Dynamic Quantification and Characterization of Spatial Heterogeneity in Mid-Sized Urban Landscape of India

Diksha, Varun Narayan Mishra, Deepak Kumar, Maya Kumari (), Bashar Bashir, Malay Pramanik and Mohamed Zhran ()
Additional contact information
Diksha: Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), Citizen Resources Information Department CCS HAU Campus, Hisar 125004, Haryana, India
Varun Narayan Mishra: Amity Institute of Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing (AIGIRS), Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Sector 125, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
Deepak Kumar: Atmospheric Sciences Group, Department of Geosciences, College of Arts & Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Maya Kumari: Amity School of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ASNRSD), Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Sector 125, Noida 201313, Uttar Pradesh, India
Bashar Bashir: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Malay Pramanik: Urban Innovation and Sustainability Program, Department of Development and Sustainability, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang 12120, Pathumthani, Thailand
Mohamed Zhran: Public Works Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-26

Abstract: Quantifying landscape features and linking them to ecological processes is a key goal of landscape ecology. Urbanization, socio-economic growth, political influences, and morphology have extended built-up and urban regions from the core to the boundaries. Population expansion and human activity in districts have increased outlying areas and living space borders, segmenting the urban area and affecting the local ecosystem. Current space-based remote sensing (RS) techniques could be used to visualize conditions and future prognoses for district growth to plan the infrastructure. The Land Use Land Cover (LULC) patterns in the Sonipat district, located within the National Capital Region (NCR), were examined using RS data from 2011 (Landsat 7) and 2021 (Sentinel-2) and analyzed on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform. LULC datasets for both years were generated, followed by calculations of landscape metrics to evaluate changes across the study area. These metrics, computed using R software version 4.4.2, include analyses at three levels: five metrics at the patch level, five at the landscape level, and nine at the class level. This paper provides detailed insights into these landscape metrics, illustrating the extent and nature of landscape changes within the study area over the decade. Aggregation and fragmentation are observed in the study area, as the results indicate that urban, fallow, and barren areas have merged into larger, contiguous patches over time. This shows a consolidation of smaller patches into more extensive, connected land cover areas. Fragmentation is described as occurring between 2011 and 2021, especially in the cropland LULC class, where the landscape was divided into smaller, isolated patches. This means that larger, continuous land cover types were broken down into numerous smaller patches, increasing the overall patchiness and separation across the area, which might have an ecological impact. Landscape metrics and spatial-temporal monitoring of the landscape would aid the district council and planners in better planning and livelihood sustainability.

Keywords: LULC change; landscape metrics; fragmentation; urbanization; landscape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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