Assessments of spatial land cover dynamic hotspots employing MODIS time-series datasets in the Ken River Basin of Central India

Abstract

Nowadays, advancements in remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) are progressively employed to combat sustainable land management issues. In the present study, advanced MODIS (MCD12Q1) time-series datasets have been utilized to identify the spatial land cover dynamic hotspots in the Ken River Basin (KRB) of Central India during the years 2001 to 2013. Annual MODIS land cover datasets were analyzed in the ArcGIS 10.2.2 environment. The “Combine” tool of the spatial analyst toolbox was employed to assign a unique combination of land cover dynamics. The result shows that the major land degradation was pronounced for natural vegetation (14.38%), and major land greening was observed for crop land (9.68%) and woody savannas (6.94%). The spatial analysis indicates that the upper KRB area has experienced the land degradation of natural vegetation class into crop land (3418.87 km2) and woody savannas (1242.23 km2) areas. The deciduous broadleaf forest of about 1043.6 km2 area was changed into woody savannas. This might be the major transition to pronounce land greening in the study area. Moreover, major inter-transitions between crop land (669.31 km2) and woody savannas (874.09 km2) were observed during the years 2001–2013. The study reveals that the major part of natural vegetation (NV) has changed into woody savannas (WS) and crop land (CL). Furthermore, the spatial analysis shows that hotspots of land cover dynamics have been observed mostly in the upper part of KRB. Overall, land transition information of the present study can be used as an early-warning land cover dynamic system for sustainable management and development of land resources.