International Conference on Civil Engineering Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development 27&28 November 2013, Tabriz , Iran The Relationship between NDVI and LST in the urban area of Mashhad, Iran Sara Afrasiabi Gorgani 1 , Mahdi Panahi 2 and Fatemeh Rezaie 3 1. Master of Environmental Pollution, Birjand University (s.afrasiabi@gmail.com) 2. Master of Geophysics and member of Young Researchers and Elites Club, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University (mahdipan@gmail.com) 3. PHD student of Geophysics, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University (rezaiee.1984@gmail.com) Abstract Vegetation coverage has a significant influence on the land Surface Temperature (LST) distribution. The present report studies the correlation between the Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature for urban area of Mashhad, using a satellite images from Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+. The objectives of this study are to retrieve the LST and investigate the relationship between LST and NDVI. NDVI is used to examine the relation between thermal behavior and vegetation cover amount. Finally, regression technique is used to obtain the correlation between LST and NDVI. It is concluded that the correlation between NDVI and LST and regression coefficient from NDVI to LST is negative. Key words: Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI), land Surface Temperature (LST), Correlation analysis, Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+. 1. Introduction The relationship between land cover pattern and the materials of urban areas with an increase in temperature within the urban areas has become increasingly important to understand the impacts on the environment, as well as human health (Stone, 2001). Land surface temperature is increased by anthropogenic heat discharges due to energy consumption, increase in land surface coverage by artificial materials having high heat capacities and conductivities, and associated decrease in vegetation and water pervious surface which reduce the surface temperature through evapotranspiration (Kumar et al., 2012). As in the case of the urban thermal environment, remote sensing can be a useful tool for studying urban vegetation. In addition to providing measurements of radiant surface temperature, remote sensing instruments collect measurements of reflecting energy in the red and near-infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be used to quantify the extent and changing conditions of urban vegetation (Yue et al., 2007). Higher Normalized difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) maps the presence of vegetation on a pixel basis, which is the amount or condition of vegetation within a pixel. Land surface temperature (LST) is one of the key factors in the physics of land surface process, combining surface-atmosphere interactions and the energy fluxes between the atmosphere and ground. Lowest LSTs usually are found in areas with high NDVI. This negative correlation between NDVI and LST is