LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE ASSESSMENT
OF SONITPUR DISTRICT , ASSAM THROUGH THE
APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION SYSTEM
A dissertation presented by
DIPANKAR CHUTIA
19PGGR1061
M.A. 4th Semester
Dept. of Geography
JB college (autonomous)
Submitted to
MISS SHYAMOLEE SARMAH
Asst. professor
Dept. of Geography
JB college (autonomous)
1
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled Land use and land
cover change assessment of Sonitpur district, Assam, through
the Application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information
System, submitted to the Department of Geography, Jagannath
Barooah College, in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of
Master of Geography, is a record of work carried out by Dipankar
Chutia, Roll No. 19PGGR1061 under the guidance and supervision of
Miss Shyamolee Sarmah.
No part of this dissertation has been submitted elsewhere for award of
any other degree.
Place:
Date:
Signature of the Supervisor
Name of the Supervisor
MISS SHYAMOLEE SARMAH
Asst. professor
Dept. of Geography
JB college (Autonomous)
2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep
regards to my teacher Miss. Shyamolee Sarmah ma'am for her
exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this report work. I'm grateful for help and
guidance given by her throughout the time.
Beside my teacher, I would like to thank my friends for helping me out.
Lastly, I thank my parents for their constant encouragement and
support either morally or financially without which this project would not
be possible.
Dipankar Chutia
19PGGR1061
M.A. 4th Semester
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ---------------------------- 3
CHAPTER 1 ------------------------------------------- 5 - 13
Introduction -------------------------------------------- 5
Statement of the problem -------------------------- 6
Study area --------------------------------------------- 6 - 7
Objectives of the study ----------------------------- 8
Literature review ------------------------------------- 8 - 9
Data used and methodology ---------------------- 10
Limitations of the study ----------------------------- 11
CHAPTER 2 ------------------------------------------- 12 - 15
Results and discussion ----------------------------- 12 - 13
Land cover change detection --------------------- 14 - 15
CHAPTER 3 ------------------------------------------- 16 - 18
Findings ------------------------------------------------ 16 - 17
Conclusion --------------------------------------------- 18
REFERENCE ----------------------------------------- 18
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Land is the most important natural resources on which all activities
are based. Land cover indicates the physical land type such as forest
or open water whereas land use documents how people are using the
land. Land cover refers to the surface cover on the ground, whether
vegetation, urban infrastructure, water, bare soil or other. Land cover
can be determined by analyzing satellite and aerial imagery. Land cover
is important for global monitoring studies, resource management, and
planning activities. Land use shows how people use the landscape
whether for development, conservation, or mixed uses. Land use
applications involve both baseline mapping and subsequent monitoring.
Land Use Change is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas
emissions, principally from deforestation. 58% of deforestation is due to
commercial agriculture Land Use Change.
The knowledge of land use will help develop strategies to balance
conservation, to deal with deforestation problems and developmental
pressures. The rapid growth of human population, expansion of urban
centres, scarcity of land, the need for more production, technological
development, etc. are the main reasons responsible for the land use
and land cover changes in the present world. Thus, to prepare
integrated plans for optimal utilization of natural resources, it is
necessary to have adequate information regarding land use and land
cover of a certain area. In this paper I will try to assess the spatiotemporal changes of land use and landcover patterns of Sonitpur district
in Assam using geospatial techniques. Remote Sensing and
Geographic Information System are effective techniques for estimating
forest cover change. These techniques are used extensively for
generating valuable information on forest cover ares, land use changes
over large areas and protected areas.
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Deforestation is an important issue that causes trees to be cut down to
provide more land. It can lead to climate change, desertification, soil
erosion, flooding, increased greenhouse gases etc. Deforestation
occurs for several reasons, including farming, wood extraction,
infrastructure expansion such as road building and urbanization,
livestock ranching, illegal logging etc. Therefore, I want to find solutions
to some of the problems of deforestation in Sonitpur District. The
problems are, whether deforestation lead to flooding? The causes of
deforestation in Sonitpur district. And also, I’ll try to figure out the
measures being made to control deforestation.
