETM+, and Landsat 8 using OLI-TIRS sensors in 2005, 2011, and 2017, respectively, and a
Sentinel 2A MSI in 2017 and 2022 were corrected for radiometric using and geometric errors
and processed to classify LULC classes and extract LST. The study result revealed that the
temperature varies through the surface according to LULC classes. It was identified that the
Agroforestry and Built-up coverage has increased by 1520 and 2600 km2, respectively, from
2005 to 2022. On the other hand, the Bare Land and Farm Land coverage decreased by 1554
and by 2565 km2, respectively, in the same period. The LST result has shown that there has
been a remarkable variation in the spatial pattern of the LST between 2005 and 2022. The
average LST in Agroforestry, Bare Land, Farm Land, and Built-up area has progressively
increased over the years, from 19.6, 26, 20.2, and 25.58 ⁰C in 2005 to 25, 32.16, 28.23, and
30.62 ⁰C in 2022, respectively. While in 2005 the maximum recorded LST did not exceed
37.3°C, by 2022 it had increased by close to 3°C, reaching 40.6°C. Even though the coverage of
Agroforestry has increased in the last 17 years, the mean LST has increased. From the result,
it was concluded that LST may not be dependent on the local LULC change only; other factors
like urbanization and global warming could play a significant role in changing LST locally as
well as globally. So, the results of this study are important