A Study on the Spatio - Temporal Trend in the Pattern of Land Utilisation with Respect to Temperature and Rainfall in the Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Land and water are the two main physical parameters of the earth. The earth contains 78% of water and 21% of land and remaining 1% with gases. Even though, water is in large volume, land is more utilised. So, the proper utilization of land is necessary for sustainable development and growth. The land utilisation is defined as the way by which each piece or part of the earth is used by the human for development. The production in agriculture increases with proper utilization of the land. The wider fluctuations in agricultural production are experienced due to improper utilisation of land. Therefore, for high agricultural production, a systematic and scientific plan of land utilisation is essential. Climate is one of the main parameter determining the regional and global pattern of land utilization. The utilisation of land depends on the climatic variables such as temperature and rainfall. The study of the trend and temporal dynamics in the utilization of land with respect to climatic variables is an emerging problem and it is the need of the hour to determine the changes in the earth. In this study, attention is focused to analyse the changes in the utilization of land with respect to climatic variables for a particular time period. The climatic variables such as temperature and rainfall are analysed for 20 years (viz. 1990 - 2010) using the trend analysis, whereas land utilisation is analysed for the recent decade (viz. 2000 - 2010). The analysis is done at block level for the 40 blocks of the southern three districts of Tamil Nadu, the area lying in varying agro-climatic conditions. The trend analysis of climatic variables shows variation for each block viz. nearly 14 blocks shows positive trend and 26 blocks shows negative trend. The utilisation of the land in the study area is classified based on nine-fold classification, and the temporal changes are identified. The maps are generated in Arc GIS for understanding the spatial distribution. The data collected from the statistical department pertaining to the land utilisation is compared with the changes in climatic variables. The results of the present study emphasize the spatial and temporal change in land utilization using trend analysis, and the usefulness of relating the climatic parameters with land use / land cover change. Keywords Climate Change; Land Utilisation; Trend Analysis; Rainfall; Temperature DOI: https://doi.org/10.23953/cloud.ijarsg.353 Google ScholarCrossrefScilit (MDPI)ResearchGateMicrosoft Academic Mendeley (ELSEVIER)Academia