Evaluation of urban growth and land use transformation in Riyadh using Landsat satellite data

The main aim of present study is identification of land use/land cover change (LULC) taxonomy and dynamics transformation analysis with the help of Landsat satellite-derived optical data. The population increase is a primary factor to change in land use along with economic and spatial development of a city. Therefore, there is a positive impact of LULC that should be noticed as a water resource in the desert land. A historical approach along with analytical and empirical evaluation of LULC-driven factors has been applied to fulfill the objectives. The datasets utilized in the present study includes MSS, TM, ETM+, and OLI TIRS sensors of Landsat, ranging from 1972 to 2014. The results depict that urban sprawl is increasing very unexpectedly while the land area is decreasing conversely. This trend could be a useful indicator to cope up with the desertification problem. However, there is such growth in urbanization augmented with sustainability issues.