CHANGE DETECTION IN LAND USE AND LAND COVER OF DISTRICT CHARSADDA PAKISTAN ALONG RIVER KABUL (2010 FLOOD): TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND REMOTE SENSING

This study aims to quantify land use and land cover changes before and after the 2010 flood in district Charsadda, Pakistan. Advanced geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques (RST) evaluate land use and land cover changes. The purpose of this research is to estimate and compare the pre-and post-flood changes and their influences on land use and land cover changes. Land use land cover data studies are important for sustainable management of natural resources; they are becoming increasingly important for assessing the environmental impacts of economic development. Moreover, some remedial measures are adopted to develop the area’s land cover to overcome future problems. Land use and land cover changes are measured using satellite images. Two instances, i.e., pre-flood and post-flood, are compared to analyze the change in land use and land cover of district Charsadda within 5 km along the Kabul River. Comparative analysis of pre-flood and post-flood imageries highlighted some drastic changes over the water body, built-up area, agricultural land, and bare land during flood instances. The study area is rural and agricultural land is dominant as compared to other land uses. We evaluated the percentage of different land use and land cover within our study area. The agricultural land found about 68.5%, barren land 22.5%, and the water body 8.8% before the flood. After inundation, the water body raised to 16.4%, bare soil increased to 26.3%, agricultural land degraded up to 57.0%, and settlements (villages) along the Kabul River were severely damaged and finished by this flood. 2010’s flood heavily damaged approximately four villages in district Nowshera, six in district Peshawar, and twenty-seven Charsadda District villages.