The Impact of Urban Growth on Heat Island Changes in the City of Al-Khobar, Eastern Saudi Arabia From 2002 to 2022 Using Remote Sensing Images

Abstract

The research focuses on knowing the relationship between urban growth and its impact on the surface temperature of the land, as rapid urban growth results in the emergence of several challenges. Therefore, the study aims to extract the area of ​​urban growth and the surface temperature for the years 2002 - 2013 and 2022 in the city of Khobar and, after that, monitor the relationship between them. The study followed the spatial and quantitative analysis approach, relying on the Landsat 8-5 satellite images and the Sentinel-2. The methodology includes applying the Normalized Differences Built Index (NDBI), also applying the steps to extract the surface temperature of the land and then using the Pearson correlation coefficient to find the relationship between the area of ​​urban expansion in square kilometers and the average surface temperature. The results showed that the  ​​built-up areas have been extended from 2002 to 2022 outside the city center, until the vacant lands in the southwestern part of the city receded. The average temperatures for the study years were extracted. It was found that the relationship between the area of ​​urban expansion in square kilometers and the average temperature is a strong inverse relationship of 0.977 - which is a statistically significant value of 0.01, referring that urban expansion in some areas has a positive effect, as the larger the area of the urban regions, the lower the temperature.