Landscape transform and spatial metrics for mapping spatiotemporal land cover dynamics using Earth Observation data-sets

Analysis of Earth observation (EO) data, often combined with geographical information systems (GIS), allows monitoring of land cover dynamics over different ecosystems, including protected or conservation sites. The aim of this study is to use contemporary technologies such as EO and GIS in synergy with fragmentation analysis, to quantify the changes in the landscape of the Rajaji National Park (RNP) during the period of 19 years (1990–2009). Several statistics such as principal component analysis (PCA) and spatial metrics are used to understand the results. PCA analysis has produced two principal components (PC) and explained 84.1% of the total variance, first component (PC1) accounted for the 57.8% of the total variance while the second component (PC2) has accounted for the 26.3% of the total variance calculated from the core area metrics, distance metrics and shape metrics. Our results suggested that notable changes happened in the RNP landscape, evidencing the requirement of taking appropriate measures to conserve this natural ecosystem.