Geospatial and machine learning techniques for spatiotemporal analyses of urban dynamics in the Coimbatore city, South India

    Nagamani Singamuthu Info
    Elangovan Krishnan Info
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2026.28264

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has drastically changed the land use and environmental conditions in Indian cities and need to be monitored continuously for sustainable urban planning. The study used Landsat satellite images of the years 2001, 2013 and 2023 to examine the spatiotemporal urban dynamics of the Coimbatore city of South India. The impacts of urban sprawl on the environment were evaluated from Land Use/ Land Cover (LULC), Land Surface Temperature (LST) and spectral indices (NDVI, NDWI and NDBI). The built-up land increased by 1.21% (2001–2013) and 1.67% (2013–2023) and agricultural land decreased by 1.62% (2013–2023). The LULC classification had an Overall Accuracy of 95.76% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.95. The Kappa coefficient of 0.96 indicates that the ANN-CA model has high predictive reliability in predicting the LULC scenario in 2031. The results show that the continued expansion of cities leads to an increase in land surface temperature and a decrease in vegetation cover. This has major implications for sustainable urban development and contributes to SDG 11 and SDG 13.

Keywords:

urban dynamics, Land Surface Temperature (LST), Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), spatiotemporal analysis, geospatial technology, spectral indices, ANN-CA model, Coimbatore city
Published in Issue
September 21, 2026
Abstract Views
41

How to Cite

Singamuthu, N., & Krishnan, E. (2026). Geospatial and machine learning techniques for spatiotemporal analyses of urban dynamics in the Coimbatore city, South India. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 34(3), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2026.28264

Share

References

Abbasi, T., & Abbasi, S. A. (2012). Water-quality indices: Looking back, looking ahead. In Water quality indices (pp. 353–356). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-54304-2.00016-6

Alley, E. R. (2007). Water quality control handbook (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.

American Public Health Association. (2005). A. D. Eaton & M. A. H. Franson (Eds.). Standard Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (21st ed.).

Atojunere, E. E., Ogedengbe, K., & Afolayan, S. O. (2010). Effects of bitumen deposits and seepage on soil physico-chemical and hydrological properties in Agbabu, Southwest Nigeria. Global Journal of Engineering and Technology, 3(2), 257–261.

Atojunere, E. E. Ogedengbe, K., & Lucas, E. B. (2018, June 10–12). The development of filtration and bioremediation techniques for decontaminating bitumen-polluted water. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Recent Trends in Environmental Science and Engineering (RTESE’18), (pp. 1–7). Niagara Falls, Canada. Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (ASET).

Atojunere, E. E., & Ogedengbe, K. (2019). Evaluating water quality indicators of some water sources in the Bitumen-Rich area of Ondo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Pollution and Remediation (IJEPR), 7, 9–22.

Atojunere, E. E. (2021). Incidences of bitumen contamination of water sources in some communities of Ondo State, Nigeria, Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering, 33(1), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.11113/mjce.v33.16402

Atojunere, E. E., & Ogundipe, O. S. (2022). Development of Cassava Wastewater Treatment System (CWTS) for purifying Cassava processing effluent using chicken feather and cotton wool as filter media agricultural. Mechanization in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, 53(1), 6897–6908.

Atojunere, E. E. (2024) Treatment methods for Bitumen Polluted Water (BPW) – a review. Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering, 36(3), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.11113/mjce.v36.22002

Atojunere, E. E., & