Evaluating Landuse Change along Thiruvananthapuram Coast, South West Coast of India Using Geo-spatial Techniques

Coastal zone across the world is typified with intensive multiple human activities. Historic maps and multi-temporal satellite images are helpful in detecting the change in land use over the years. An attempt is made to evaluate the land use/land cover change along the coastal zone of Thiruvananthapuram using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques. Landuse scenarios for 1988, 2000 and 2010 have been generated using Survey of India Topographical Sheets, Landsat ETM+ Image and Quickbird Image respectively. ERDAS software is used for image processing and land-use change is analysed using ArcGis 10.2.1 Software. The reasons and implications of landuse change in the coast are also studied through field investigation and valid conclusions are drawn. Agricultural land, clustered settlement area, a settlement with vegetation, sandy area and rocky area is the broad landuse categories delineated in the coastal zone. The analysis shows that the agricultural land area has decreased from 9.34% to 3.89% while the area under clustered settlement increased from 5.75 % to 25.65% during 1988-2010. This study can provide base information on land use scenario of the coast while framing out the ICZM plan.