STUDY AREA
Sonitpur district lies on the plains between the foothills of the Himalayas
and the valley of the Brahmaputra which forms its southern border. It
lies between 92°57′ E to 93° E longitude and 26° 50' N to 27°01'N
latitude. The district is surrounded by Arunachal Pradesh in north,
Lakhimpur district in east, Darrang districts in west, Brahmaputra River
in the south comprising a total area of 5204.87 km2. The drainage
system of the district falls into the Brahmaputra with Ziabharali and
Gabharu. According to 2011 census, the district is inhabited by
1,924,111 population representing 6.17% of Assam. The climate of
Sonitpur district falls under sub-tropical monsoon type wherein the
average temperature ranges between 11.4 ̊C to 32.6 ̊C. Sonitpur
District is home to several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. In
1998, Sonitpur district became home to Nameri National Park in the
north, which has an area of 200 km2 (77.2 sq mi). It is also home to
Orang National Park, which it shares with Darrang district. Orang
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National Park was established in 1999 and has an area of 79 km2.
Sonitpur is home to two wildlife sanctuaries: Burachapori Wildlife
Sanctuary and Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary.
Fig 1: Map of the study area
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OBJECTIVES
There are two prime objectives of this study:
● Monitoring the causes and impact of deforestation in Sonitpur district.
● To assess the land use and land cover change over the period of 6
years from 2008 to 2014.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Topic: Land Use and Land Cover Change Assessment of
Sonitpur district, Assam Using Geospatial Techniques
Authors: Debashree Borah, Saraswati Bhattarai & Durlov
Lahon
Objective
The research aims to assess the LULC change pattern of
Sonitpur district over a period of 20 years from 2000 to 2020
on Arc GIS platform. The results of the study would support
and enhance the decision and policy makers to implement
and formulate strategies to achieve sustainable
development of the available resources.
Topic: Assessment of large-scale deforestation in Sonitpur
district of Assam
Authors: Shalini Srivastava, T. P. Singh, Harnam Singh,
S. P. S. Kushwaha and P. S. Roy
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Objective
The study highlights the deforestation and encroachment in the moist deciduous and other forest areas in
Sonitpur District of Assam.
Topic: Assessing the tropical forest cover change in
northern parts of Sonitpur and Udalguri district of Assam,
India
Authors: Ranjit Mahato,
Rajiv Gandhi University.
Gibji Nimasow,
Rajiv Gandhi University.
Oyi Dai Nimasow,
Rajiv Gandhi University;
Dhoni Bushi,
Rajiv Gandhi University.
Objective
The protected areas of Nameri National park, Sonai Rupai
wildlife sanctuary reportedly facing the problem of
encroachment and large-scale deforestation. So, this study
attempts to estimate the forest cover change in the area
through integrating the remotely sensed data of 1990, 2000,
2010, and 2020 with Geographic Information System.
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DATA USED AND METHODOLOGY
The study is carried out with the help of Remote Sensing
data. Data I've collected are mostly from the internet. Some
websites that I used for collecting data are wikipidia.com,
bhuvan.nrsc.govt.in, researchgate.com etc. After the
collection the processing of datasets are computed in
ERDAS and QGIS software with some sequential steps.
The methodogical flowchart of those sequential steps are
shown below in fig 2.
Fig 2: Flow chat of methodology
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LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
There are few drawbacks of my study which are listed
below:
● The period of this study is not sufficient. The study
period is from 2008 to 2014. This means this study
only shows the transformation within 6 years.
● This study is not up to date. The assessment is till
2014 so it is outdated. That's why practical uses or
real life uses of this study will be not valuable. We
only can use it for study purposes.
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CHAPTER 2
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on LULC classification the area is divided into 6
major classes. This are water body, forest, sand bar,
vegetation, agricultural land and build up area for the years
2008 and 2014 which are shown in fig 3 and 4. The results
reveal a considerable loss of forest cover in the study area.
If we compare this result, we can clearly see the occurrence
of deforestation. Places near the Nameri national park,
Behali reserved forest, Sonai Rupai wildlife sanctuary faces
huge deforestation. There is also significant increase in
agricultural sector in 2014. The growth of the agricultural
land can be seen all over the Sonitpur district. The water
bodies classes have experienced a growth over 6 year due
to erosional activities by river Brahmaputra.There is sharp
increase in buildup area in 2014. Rampant build up area
growth in 2014 has led to decrease in vegetation. The forest
class and sand bar class face a remarkable decrease in the
year 2014. Some forest area turns into vegetation like
grassland or bushes in the year 2014.
