Studying bio-thermal effects at and around MSW dumps using Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS

•Effective use of satellite remote sensing and GIS techniques for studying MSW dumps is established.•Thermal comparison of different land covers using thermal imagery is a better alternative.•Impacts of dumped MSW can be studied using NDVI, SAVI and MSAVI as the bio-indicators.•Exothermic reactions in MSW can effect temperatures of surrounding 800 m land.

Estimating negative impacts of MSW dumps on its surrounding environment is the key requirement for any remedial measures. This study has been undertaken to map bio-thermal effects of MSW dumping at and around dumping facilities (non-engineered) using satellite imagery for Faisalabad, Pakistan. Thirty images of Landsat 8 have been selected after validation for the accuracy of their observational details from April 2013 to October 2015. Land Surface Temperature (LST), NDVI, SAVI and MSAVI have been derived from these images through Digital Image Processing (DIP) and have been subjected to spatio-temporal analysis in GIS environment. MSW dump has been found with average temperature elevation of 4.3 K and 2.78 K from nearby agriculture land and urban settlement respectively. Vegetation health has been used as the bio-indicator of MSW effects and is implemented through NDVI, SAVI, MSAVI. Spatial analyses have been used to mark boundary of bio-thermally affected zone around dumped MSW and measure 700 m. Seasonal fluctuations of elevated temperatures and boundary of the bio-thermally affected zones have also been discussed. Based on the direct relation found between vegetation vigor and the level of deterioration within the bio-thermally affected region, use of crops with heavy vigor is recommended to study MSW hazard influence using bio-indicators of vegetation health.