Evaluation of Urban Growth Using Remote Sensing and GIS Tools Case Study on Thanjavur City, Tamil Nadu, India

Evaluation of urban expansion and its use play a vital role in effective urban management in terms of providing water supply, storm water drainage, sewerage and solid waste collection. In recent years, the significance of spatial data technologies, especially the application of remotely sensed data, has increased and geographical information systems (GIS) have been widely used. This study investigates the urbanization process in terms of land use, built up density and sprawl using remotely sensed images of Thanjavur City, located in Tamil Nadu State of India, as a case study and (GIS). The changes in the land use were analyzed from a topographical map of 1970, images from a ETM+ EarthSat 1999 and IRS P6, 2006. The results revealed significant changes in land use and proportion of high, medium and low density built up area. Further, it has been identified that in the study area dominates the leapfrog sprawl rather than low density and ribbon sprawl.