Land use and Land Cover Characteristics using Bhuvan and MODIS Satellite Data

Abstract

Understanding vegetation characteristics is essential for watershed modeling, like in the prediction of streamflow and evapotranspiration (AET) estimation. So, the present study was taken to analyze the Land use/Land cover characteristics in a Sub-humid tropical river basin which is originating in the forested part of Western Ghats mountain ranges using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Bhuvan satellite data as inputs for the algorithm. All the fourteen LU/LC characteristics present in the Hemavathi basin (5427 km2) were analyzed in the basin using satellite data which is located in Karnataka, India. Land Surface Reflectance (LSR) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) were the two data products used as input to map the pixel-wise variations in albedo, the fraction of vegetation (FV) and Land Surface Temperature (LST). It was found from the rainfall data that the year 2019 experienced higher rainfall than the average and 2012 very low rainfall than the normal. Parameters considered in this study Albedo, LST and FV are susceptible to wetness and temperature conditions. Variations in albedo and LST were similar in that both values in the summer of 2019 and 2012 are high than winter due to the high temperature and less wetness from all the LU/LC classes. Similarly, FV variations show opposite trends that values in the summer of 2019 and 2012 are low than in winter, which is due to the high temperature and less wetness. The results and discussions show that significant realistic variations in albedo, LST and FV with respect to all LU/LC classes. All the LU/LC classes characteristics in this study show significant variations with respect to wetness and temperature conditions, so the methodology proposed in this study can be used in regional monitoring of LU/LC classes in a convenient and cost-effective manner.