A Temporal Data Analysis to Identify Land Cover Change Trends in NCT Delhi

Different types of land covers on the earth surface have different thermal characteristics and respond to solar heating and radiation cooling differently. Further the land covers emit heat in proportion to their respective temperatures and hence influence the air temperature differently. Therefore information about distribution and extent of various types of land covers along-with corresponding temperature has become important for environmental studies. Physical measurement of various land cover type or surface temperature at every place is not feasible. Fortunately advent of the remote sensing technology has considerably replaced the conventional ground surveys for a variety of data collection needs and providing even more precise data. The earth surface temperature estimates are now being derived from remotely captured data in thermal infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum whereas land cover information is derived primarily from visible and near infrared bands. A time series data is taken mostly for three seasons of each year including spring, summer and post monsoon seasons to capture the seasonal variations and derive inclusive Land-use Land cover estimates on a five year periodicity since 1993. The time series LULC data is important for studying the correlation with the environment heating trends in the National Capital Territory and its contribution in the global warming. It would provide important inputs to the decision makers and other stake holders of NCT Delhi to set desired environmental standards and consider land-use planning to achieve the same in a conscious manner. As commonly believed, the study shows increase in the built up area at the expanse of vegetation cover. This work also redefines the approach of deriving `Land use Land cover' from the Remote Sensing viewpoint to examine large scale real-spatial datasets.