International Journal of Advanced Research and Development

Authors
Chandra Kant Pawe

Abstract
The application of remote sensing based land cover classification coupled with landscape metrics has been effective in assessing and understanding the characteristics of land use pattern. The present study attempts to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in land use/land cover pattern in response to rapid urbanization process of Guwahati Metropolitan Area (GMA) by using four metrics derived from FRAGSTATS software- percentage of landscape (PLAND), number of patches (NP), mean patch size (MPS) and largest patch index (LPI). A period of 25 years from 1992-2016 was considered. The results revealed that the rapid urbanization process has caused massive changes in the areas dominated by vegetation and water bodies. However, apart from built-up, an increasing trend of cultivated and managed areas was also recorded. During the period the landscape underwent substantial transition from a predominant vegetative landscape to urban land use dominant landscape. The paper provides useful inputs in regard to effective policy framing for the urban planners.