Landsat Analysis Of Urban Growth: The Study of a Once Rural Community

The areas in which we live can change rapidly. What is used as a pasture today can become a subdivision of fifty homes in a year. Rapid urban growth puts a strain on infrastructure and resources, making it difficult for urban planners and local governments to identify the areas of greatest need. The use of remote sensing and GIS allows decision makers to monitor the size and scope of urban growth. The purpose of this study is to determine the urban growth of Hardin Valley, an unincorporated community in Knox County, TN using remote sensing and GIS. Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) changes were determined by using the supervised maximum likelihood classification method of Landsat images of the study area from 2003-2018. Images were obtained for 2003 (Landsat 7 ETM+), 2007 (Landsat 5 TM), 2013 and 2018 (Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS). The images were classified into five LU/LC categories consisting of urban, forest, grassland, bare land, and water. Results show that urban areas are increasing, while forest and grasslands are decreasing. Bare land fluctuated over the time period and water level changes were little to none