Land Use Dynamics and Impact on Regional Climate Post-Tehri Dam in the Bhilangana Basin, Garhwal Himalaya

Abstract

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are a dynamic process determined by natural factors as well as the degree of human interaction in spatial and temporal perspectives. The present study focuses on analysing the LULC changes in the Bhilangana basin post-Tehri dam construction in the Garhwal Himalaya. Landsat series satellite images were used for three time periods to quantify spatial and temporal changes in the LULC using unsupervised classification techniques. The calculations of the areal coverage and change detection were carried out using the ArcGIS 10.3 software. The study finds that LULC changes were observed in the area surrounding the Tehri reservoir. The area under forest cover decreased by 54.71 km2, which is −5.7% of the geographical area, followed by agricultural land by 6.06 km2 (−0.4%) and scrubland and grass cover by 4.23 km2 (−0.28%) during the decade 2000 to 2010. Gradually, due to compensatory afforestation, forest cover increased by 5.65% in the period 2010–2020. A significant relationship with climatic variability is also established with LULC change in the region. The presence of a large water surface at a high altitude modified the albedo and air temperature and increased the atmospheric humidity and precipitation pattern. This study would be vital in understanding the climatic variability in the Himalayas and its impact on the community, environment and climate.

Characterizing the Long-Term Landscape Dynamics of a Typical Cloudy Mountainous Area in Northwest Yunnan, China

“…However, in T6-T7, T8-T9, and T13-T14, bare land was converted from built-up land, farmland, forest, and alpine meadow. The area of transition between water bodies and other landscape classes was very small (less than 5.50 km 2 ) in all the study periods (Figure 10).…”

“…Landscape dynamics are very important for environmental management and conservation; they are a vital field of sustainable development research [1]. Mountain ecosystems around the world are particularly vulnerable, especially in the plateau mountainous regions of Southwest China, due to climate change and human disturbances [2]. Therefore, a detailed and precise characterization of landscape dynamics is essential for understanding the impacts on the mountainous environment and ecological systems.…”