The interrelationship between LST, NDVI, NDBI, and land cover change in a section of Lagos metropolis, Nigeria

In recent times, there has been renewed interest in understanding the dynamics of land cover change and its relationship with several environmental parameters. This study assesses the interrelationship between land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), and land cover change in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Multi-temporal and multi-spectral Landsat imageries for years 2002, 2013, 2016, and 2019 served as the primary dataset. Using the parallelepiped classifier, the imageries were classified into five land cover classes — mixed vegetation, bare land, built-up area, water body, and wetland. The spectral indices (NDVI and NDBI) were computed and the LST was determined using a single-channel algorithm. Land cover transition matrices were calculated to examine the proportion of land cover change between classes, including the unchanged areas. Pearson’s correlation analysis enabled an analysis of the interdependence or interrelationship in the distribution of the parameters. From 2002 to 2019, the highest land cover transitions recorded were bare land to built-up area (12.64 km 2 ), mixed vegetation to built-up area (21.55 km 2 ), wetland to mixed vegetation (8.87 km 2 ), and mixed vegetation to bare land (8.46 km 2 ). There was a negative correlation between LST and NDVI, and between NDVI and NDBI. The distribution of the LST, NDVI, and NDBI varied correspondingly in accordance with land cover changes. The increase in built-up area could be the major driver of the observed changes in LST, NDBI, and NDVI, with an observed relationship that NDBI and LST values increase with increase in built-up areas.