Mountainous regions are more sensitive to climatic condition changes and are susceptible to recent increases in temperature. Due to urbanization and land use/land cover (LULC) issues, Cameron Highlands has been impacted by rising land surface temperature (LST) variation. Thus, this study was carried out to explore the impact of the LULC change on LST in the Cameron Highlands from 2009 to 2019 using remote sensing images acquired from Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI/TIRS), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 11A Thermal sensors. A split-window algorithm was applied to Landsat 8 images (2013–2019) to derive the LST. Air temperature data of the study area were also obtained to cross-validate data sources. Based on the validation results, the accuracy of LULC and LST outputs were more than 94.6% and 80.0%, respectively. The results show that the current trend of urban growth continues at a rate of 0.16% per year, and the area experienced an LST increase of 2 °C between 2009 and 2019. This study is crucial for land planners and environmentalists to understand the impacts of LULC change on LST and to propose appropriate policy measures to control development in Cameron Highlands.

The Cameron Highlands has experienced multiple land encroachment activities and repeated deforestation, leading to extensive land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) during the past six decades. This study aims to determine the LULCC against topography in Cameron Highlands between 2009 and 2019 by using geospatial techniques to analyze Landsat 7 (ETM+) and 8 (OLI/TIRS), ASTER GDEM and MODIS imaging sensors. The results showed a decline of 35.98 km2 in primary forests over ten years across the Cameron Highlands, while agricultural lands and urban areas flourished by a rise of 51.61 km2 and 11.00 km2 respectively. It can be noted that the elevation most affected is between 1000 and 1500 m, across all classes. Further results showed the expansion of both agriculture and urban development onto slopes above 35°, leading to an instability of soil structure. In a comparison of the base years of 2009 with 2019, mean LST results have shown temperatures rising by 7.5°C, while an average between 3 and 4°C across the region is recorded. The results obtained provide new information for government bodies and land planners to coordinate their actions without further jeopardizing the environment of the Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands has witnessed multiple land encroachment activities as well as repeated deforestation leading to extensive land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) over the last 6 decades. This is due to the heightened increase in demand for urban growth as well as agricultural activities and tourism industries. This study aims to identify land cover classes and assess their changes in Cameron Highlands between 2009 and 2019. Geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques were used to process and analyse Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 imageries with the Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA) classification technique. The result showed that the study area experienced large changes in both agriculture and urban, as well as primary forests. LULC change for agriculture nearly tripled in 10 years from 4.93% in 2009 to 12.63% in 2019. Moreover, urban development increased from 7.48% in 2009 and 9.12% in 2019. However, the expense of this is at the cost of primary forests declining by 59.44 km2 (8.87%) of total land area from 2009 until 2019. The overall accuracy of the classification achieved 94.6%. This study would be able to provide suggestions and a basis for LULCC as well as forest monitoring in other mountainous regions of the world.