Spatio-Temporal Assessment of Land use / Land cover using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of Satellite Imageries and its relationship with Landslide-prone Zones in Kodaikanal Hill Station of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The land use exercises at last influence the land cover briefly as well as spatially. The primary consideration liable for the adjustment in land cover is to satisfy the developing requests of expanding populace through horticultural increase for nourishment and clearing of typical land covers like the forests and sparsely inhabited regions for settlement and business activities. The adjustment in land cover additionally upsets the other characteristic parts like soil ripeness, soil disintegration, environment, biodiversity, air quality and water system of the upset area. Remote sensing and GIS have been deployed to examine the changes in land use and land cover of the zone at spatial and transient scales. In the present study, the NDVI-based grouping explored a significant change in land use- land cover between 2009 and 2016. A significant change has been found in the forest cover area where around (3.34%) of the forest was occupied between 2009 and 2016. A comparison between the land use/land cover and landslide hazard zones was carried out which indicated the excessive anthropogenic activities (of construction and mechanized agriculture) as identified by built-up land and crop-land by NDVI studies need to be monitored and planned to maintain the safety, stability and popularity of this precious and geo-climatically strategic region.