Research Topic Proposal

1. Working Title
● “Investigating the Relationship of Particulate Matter 2.5 (P.M. 2.5) and its
Contribution to the Development of Urban Heat Islands in Quezon City using
Landsat 8 datasets”
2. Research Objective
● To determine the (expected positive) correlation of the amount of PM 2.5 and
Land Surface Temperature in relation to other environmental factors that also
contribute to the development or mitigation of UHIs using regression analysis
techniques.
● To create a comprehensive land surface temperature and PM 2.5 map that
can show the expected spatial pattern wherein areas with high concentrations
of aerosols should have higher land surface temperature measurements.
● To utilize Landsat 8 data sets in producing the required LSTs and PM 2.5
maps so as to produce a map that has a higher spatial resolution as
compared to using MODIS in air quality and temperature mapping (MODIS
has a much lower spatial resolution compared to Landsat 8 i.e. 30m vs
10km).
3. Research Rationale
● Introduction to the rationale
i. Due to the ever increasing air pollution and the increasing air
temperature in the areas around Metro Manila, there is a need for a
geographical assessment and mapping of the spatial patterns of
aerosols and temperature hotspots around the city using remote
sensing techniques and in-situ data measurements.
ii. Pollutants in the air and high temperatures can pose a health risk to
citizens in highly urbanized areas and this is especially true during the
months of late April to early July when temperature measurements are
at an all time high.
● Previous studies done
i. A study conducted by Li, et. al. showed a positive correlation between
aerosol concentrations and relatively high land surface temperature
values as well as having consistent spatial patterns showing that
temperature hotspots coincide with aerosol hotspots.
ii. Kurniati and Vilas also cites that certain environmental factors
contribute to the development of UHIs. Such examples made were
greenhouse gases, emissions of pollutants such as carbon monoxide,
nitric oxides and suspended particulate matter in the air.
iii. Additionally, Ziaul and Swades found in their study that land surface
temperature assessment using Landsat8 data and respiratory
particulate matter concentrations were especially high in built up local
climatic zones such as commercial zones, major roads, compact low-
rise buildings, and open mid-rise buildings. They have also sighted
that high population density, traffic volume and narrow house spacing
contributes to the high measurements in the LSTs and respiratory
particulate matter
4. Research Questions
● What areas in Quezon City are potential hotspots for high concentrations of
particulate matter and land surface temperature values?
● What can be the advantages of using Landsat 8 images for air quality and
temperature monitoring instead of MODIS datasets?
5. Thesis Statement
● Although MODIS is the most common dataset used in air quality monitoring
and assessing urban heat island phenomenon, the spatial resolution offered
 by MODIS cannot be used for smaller cities such as Quezon City (only about
166.2 square kilometers) and may not accurately reflect the conditions. An
alternative would be to use Landsat 8 data instead because the spatial
resolution offered by Landsat 8 (30m as opposed to 10km) is more than
sufficient for particulate matter and land surface temperature mapping.
Landsat 8 is thus a better alternative for air quality monitoring on a city scale
level since it can more accurately reflect possible hotspots for temperature
and particulate matter concentrations.
6. Needed Materials (Data & Equipment)
● Landsat 8 Multispectral images of Quezon City
● In-situ measurements of particulate matter data (can be acquired from Project
GUHeat and ENVISage)
● In-situ measurements of air quality monitoring data points
● Python 2.7 and external modules
● ArcGIS and ArcMap
● ENVI
7. Possible methodology (to be approved)
● Acquiring needed data
i. Landsat 8 images of Quezon City can be acquired from USGS Earth
Explorer. Must have minimal cloud cover so as to not negatively affect
the results of the study.
ii. Ground truth data of PM 2.5 can be acquired from the Project GUHeat
office in the 4th floor NEC.
● Processing Data
i. For land surface temperature map of Landsat 8 datasets, a step by
step band math approach to produce LST maps in either ENVI or
ArcMap can be achieved. Alternatively, ClimateEngine can be used to
produce LST maps faster.
ii. In order to produce a PM 2.5 Landsat 8 map, aerosol optical depth
(AOD) has to be extracted from Landsat 8. There is an existing thesis
that tackles how to extract AOD data from Landsat 8 images so that
can be utilized for this research.
iii. Once AOD data (AOD value, x, y) is extracted from the Landsat 8
image, a simple regression analysis with the ground truth PM 2.5
values in order to obtain the particulate matter values for the entire
map. The PM 2.5 will serve as the dependent variable while the AOD
will serve as the independent variable. This is an indirect method in
acquiring PM 2.5 mapping data using remote sensing methods.
iv. Conduct another simple regression using land surface temperature as
the dependent variable and the PM 2.5 values as the independent
variable in order to determine the relationship between the
environmental factor (PM 2.5 concentration) and the environmental
phenomenon (UHIs)
8. Expected Research problems
● Cloud cover may affect the quality of Landsat 8 datasets
● Requesting for the necessary raw data from institutions may take days or
weeks depending on the institution in question.
● Manual data processing may be long and tedious
● New, unfamiliar software may be introduced to the actual execution of the
thesis research thus could pose some difficulties for the researcher
9. Main References
Li, H., Meier, F., Lee, X., Chakraborty, T., Liu, J., Schaap, M., & Sodoudi, S. (2018).
Interaction between urban heat island and urban pollution island during summer in
Berlin. Science of The Total Environment, 636, 818–828. doi:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.254
Kurniati, Ayu Candra, and Vilas Nitivattananon. “Factors Influencing Urban Heat
Island in Surabaya, Indonesia.” Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 27, 2016, pp. 99–
105., doi:10.1016/j.scs.2016.07.006.

Ziaul, Sk., and Swades Pal. “Analyzing Control of Respiratory Particulate Matter on
Land Surface Temperature in Local Climatic Zones of English Bazar Municipality and
Surroundings.” Urban Climate, vol. 24, 2018, pp. 34–50.,
doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2018.01.006.

Shaker, R. R., Altman, Y., Deng, C., Vaz, E., & Forsythe, K. (2019). Investigating
urban heat island through spatial analysis of New York City streetscapes. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 233, 972–992. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.389
 10. Gantt Chart

Thesis Proposal Gantt Chart

3-Sep 13-Sep 23-Sep 3-Oct 13-Oct 23-Oct 2-Nov 12-Nov 22-Nov 2-Dec
Gathering of articles for RRL 7
Extraction of relevant information from RRL 3
Rough draft of RRL 4
Research on utilizing Landsat 8 for AQM 4
Research on relationship bet. PM2.5 and UHI 3
Finalization and submission of RRL 1
Gathering of software to use for methodology 6
Creation of initial methdology 3
Synthesizing possible steps for methodology 2
Formulating uses for data sets in methodology 2
Submission of initial methodology 7
Finalization of methodology 1
Preparation of 1st Progress report 5
Consultation with Adviser 1 Days to
1st Progress report Presentation 1 Complete
Preparation of 2nd progress report 5
Consultation with Adviser 1
2nd Progress report presentation 1
Integration of ideas for thesis proposal 6
Consultation with Adviser 1
Refinement of integrated ideas 6
Thesis Proposal Defense 1 1
1st revision of thesis proposal 6
Thesis Proposal Defense 2 1
2nd revision of thesis proposal 4
Consultation with Adviser 1
Final refinement of thesis proposal 8
Submission of final thesis proposal 1