Increasing urbanization in Vellore, Tamilnadu creates a serious anthropogenic pressure resulting rapid change in land cover in recent time. Changing land use condition affects surface temperature. The relationship between surface temperature and land cover types has been studied for Vellore district interpreting satellite image of landsat-7 ETM+thermal infrared bands and values of NDVI for 2016. Analysis reveals that urban and most populous areas have higher surface temperature (35-43°C) than temperature in the dense forest cover areas (13-27°C) with high NDVI value (0.98) in scrub land and low value (-0.95) in water bodies. Several eco-geological influencing factors those interplay to bring about change in land cover were found correlated with thermal infrared band spectra and NDVI values. The study envisages the utility of thermal spectra and land use/land cover change in urban planning. © 2018 Technoscience Publications. All Rights Reserved.