A Comparative Study of Land use Classification using Remote Sensing Techniques, in and around Selected Sacred Groves of Thiruvananthapuram District

Sacred groves are small forest patches or remnants of forests that are biodiversity-rich areas and revered in the name of God. Rapid urbanization and the concomitant development of infrastructure have taken a heavy toll on these unique ecosystems. The present study has identified and mapped seven selected Sacred groves in Thiruvananthapuram district and also analyzed the land use in the area using Remote Sensing data. The accuracy of unsupervised classification-based image and supervised classification-based predicted land use was compared and Kappa accuracy was assessed. The results showed moderate classification accuracy. The area-wise details of different land use categories were also obtained as part of the study.