Land Surface Temperature Trends and Applications - Case Study at the Mining Areas of Tarkwa, Ghana

E. A. A. Kwesi, P. Zini, G. Vunase, D. Kangah

Abstract


Land surface temperature (LST) is an important factor to consider in the location of appropriate sites for landfilling and incineration due to their association with the emission of harmful gases. The objectives of this study were to map, assess and discuss the trends of LST changes, the contributing factors and their applications in landfilling and temperature inversions to reduce their negative effects. The techniques applied include remote sensing, GPS, GIS and basic statistics for the data collection, processing and analysis. Five LST maps and associated statistical tables and graphs were derived as the main results, using Landsat8 aerial images as the main input data and ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel as processing software. From the results, LST values were generally on the increase from 2015 to 2020. The LST variations were not uniform for some areas, especially the southern parts, and this was attributed to intermittent farming and illegal mining activities. In the central, western, eastern and northern parts, where major ongoing settlements and mining activities exist, uniform increases in LST were observed from moderate to high levels from 2015 to 2020. The results thus revealed some correlation between the LTS changes and the land use patterns of the study area. Two recommended applications of the observations are that; (1) in the areas with uniform LST increases, uncontrolled landfilling, mining and similar land uses can compound the negative effects of high LST through emission of unwanted gasses and particulate matter and temperature inversions, and (2) the LST maps from this study or similar ones may be used as references to check the suitability of proposed land uses or the locations of development projects such as landfilling in terms of their pollution risk or potentials in relation to high LSTs. Appropriate decisions can thus be arrived at such as disapproving the proposal or requesting more stringent mitigation measures.


Keywords


Land Surface Temperature, Remote Sensing, Landfill, Pollution, Land use, Mining, Inversion

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References


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