Land use and land cover (LULC) change analysis using TM, ETM plus and OLI Landsat images in district of Okara, Punjab, Pakistan

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are one of the world-wide variations which have the most significant effects on the natural environment and ecosystem due to human activities. Pakistan is facing enormous changes in LULC patterns without any good arrangement from the last few years. The main objective of this study is to identify the LULC changes in district Okara inat 3 different years, (2000, 2010, and 2020) using various Landsat images and to detect the reasons for the variations. Supervised classification was used to identify the LULC changes over the district of Okara, as it explains the maximum likelihood algorithm using ERDAS imagine 15 software. The total population in district Okara was 2.2 Million in 1998 that increased by 3 Million in 2017. The vegetation area was 91.6% in 2000, which decreased by 89.3% in 2020 in the study area. The built-up area was increased 4.5% from 2000 to 2020 due to the increasing population in district Okara. Overall accuracy assessment was observed 90% for 2000, 87% for 2010, and 85% for 2020 in the study area. Our result showed that, land which was used for vegetation area is changed into the build-up area due to the increasing in infrastructural and commercial areas in district Okara. As a result, proper observation of LULC changes will help the related agencies, government and policymakers for developing the land management.

Automated summary

This study aims to identify the land use and land cover changes in district Okara using Landsat images from different years and detect the reasons behind the variations. The results show that the vegetation area has decreased and built-up area has increased in Okara district due to population growth and infrastructural development.