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Fig 3: LULC classified map of Sonitpur district 2008
Fig 4: LULC classified map of Sonitpur district 2014
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Land cover change detection
The computed change detection is shown in the figure 4, 5
and 6. Fig 1 showing 10% increase and decrease, fig 2
showing 20% increases and decrease and fig 3 showing
30% increase and decrease in the classes. The red 5
indicates the decreasing and the green colour indicates the
increase in change detection of the LULC classes.
Fig 4: 10% change detection
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Fig 5: 20 percent change detection
Fig 6: 30 percent change detection
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CHAPTER 3
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
Findings
i.
The LULC maps reveal striking changes over the
periods particularly in agriculture and forest sectors.
There is sharp decrease in the forest sector and
significant increase in the agricultural sector.
ii. These changes are triggered by various factors such
as population growth, industrialization, deforestation
etc.
iii. The study reveals that agriculture is the number one
cause of deforestation. During the year 2008
vegetation had the largest share of land along with
forest class, but in 2014 crop land holds the highest
share. It is due to the conversion of grassland and
forest into agricultural area.
iv. In this study, we also found significant Hotspots of
deforestation in Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary and
Nameri National Park mainly due to illegal
encroachment for human habitation and conversion
into agricultural land.
v. The human settlement around the protected areas
have also suffered a significant forest cover loss.
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vi. Growth in buildup area is noticeable. The constructions
of human infrastructures also been driving
deforestation.
vii. The vegetation class of eastern and northern area of
Sonitpur in 2008 is further transformed into build up
area and crop land in 2014.
viii. Vegetation and forest areas in the bank of
Brahmaputra river have been also reduced
considerably during the period of 2014, as a result
there is slight increase in the class of water bodies,
where Brahmaputra river is working as an erosional
factor.
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Conclusion
Mapping of LULC and change detection using remote
sensing and GIS techniques is a cost-effective method of
obtaining a clear understanding of the land cover alteration
processes due to land use change and their consequences.
LULC maps help us to study the changes that are
happening in our ecosystem and environment. The
resultant map of the present study has classified the area
into 6 classes and all of them witnessed positive and
negative variations. This study shows the enormous growth
of agricultural land and build up area due to deforestation.
The decrease of both forest and vegetation indicates the
rise rise of population in Sonitpur district. Apart from
expansion of agricultural lands, cutting of trees for timber
and fuelwood are the other contributing factors of
deforestation. The assessment of land use land cover
change is essential to understand forest dynamics like
afforestation and deforestation in an area. This study
concludes with a suggestion for the early declaration of
Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary and its nearby areas as eco
sensitive zones to control and minimize the present trend of
deforestation.
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References
1. Debashree Borah, Saraswati Bhattarai & Durlov Lahon; Land
Use and Land Cover Change Assessment of Sonitpur district,
Assam Using Geospatial Techniques; 2020; Assam, India
2. Shalini Srivastava, T. P. Singh, Harnam Singh, S. P. S.
Kushwaha and P. S. Roy; Assessment of large-scale
deforestation in Sonitpur district of Assam;Symbiosis
International University, Indian Institute of remote Sensing,
ISRO, Dehradun, India, Intergraph SG & I India Pvt. Ltd.
3. Ranjit Mahato,Gibji Nimasow,Dhoni Bushi; Assessing the
tropical forest cover change in northern parts of Sonitpur and
Udalguri district of Assam, India; Rajiv Gandhi University
4. Rane Gauri and Joshi Bhushan, Land use/land cover mapping
using remot sensing and geographic information system, J.
Environ. Res. Develop.
5. Ranjit Mahato, Gibji Nimasow, Oyi Dai Nimasow, Dhoni Bushi;
Assessing the tropical forest cover change in northern parts of
Sonitpur ans Udalguri Districts of Assam, India.
6. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Land-use-land-covermap-of-a-1991-b-2010-c-2014_fig3_310816627
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