Urban Built-up Area Assessment of Ranchi Township Using Cartosat-I Stereopairs Satellite Images

Abstract

In the present study, the Cartosat-I digital elevation model (DEM) was utilized to deduce the vertical characteristics of Ranchi urban area and its relation to long term built-up expansion (1927–2010). The DEM represents moderate variation in terrain relief ranging from 595 m to 754 m with majority of area exhibiting upto 3° of slope and 3° to 6° indicating flat to undulating nature of terrain in Ranchi township. The DEM was used to generate location of sinks within urban area, which are generally delineated along the drainage channels, adjacent to high-rise built-up land and along the elevated road network. The pattern of urban sprawl over the eight decades (1927–2010) were examined with reference to terrain relief zones, which indicated that the built-up growth was mainly taken place over the elevation range of moderate (620–660 m) (67.0%) and high relief (660–680 m) (19.8%) zones. Although earlier preference for built-up development was more in high elevation zones (660–680 m), the low elevation zones (<600–620 m) are now preferred for multistoried built-up land development where better groundwater availability occur. The spatial pattern of vertical growth of built-up land was assessed using contour density obtained from Cartosat-I DEM. The results show that the high density contours predominately correspond to hilly area and high-rise buildings at majority of locations. The urban sprawl pattern and population trend exhibited rapid increase in vertical built-up growth after 1996 indicating beginning of urban densification in Ranchi township.