Urban Growth Using Shannon’s Entropy: a Case Study of Rohtak City

Abstract

With an extensive history dating back to antiquity urban development, human-induced climate change is one of the most important areas of human induced environment transformation. The study makes use of Shannon’s Entropy with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing technique. Rohtak city is located amidst fertile agricultural lands; the city has undergone rapid expansion during the recent past. The study spread over a period 38 years. On the basis of Survey of India Toposheet and satellite images, built up cover of Rohtak was classified for different time periods. Data used in the present study are the Survey of India Toposheet, LANDSAT TM 1989, IRS P6 LISS-IV PAN (mono) 2005, image acquired from Google earth 2011, and Census of India. The growth rate of built-up area was around three times more than population growth rate during 1989-2002. The growth rate in built-up area was 24.14 percent and population growth rate was 14.47 percent during 2002-2005. On the basis of these data urban growth are examined with the help of Shannon’s Entropy and found the sprawl direction.