Assessment of Land Surface Temperature from the Indian Cities of Ranchi and Dhanbad during COVID-19 Lockdown: Implications on the Urban Climatology

S. M. Talha Qadri (), Ateeb Hamdan, Veena Raj, Muhsan Ehsan, Norazanita Shamsuddin, Mohammed Hail Hakimi and Khairul Azlan Mustapha
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S. M. Talha Qadri: Department of Geoscience, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8, Canada
Ateeb Hamdan: Department of Civil Engineering, Amity University Jharkhand, Ranchi 834001, India
Veena Raj: Faculty of Integrated Technologies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungu Link, Bandar Seri Begawan BE1410, Brunei
Muhsan Ehsan: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Norazanita Shamsuddin: Faculty of Integrated Technologies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungu Link, Bandar Seri Begawan BE1410, Brunei
Mohammed Hail Hakimi: Geology Department, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Taiz, Taiz 6803, Yemen
Khairul Azlan Mustapha: Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: An apparent increase in average global temperature is evident globally, and India is no exception. With the recent decade (2011–2020) arguably being the warmest, significant challenges due to rapid climate change have gained attention. However, notable spatial-temporal changes, especially with regard to land surface temperature (LST), were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period, when a comparatively cooler climate was experienced in many urban centers. Assessment of LST, crucial in many heat-balance, land use, and climate change models research studies, depicts the near-surface hotness of the Earth’s temperature at a given location. Thus, this study utilizes satellite remote-sensing data to investigate the spatial-temporal variations of LST pre and post-lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Unlike many existing research studies on the metropolitans of India, the study considers developing Indian cities, Ranchi and Dhanbad, as its study area. Accurate LST computation was performed using existing LANDSAT-8 OLI/TIRS images and judged using other parameters (NDVI, LSE) obtained directly from the thermal infrared bands. The LST assessment successfully estimated temperature variations in Ranchi and Dhanbad, depicting a significant drop in temperature coinciding with the lockdown period and subsequent increase in urban temperature post-pandemic, indicating a meaningful relationship between human activities and urban surface temperature.

Keywords: land surface temperature; climate change; remote sensing; sustainability; COVID-19; lockdown; urban heat island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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