An assessment of the Relationship between Vegetation (Forest Density Cover) Built-Up
Area and City Land Surface Temperature, Generated by LANDSAT-8 OLI/ Thermal
band - A Case study of Dehradun, India
Dehradun city is the capital of Uttarakhand state of India. Evidence from the past research and literature [e.g. CDP 2007, Singh et al 2013, Gupta et al 2014] shows that in the late 80s, Dehradun city was much greener compared to the present condition. In the current study, we tried to identify the correlation between land surface temperature (LST) with Forest cover density classes (FCDC) and built-up area with open land. The current study reveals that there is a relationship between FCDC and LST in the study area. The range of LST recorded is between 32.07 to 43.99 °C. Among all the classes, minimum LST record in VDF class is 32.07°C and maximum LST record in built-up area 43.99°C. The present study shows the importance of vegetation cover in urban areas to reduce LST, air temperature and maintain the urban microclimate as well as to help reduce air pollution.