Abstract

SANABRIA SILES, Nelson Jery; SANDOVAL GOMEZ, María René  and  DALENCE MARTINIC, Javier Stephan. Impact of Land Cover Changes on Land Surface Temperature in Puerto Villarroel, Bolivia (2019-2024). RevActaNova. [online]. 2024, vol.11, n.4, pp.385-397.  Epub Nov 30, 2024. ISSN 1683-0789.  https://doi.org/10.35319/acta-nova.202427.

This study analyzes the impact of different types of land cover (forest, deforested areas, and urban zones) on the land surface temperature (LST) in the Municipality of Puerto Villarroel, for the period 2019-2024. Satellite data from Landsat 8 and Sentinel-1/2 revealed that forested areas are up to 4.5°C cooler than urban zones due to evapotranspiration and shading. In contrast, urban zones show the highest temperatures (peaking at 36°C) due to the urban heat island effect. The differences between deforested areas and forests ranged from 0.7°C to 1.6°C, indicating that forest cover reduces temperatures more effectively than deforested areas. Supervised classification using Random Forest revealed a progressive loss of forest at an annual rate of 6%, while urban areas grew by 18% and deforested areas by 5%. It is concluded that forest cover is essential for mitigating extreme temperatures, protecting hydrological cycles, and conservation and reforestation policies are recommended.

Keywords : Land cover; Surface temperature; LST; Puerto Villarroel.

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