Assessment of urban heat island and possible adaptations in Enugu urban using landsat-ETM

Abstract

Urban heat Island (UHI) is the name given to the characteristic warmth of both the atmosphere and the lithosphere in
cities (urban) compared to their rural (non-urbanized) surroundings. This study investi-gates the application of
Landsat-ETM in the study of UHI. The study employed the normalized difference method to estimate Land Surface
temperature (LST) . The research assessed the level of UHI in Enugu urban as well as the application of Land sat-
ETM in the study of UHI compared to the traditional rural-urban method. Results demonstrate that LST positively
correlate with concentration of urban struc-tures, population density and human activities. Temperature gradients
are formed at the Central Busi-ness District (CBD) in the downtown areas and progressively lowered to the suburbs.
The study suggested the use of high density green cover, reflective roofing materials, building massing (arcades)
and lightening of pavements as adaptive/mitigation measures against UHI in Enugu urban.