Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part J (2017)

Abstract
Land use is used to describe human uses of the land, or immediate actions modifying or converting land cover. It includes broad categories such as human settlements, protected areas and agriculture. Within those broad categories are more refined categories, such as urban and rural settlement, irrigated and rained fields, national parks and forest reserves, and transportation and other infrastructure. Land cover refers to the natural vegetative cover types that characterize a particular area. These are generally a reflection of the local climate and landforms, though they too can be altered by human actions. Ariyalur District was bifurcated from Perambalur district for the administrative purpose which has many natural calcite mines in and around the study area. After bifurcation it is necessary to demarcate different land use and land cover classifications using the satellite optical remote sensing methods. The maps prepared for different land use and land cover classifications as per the United States Geological Survey (USGS) different classes have been derived using ENVI digital image analysis methods.