ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND COVER DYNAMICS AND DAYTIME SURFACE URBAN HEAT ISLAND IN ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE. *Abuloye, A. P., Adewale, A. O., Onana V. E., Popoola K. S., Elugoke N. O Institute of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Abstract The impact of global warming, climate change, industrialization and urbanization in cities of many developing countries, especially in Africa, have necessitate the researches on how urban development can alter the ambient thermal balance in an ecosystem. The changes in the land cover pattern and its influence on daytime land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) was examined in this study. The study made use of Landsat imageries of 1989, 2002 and 2014, covering the area of Onitsha Metropolis, Anambra State. The result showed a temporal variation in land cover pattern. Between 1989 and 2014, Onitsha metropolis had lost a proportion of natural land cover [forest (519.59 ha) and bare soil (-1427.34 ha)] to built-up area (+1189.45 ha), vegetation (+235.09 ha) and water bodies (+522.38 ha). LST across the study area varied between 23.7 - 36.7 ± 2.3 °C; 21.7 - 36.5 ± 3.0 °C and 22.5 - 32.5 ± 2.1 °C in 1989, 2002 and 2014 respectively. The visual pattern of LST showed that most areas at the centre of Onitsha metropolis, where built-up areas are densely present, appeared warmer than areas North and South of study area. Small hot spots indicating SUHIs were noticeable in the three periods. The study therefore concluded that the dynamics of land cover categories resulted in a variation in the LST, which as well altered the pattern of SUHI in the three periods considered for this study. Keywords: Landsat, Land Cover, LST, SUHI, Onitsha Metropolis ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Abuloye A. P. E-mail address: padeolu1@gmail.com Mobile: +234 (0)810 6678 943