Effect of Urban Growth on Urban Thermal Environment: A Case Study of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana has been experiencing fast urban growth over the past two decade. This urban growth has resulted in changes in the surface cover which consequently has cause remarkable urban thermal environmental problems. This research used two multi-temporal Landsat Thematic (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images of the years 1991 and 2008 respectively to evaluate the effect of urban growth on land surface temperature (LST) using an integrated remote sensing and GIS approach. Several remote sensing techniques were used to carry out urban growth analysis. This assisted in determining the changes that have taken place over the 17 year period. The integrated use of remote sensing and GIS was subsequently employed to analyse the effect of urban growth on surface temperature. Local climate change was also studied using multi-decade temperature data. The results showed that urban development had increased surface radiant temperature in the study area by 4.3 ^°C in the urban expanded areas. The results suggest that urban expansion has a certain effect on the monthly average surface temperature as well the seasonal average temperature changes of the Metropolis.

Keywords: Land Surface Temperature, Urban Growth, Remote Sensing, Urban Heat Island, NDVI