A Comprehensive Assessment of Land use Land Cover of Thiruvananthapuram Urban Agglomeration using Gis and Remote Sensing

Abstract

Rapid and unscientific land use is a major environmental concern globally because their possible adverse consequences generate undesirable effect on man and the environment. In this study, we evaluate the Land use/ Land cover changes in the city of Kerala (India) and that have experienced a fast-growing urbanisation over the last decades. To evaluate this, we use satellite images of Landsat from different years since 1988. The method of Maximum Likelihood Supervised Classification is employed for classifying the region, into five major land cover classes which are water body, settlements with mixed trees, built-up area, agricultural area and barren land. We apply the Land Use Dynamic Degree Index for quantify the Land use/ Land cover changes over time. We have observed an uptrend in built up land use (115.84%) and a downtrend in all other classes, though the most significant reduction was observed for barren land (86.94%) followed by agricultural area (48.98%), water body (39.33%) and settlements with mixed trees (14.69%). The decreasing trend in agricultural area is directly linked to population growth, and related developmental activities. The findings of this study emphasize the necessity to control population growth and to make a right balance between population needs and environmental issues.