Multi-temporal satellite image and GIS based assessment of urban Landuse changes in Vellore city, Tamilnadu

Landcover (LC) is a natural phenomenon while landuse (LU) is a product of human activity with the landcover. When the LULC favors wholesome development of the society; society sustains otherwise it faces lot of untoward circumstances as happen in many cities in India. Vellore is a growing city in the state of Tamilnadu, India. The aim of this study is to detect and diagnose the change of different types of urban settlement from 1991 to 2009 in Vellore City. Landsat TM data for 1991 and 2009 have been used in Arc GIS environment to classify the landuse/land cover. Post classification change detection has been done with the help of ERDAS Imagine 2014 version. The observation on the period of eighteen years reveals that the urban area stretches rapidly to adjacent agricultural land in the growing Vellore city. There is significant amount of agricultural land loss due to rapid urbanization suggests careful attention and proper planning for better future of the area.