NDVI and LULC Change in Jamuna Watershed of Assam: an Assessment based on Landsat Imagery

Jamuna is a tributary of Kopili River and one of the most important watershed of Karbi Anglong (East Karbi Anglong) and Hojai District of Assam. Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land use and Land cover (LULC) changes calculation an attempt has been made to assess the present condition of Jamuna watershed in comparison with the ten years back scenario of the area. NDVI is a key indicator of basin sustainability. NDVI based LULC change monitoring can help in the assessment of various parameters to maintain sustainability of a river basin. In this work, emphasis has been drawn on a few basins sustainability monitoring parameters like water availability, land use change, availability of vegetation cover conditions in the watershed. Sustainable land use practices and conservation measures are really important to mitigate the inauspicious impacts on the basin’s ecological and various systems. This study will provide a valuable perception into the land use and land cover dynamics inside the watershed. Moreover, assessment of presence of vegetative covers and land use dynamics can provide a comprehensive understanding of the health of the river watershed. The findings of this study can help policymakers in decision making about sustainable land use and implementation of conservational measures to secure the long-term potentiality of the Jamuna river watershed. For this study Landsat 8-9 OLI/TIRS imageries of USGS Earth Explorer and the NDVI and LULC is performed using ArcGIS 10.8 software.