Appraisal of Urban Heat Island Detection of Peshawar Using Land Surface Temperature and Its Impacts on Environment

Last couple of decades witnessed a rapid escalation in urban temperature of Peshawar city and its neighboring localities. This alarming condition gave birth to climatic term urban heat island-created drastic alteration in surface temperatures. In this study, thermal infrared remote sensing data have been employed to map out and monitor such micro-climatic variation in temperatures in land use/land cover exposed surface to the environment. To assess these outcomes resulting from human activities, Landsat TM data band 6 was subjected through ERDAS Imagine 2013. For further processing, ARC GIS helped a lot in making maps to pinpoint the heat island in and around the city. Moreover, a relationship of land surface temperature with urban sprawl, environmental and industrialization was established. This study has shown a substantial upsurge in temperature about to 1°–3°. Urban sprawl and industrialization at the edges are accounting for these conditions. Urban and industrial data have also reinforced the fact being drawn from remotely sensed data. Hence, evaluation of land surface temperature data captured through remote satellite has proven to be effective tool not only for monitoring and analyzing temperature but also for assessing its adverse impacts on the environment and climate.