A study of decadal Land use-land cover change in Dehradun city.

The present study is to quantify the spatial-temporal pattern of the Land Use/ Land Cover Change (LULCC) during a decade (i.e., 2010 to 2020) in the Dehradun city which is situated in the foothills of the Himalaya, using Landsat data. The study helps in identifying the major bio-physical factors governing LULCC through modern geospatial techniques. Change detection shows that the study area experienced an increase in its urban area from 2010 to 2020 and a comparatively decrease in cropland and forest area. This was due to an increase in its urban population, rapid increase in industrialization and tourism during the same period. The change detection analysis further shows that 2010-2020, associated with change in croplands, change in built-up, forest lands, change in water-bodies, water levels, and rainfall. With comparison of above results and collected socio-economic data in this region, the impact of changing land use & bio-physical/ economic factors on agricultural profitability were analyzed. The result of this study could thus lead to a detailed and lucid spatiotemporal assessment of the major bio-physical factors. It is expected that the study will help in facilitating better policy making and infrastructure development for industries and urbanization.