Fostering Climate Resilience Through Integrated Water and Land Management: A Remote Sensing Study of Water Decline and Hydro‐Thermal Stress in Punjab

This study investigates the quantitative remote sensing assessment of climate change on water resources and explores integrated approaches for fostering climate resilience and sustainable land management in its degraded ecosystems. Using remote sensing data from 2003 to 2023, the study identifies the water bodies, moisture level, and land surface temperature in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The research leverages multi-temporal remote sensing data using Landsat satellite imagery to analyze hydrological shifts using the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), and precipitation across eight agroclimatic zones of the province. The NDWI analysis reveals a persistent decline in water availability, with the value dropping from 0.8380 to 0.4429, while LST surged from 31.62°C to 50.04°C, exacerbating thermal stress. The 7.4% decline in precipitation signifies escalating water scarcity and directly contributes to ecosystem degradation and heightened vulnerability to climate change, reinforcing the complex feedback loop between climate change and land degradation. The study provides essential empirical evidence quantifying the rapid escalation of hydro-thermal stress in the province and underscores the urgent need for integrated water and land resources management, sustainable urban planning, and region-specific climate adaptation strategies to address escalating hydroclimatic risks and combat land degradation.