Land Use and Land Cover Change Detection of Pattanamthitta District Using Semi-Automatic Classification Method

The analysis of satellite images of the earth's surface allows the detection of both natural and human-induced spatial and temporal changes. By anticipating these changes in real time, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of land cover, environmental changes, habitat fragmentation, coastal changes, urban development, and other related phenomena. Change detection is essential for monitoring environmental transformations, assessing land use and land cover changes, tracking urbanization, deforestation and evaluating the impacts of human activities on ecosystems. The objective of the present work is to classify various Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) patterns and detect changes of various land classes in Pattanamthitta district, located in the Indian state of Kerala from the year 2016 to 2024. The analysis of changes in different land classes within the study area over the research period was done in Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) software using a Semi-automatic Classification Plugin (SCP) tool provided in the software. Various accuracy assessment parameters are used for analysing the performance of LULC classification. Understanding change process is crucial to future urban management and long-term sustainable development planning.