Quantifying the dynamics of landscape patternsin thiruvananthapuram corporation using open source gis tools

Urbanization is taking place at an unprecedented rate in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Indian state of Kerala. Here, urban sprawl effects instigateda complex pattern of land use practices, leading to redundant landscape structural changes and undesirable micro-climate. Hence, an evaluation of landscapecharacteristics of the study area is crucial in effective urban planning and decision making for creating a sustainable urban environment. In this context, this study investigated the complexity of landscape structure based on landscape metrics indices on a temporal scale. Theclass-level metrics were computedusing the reclassified land cover grids derived from Landsat 7 ETM+ (2000) and Landsat 8 OLI (2015) images pertaining to the study area. All tasks in the methodology was accomplished by using the potentialities of Open Source tools like Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin and LecoS(Landscape ecology Statistics)in Quantum GIS environment. The results were adhered to absolute manifestations of urban sprawl effects on the spatial and temporal patterns of landscape heterogeneity.