Spatio-temporal analysis of land use/land cover change and urban growth dynamics of Silchar City, India using very high-resolution satellite data and the Shannon entropy model

Silchar City and its surrounding areas have witnessed massive population growth in the last few decades due to local and migrated peoples, which led to the rapid transformation of its land use/land cover (LU/LC) pattern. The spatio-temporal very high-resolution satellite data (VHRS) and on-screen visual interpretation techniques were used for detailed large-scale LU/LC analysis. The LU/LC classification of the City has been prepared for 2005, 2011, and 2018 with five primary and a further 17 sub-classes. In the present study use was made of the Census of India reports from 1991 to 2011, and the geometrical increase method was used to evaluate the ward-level population, population density, and land requirements for residential purposes; these have been predicted from 2021 to 2051 with every 10 years interval. The ity's wards have been classified into five zones, and the Shannon entropy model has been applied to analyze the degree of randomness and trends of urban built-up growth. The obtained results indicate that Silchar City is compact near the center, which follows the infill built-up growth trend. However, as the distance increased from its center, the scattering with an infill growth pattern was observed. The accuracy assessment techniques are used to validate the results of the classification. The results of this study can provide detailed information for land-use planners, researchers, policy-decision makers, and municipal authorities.