Evaluating land use/cover change with temporal satellite data and information systems

Rapid changes in land use land cover (LULC) adversely affect the environment. In order to provide information for policymakers to support sustainable development, detailed data about these regions is urgently needed. Use of remote sensing (RS) in combination with geographical information System (GIS) is one of the effective information technology tools to generate LULC change information. In this study, it is aimed to explore the temporal and spatial characteristics of urban expansion by using RS integrated with GIS. For this purpose a study area is selected from a coastal urban area and LULC changes are determined from high resolution satellite images. It is found that in the study area there are 135.72% increase in the rate of built-up area. The urban expansion has been accompanied by 29.38% loss of vegetation cover. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd