2025/07/21 by Bekkali, Insaf, , Khalid, El Ouardighi, Mounir
paper · doi:10.48399/imist.prsm/amjau-v7i1.58375
Urban Heat Islands (UHI) have become a major challenge for urban fabrics and cities facing the climate change crisis. Marrakech, a city known for its hot and arid climate, faces significant challenges in maintaining thermal comfort, particularly in rapidly urbanizing districts. The vulnerability of Moroccan communities and the dangerous consequences of natural hazards exacerbate the thermal discomfort in both outdoor and indoor environments. The main focus of this research is understanding the complex interactions between several factors responsible for the absorption and reflection of the sun’s heat in highly populated urban areas. This thermal stress is mainly caused by the rise of ambient and surface temperatures, which escalates the frequency and intensity of heat waves. The methodology is based on proving the contribution of this phenomenon to the rise in temperatures in Marrakech. The study focuses on the center of the city where the thermal changes occur, due to the use of a large number of different heat-absorbent materials. Combining remote sensing analysis such as the use of satellite imagery such as Landsat 8 which is one of the NASA LANDSAT series available for free on the USGS (United States Geological Survey) Earth Explorer website. Sentinel-2, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI). Field surveys allows the development of a climate database and analyze the urban morphology while mapping the behavior of the UHI’s in several points of the city. All in all, this research aims to explore strategic resilient urban planning in order to maintain healthy microclimates to overcome the severe drought and heat waves.