Franken, Shanisse2024-09-262024-09-262024-09-09Franken, S.M. (2024). Uncovering the Relationship Between Urbanization, Vegetation and Urban Heat Islands: A Correlation Assessment in Aruba. Bachelor dissertation. University of Aruba. 51 pages.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1087Tropical dry forests provide protection for thousands of species, food, medicine, and livelihoods, but are not shown the same value of importance in regards to nature preservation compared to tropical rainforests and thus fall victim to deforestation and urbanization. These actions negatively impact the environment by releasing trapped carbon, reducing soil stability, and altering the urban thermal environment, causing alterations in the land surface temperature (LST). Therefore, this research focuses on analyzing the relationship between vegetation, urbanization, and urban heat islands (UHI) in Aruba by using Google Earth Engine (GEE). The main research question of this paper is: ‘‘Does urbanization and forest clearance form urban heat islands in Aruba” with three sub-questions: 1) How has land surface temperature (LST) varied in the last 10 years? 2) What is the relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index and land surface temperature? and 3) How do land surface temperatures vary between rural areas and urbanized areas? The results indicate that urbanization and deforestation form urban heat islands in Aruba where most urbanized areas in Aruba experience the effects of urban heat islands (UHI) with an average surface urban heat island (SUHI) value of 0.67°C, however, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is not the dominant influencing factor. It is hoped that these results can assist with sustainable urban planning and highlight the urgency to implement mitigating strategies to improve the livelihoods of the population while also assisting Aruba in becoming a more sustainable island by complying with Sustainable Development Goal #11 to make “cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/NDVIUHILSTSUHIGEEArubaBachelor dissertation