Measuring Changes in Temperature Rates due to Urban Expansion in Selected Municipalities of Baghdad using GIS Technology

The expansion of building blocks at the expense of agricultural land is one of the main problems causing climate change within the urban area of a city. The research came to determine these indicators, as a study was conducted on the expansion of the building blocks in three municipalities in the city of Baghdad for a period of four decades extended in the form of time cycles for the period (1981-2021) and using ArcMap GIS 10.7 technology. Then, the impact of this expansion on temperature rates was evaluated, as they are the most important climatic elements due to their significant effect on the rest of the elements. The results showed a clear, direct relationship between the increase in urban expansion rates and the corresponding rise in temperature rates, which results in urban heat islands. The results for the last time cycle showed high expansion rates for the municipalities of Al-Kadhimiya, Al-Shaala, and New Baghdad (62.2, 82.4, and 92.1), respectively, and were offset by high-temperature rates (25.2, 25.49, and 25.67) for the same municipalities, respectively, as the highest rates were recorded in the New Baghdad municipality, followed by the municipality of Al-Shaala, in second place, then the municipality of Al-Kadhimiya, with the lowest rates due to its location on the Tigris River.