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June 2004 |
Land use/land cover analysis for waste disposal
Data used
The following data were utilised for land use/land cover analysis of the region. SoI topographical sheets (53H3 and H7) at 1:50,000 scale were used for preparation of base map. The IRS 1C geocoded LISS III+PAN merged imageries (pertaining to toposheets nos. 53 H3 and H7) were used for this study. These geocoded merged False Colour Composite (FCC) imageries have the advantage of 5.8 m spatial resolution and multispectral region. The dates of acquisition of imageries was March 1999.
Methodology
The IRS 1C LISS III+PAN merged geocoded FCC were visually interpreted to obtain up-to-date land cover information. Photo elements like colour, tone, texture, size and pattern along with association of feature were followed as interpretation keys for demarcating different land use and land cover categories. The land cover features like agriculture land, reserve forest, open scrub, uncultivated land, water bodies, stone quarry, brick kiln areas, plantations, orchards and built up area were delineated from satellite imageries.
The pre-field interpretation was supplemented by ground truth verification to update the land use land cover categories. Field verifications were incorporated for preparation of final map. The maps prepared from satellite imageries were brought to Arc/Info GIS domain through digitisation. The features were extracted either as polygons or as lines. After the process of digitisation, the coverage were cleaned and edited for dangles, label errors and off-shoot undershoots and finally was projected in lambert projection parameters. The final cartographic and legend classification was done using Arcview 3.1. Figure 1 shows the land use/land cover categories over the study area. Area statistics has been calculated for the whole study area as well as to analyse the extent of different land use and land cover categories.
Land cover categories
Built-up area: It includes settlement areas (both urban and rural) and buildings for the purposes such as industrial, commercial, institutional, recreational, etc. It also incorporates those areas where the above activities were initiated. In the study area the built up area is spread for about 186 sq km having Gurgaon, Faridabad as major urban centers besides small towns and villages. The built up areas occupy 24.4% of the study area.
Agriculture Land: The land which is put to agriculture practice and comprise rabi and kharif crops, both food crop and cash crop. This is the major land use activity in the study area which occupies an area of 231 sq km i.e. 25.7% of the total geographical area of the study region in NCR. The current fallow land has also been included in the agricultural land category. The major crop types are wheat, jowar, mustard.
Scrub land: The areas where bushes and >2m high grass along with sparse vegetation fall under scrub land. Scrubs are reported in the north and central part of the study area and is normally associated with barren hills, slopes and other undulating terrain. Scrubs occupy an area of 166 sq km area, which makes it the third most dominant land use category with 18.5% of the total geographical area.
Forest: It includes area under forest cover, afforested areas and dense agro-forestry areas. Forest areas are present in the north, central and south-eastern parts of the study area especially on Aravalli hills and intermittent valleys. It's mostly a single species forest representing babul. Forest occupies an area of 112 sq km i.e. 12.4% of the total geographical area under study.
Uncultivated land: The land which is lying vacant has been classified as uncultivated land, which might be in transitional stage, in terms of land use change. Uncultivated land is reported from the southern and eastern parts of the study area adjoining scrub land or built up areas. It is spread in 105 sq km and occupies 11.77% of the total geographical area.
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