Temporal Variation in Land Use and Land Cover in Gujrat (Pakistan) from 1985 to 2015

The fundamental changes in the land use and condition of the land in Gujrat (Punjab province, Pakistan), which have occurred over the past several decades, have been studied. They have a long history and represent an important factor in global changes in urban landscape. An attempt was made to determine the spatio-temporal changes in land use and land areas caused by anthropogenic activities. The study was carried out on the basis of multi-temporal satellite images (for 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015) of the US Geological Survey, obtained from various Landsat satellites. Satellite image processing was carried out in the ERDAS Imagine 2014 and ArcGIS 10.3.1 programs. As a result, four maps were compiled that reflect the spatial and temporal dynamics of land. They are divided into five types: vegetation cover, bare soil, sand, water bodies and built-up areas. The results of the study indicate a significant decrease in the area of vegetation cover: from 85.1% in 1985 to 79.6% by 2015. There was also a significant increase in the built-up area, from 0.7 to 4.0% over a 30-year period. It has been established that unplanned changes in land use have an extremely negative impact on the ecological situation as well as on the human habitat. It has been concluded that it is necessary to conduct a reasonable policy aimed at correcting unplanned urbanization and the demographic situation in the province under consideration.