TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF URBANIZATION AND RESULTING LOCAL WEATHER CHANGE: A CASE STUDY OF LAHORE, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Urbanization results in significant changes to the roughness and radiative properties of the earth's surface. These changes can influence the local weather and climate within the urban canopy. Lahore has experienced rapid urban growth over the earlier few decades and the remarkable land cover change resulting in influencing the local weather and climate. This research aims to identify the relationship between land cover change especially urbanization and local weather variations on the basis of temperature and rainfall from 1972-2013. Temperature variables include the mean monthly (MM) and mean annual (MA) of mean minimum (MMi) and mean maximum (MMx). Mean monthly rainfall (MMR) and mean annual rainfall (MAR) was also calculated to find out its relationship with rapid urban growth and resulting local weather variations. The results showed that minimum annual mean temperature increased (+1 o C) while maximum annual mean temperature decreased to (-0.3 o C) and the mean annual rainfall decreased (-3.0 mm). The results show that temperature is increasing by 0.021 o C / Year in the study area. GIS tool has been used to identify the land cover changing pattern since 1981 to 2013.