SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGES IN LEH TOWN, LADAKH: A GEOSPATIAL APPROACH

Abstract

Any geographical region of the planet earth must be well understood in terms of land use and land cover change. LULC is thought to be the topmost layer of the earth that is constantly being altered by both manmade and natural forces. The sensors on the remote sensing satellites sufficiently record and measure these changes. In one manner or another, the land cover is constantly changing. In order to address different viewpoints on resource management, ecosystem protection, sustainable development, and land use planning, among other issues, assessment of such changes is essential. The study area that was looked into for this study is 1770 hectares. Multi-temporal classified raster layers (1990, 2000, 2010, 2022) of Leh town were generated for estimation of LULC changes using Remote Sensing and GIS. The LULC structure of Leh town experienced significant changes in Built-up from the year 1990 to 2022 with a net increasing rate of 232.41%. Agriculture area in the study area decreased considerably from the year 1990-2022 with a net deceasing rate of -33.65%. However, vegetation category in the study area experienced a continuous increasing trend. It was covering an area of 66.77ha (3.77% of the total area) in the year 1990 which increased to 124ha (7% of the total area) in 2022 with a net positive increasing rate of 85.71%. But again, LULC categories Meadows and Barren depicted a decreasing trend with a net decreasing rate of -68.47% and -10.98% within the study period. According to the study, urban expansion is very swift, which might have a negative effect on the study area's delicate ecosystem. Because of the rapid LULC transition in the study region and the unplanned urban built-up expansion, several ecosystems will be under constant stress, which will further negatively affect Leh town's quality of life.