Mapping Urban Sprawl and Measuring Urban Density using Shannon Entropy: A Case Study of Salem City and its Environ

Urbanization refers to increase in population of the city which is being influenced by social, political and economic characteristics of the city. As the population of the city increases, the boundary of the city expands to some extent leading to urban fringes. Urban sprawl is the haphazard patchwork of development resulting in an improper development in any city. It is necessary to monitor the growth of the city to prevent this kind of improper development. Identification of urban growth and its density of the city helps in better planning and management of the city. This requires analysis of spatial and temporal data for analyzing the trends over a period of time. The present study uses Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques to monitor the urban growth and Shannon entropy to measure dispersion of built-up land growth in the city. The study area has been divided into concentric circles of 1 km buffer and the urban growth is analyzed based on urban built-up density with respect to each circular buffer zones. The study also proved the potential of RS and GIS techniques in the Spatial-temporal analysis of urban growth trends and their consequences in the lands adjoining to urban areas.