Variation in diurnal and seasonal urban land surface temperature: landuse change impacts assessment over Lagos metropolitan city

Removal of vegetation to give space for urban expansion might result in the temperature rise in cities. The present study compares the LSTs derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) with observed air temperature from ground weather data. The natures of the materials that are usually found in the urban area are typically concrete and asphalt materials which affect the urban atmospheric system. In this study, variation in urban land surface temperatures (LST) using MODIS and in-situ meteorological data were examined. MODIS data and daily rainfall, minimum (Tm) and maximum (Tmx) temperature from ground weather station were used. The results reveal that average LSTs during the dry season are noticeably higher for both daytime during November: 34.62 °C, December: 33.75 °C, January: 34.68 °C, February: 35.02 °C and March: 34.87 °C. There are notable differences in the LST observed between daytime and nighttime for both MOD11A2 and MYD11A2 and that of maximum and minimum air temperature from in-situ meteorological data. MOD11A2 is a better proxy for daily maximum and minimum air temperature than MYD11A2, though seasonal variations in the extent of LST occurs during the wet and dry season. The study shows that the contribution of the urban LSTs was comparatively smaller at night than the day, perhaps as result of the variations in the amount of solar radiation received by the day and night times.