Land Use and Land Cover Change Detection in East Godavari District, India (2002-2020)

Abstract

Land Use Land Cover (LULC) dynamics must be monitored and mapped because changes in land cover reflect the state of the ecosystem and provide a clear picture of optimal natural resource utilization. The goal of this study was to use Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System techniques to classify and map LULC in the study area. This research is divided into two sections: (1) LULC classification and (2) Accuracy assessment. Between the years 2002 and 2020, satellite remote sensing data was acquired from the United States Geological Survey and analyzed using Arc GIS 10.1 software. The study region was divided into six major LULC types: agricultural land, built up area, barren land, forest and sediment using the likelihood classified approach and quantifying the changes throughout the time period indicated. According to the findings, Settlement area increased from 1.22 % in 2002 to 10.8 % in 2020, barren land increased from 7.58 % to 12.96 % in the same period, agricultural area decreased from 21.83 % in 2002 to 18.53 % in 2020, and forest cover decreased from 8.9 % to 2% in the same period, according to the findings. In the years 2002 and 2020, overall efficiency was 77.61 % and 73 %, respectively. In the years 2002 and 2020, the kappa coefficient was 0.67 and 0.66, respectively. Significant land cover change occurred throughout the research period as a result of increased settlement area and aquaculture land, and these changes in land cover led to forest and agricultural land degradation.