Satellite image-Based analysis of the greening impact on the formation of an Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Abu Dhabi city

Two Landsat scenes (acquired on 21 May 1986 and 19 May 2000) were used to examine differences in surface temperature inside and outside the city of Abu Dhabi and to examine a potential relationship between vegetation abundance and drop in temperatures. Land cover maps of Abu Dhabi city and its surroundings spanning the period 1986-2000 were created using multispectral classification, and vegetation abundance maps using the vegetation fraction index and surface temperature maps from Landsat were created to study their spatial relationships using GIS-based multivariate statistical analysis. Differences in surface temperature between urban areas and their non-urban surroundings were also studied to assess any urban heat island (UHI) effect. A map showing the magnitude of UHI effect was created and linked to the vegetation abundance map. Results show that the UHI effect in major UAE urban centres is minimal; however, more investigation is needed to confirm this hypothesis for other UAE cities.