Impact of land cover change on urban surface temperature in Iskandar Malaysia

Iskandar Malaysia is one of the most ambitious and impressive development projects ever undertaken in Malaysia that has been experiencing rapid rate of land use change since 2006. Land use change is due to the urban expansion and reduction in natural green areas resulted from enhanced economic growth. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of land use and land cover changes (LULCC) on land surface temperature changes in Iskandar Malaysia and to predict the land surface temperature (LST) based on the LULCC by 2025. Remote sensing data such as Landsat (Landsat 5, 7 and 8) were used to calculate the LST and to determine the contribution of urban greenery as a possible remedy to Urban Heat Island (UHI). Weighted Average statistical technique was further used to calculate the effect of changes (increase and decrease) in each land use/cover (LULC) types on LST and predict the LST of entire Iskandar Malaysia by 2025. It was found that build up areas are the warmest land use during the days while forest and mangrove areas have the lowest day time LST. An increase in LST of 3.28 °C was found for urban surface from 1989 to 2013. A similar pattern was also seen in LST for other land cover classes and the increase was 1.96 °C for forest, 2.05 °C (Rubber), 2.47 °C (mangrove), 2.6 °C (oil palm) and 2.86 °C for water. Mean LST for entire Iskandar Malaysia rose from 21.88 °C to 24.78 °C (2.85 °C) by the year of 1989 and 2013. It is predicted that it will increase to 25.3 C by the year of 2025