Evaluating the impact of landscape configuration, patterns and composition on land surface temperature: an urban heat island study in the Megacity Lahore, Pakistan

The urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is negatively impacted by rapid urbanization, which significantly affects people's everyday lives, socioeconomic activities, and the urban thermal environment. This study focuses on the impact of composition, configuration, and landscape patterns on land surface temperature (LST) in Lahore, Pakistan. The study uses Landsat 5-TM and Landsat 8-OLI/TIRS data acquired over the years 2000, 2010 and 2020 to derive detailed information on land use, normalized difference vegetation index, LST, urban cooling islands (UCI), green cooling islands (GCI) and landscape metrics at the class and landscape level such as percentage of the landscape (PLAND), patch density (PD), class area (CA), largest patch index (LPI), number of patches (NP), aggregation index (AI), Landscape Shape Index (LSI), patch richness (PR), and mean patch shape index (SHAPE_MN). The study's results show that from the years 2000 to 2020, the built-up area increased by 17.57%, whereas vacant land, vegetation, and water bodies declined by 03.79%, 13.32% and 0.4% respectively. Furthermore, landscape metrics at the class level (PLAND, LSI, LPI, PD, AI, and NP) show that the landscape of Lahore is becoming increasingly heterogeneous and fragmented over time. The mean LST in the study area exhibited an increasing trend i.e. 18.87 degrees C in 2000, 20.93 degrees C in 2010, and 22.54 degrees C in 2020. The significant contribution of green spaces is vital for reducing the effects of UHI and is highlighted by the fact that the mean LST of impervious surfaces is, on average, roughly 3 degrees C higher than that of urban green spaces. The findings also demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between mean LST and both the amount of green space (which is negative) and impermeable surface (which is positive). The increasing trend of fragmentation and shape complexity highlighted a positive correlation with LST, while all area-related matrices including PLAND, CA and LPI displayed a negative correlation with LST. The mean LST was significantly correlated with the size, complexity of the shape, and aggregation of the patches of impervious surface and green space, although aggregation demonstrated the most constant and robust correlation. The results indicate that to create healthier and more comfortable environments in cities, the configuration and composition of urban impermeable surfaces and green spaces should be important considerations during the landscape planning and urban design processes.