Exploring the nexus of surface heat and influencing factors in Hyderabad and Bangalore, India

This study examined the relationship between Land Surface Temperature (LST) and various controllable, partially controllable, and uncontrollable factors in the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad. LST showed significant correlations with geographical coordinates in both cities. Despite these directional differences, both cities exhibited consistent correlations with key environmental factors, including Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Land Cover (LC), Modified Bareness Index (MBI), slope and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), highlighting the influence of vegetation and built-up areas on urban heat dynamics. The study further compared continuous and grouped LST representations, revealing that grouped LST data exhibited stronger and more consistent correlations with environmental factors, suggesting the presence of non-linear relationships. Factors such as EVI, LC, MBI, MNDWI, Distance to Bare soil (DBS), and Distance to Built-up (DBU) exhibited stronger correlations with grouped LST, highlighting the complexity of LST interactions across different temperature intervals. Grouped LST in Bangalore showed high correlations with LC (0.95), MBI (−0.941), and EVI (−0.938), while in Hyderabad, the strongest associations were with EVI (−0.965), LC (0.929), and DBS (0.918). The study highlights the importance of selecting appropriate LST representations in model development, as stronger correlations with grouped LST suggest non-linearities and potential threshold effects. The study underscores the critical role of vegetation, water bodies, and urban form in shaping LST patterns, offering valuable insights for urban heat mitigation. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers and climate resilience planners, supporting sustainable urban development and enhanced thermal comfort.