Land use and land cover (LU/LC) are crucial for understanding the relationship between human activities and the environment, making it essential to simulate and monitor these changes. This paper aims to map and analyze the LU/LC patterns and changes between 2020 and 2025 using satellite imagery, with a primary focus on quantifying surface water availability in the region. the study applies an integrated approach combining remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess the LU/LC status in the Satara District of Maharashtra. It generates LU/LC maps for the district at two different time points to detect changes in various natural resources. Using supervised maximum likelihood classification, the imagery was categorized into five LU/LC classes: Water Bodies, Scrub Land, Natural Vegetation, Fallow Land, and Agricultural Land.the classification results indicate significant changes, particularly in agricultural areas. Change detection analysis reveals a reduction in Natural Vegetation from 21.31% in 2020 and 15.64% in 2025, marking a decrease of 5.67%. Similar change detection analysis was conducted for other land use categories. this information on urban growth and LU/LC changes is invaluable to local governments and urban planners, as it supports better decision-making for sustainable development and water resource management in the district.
Patil et al. (Fri,) studied this question.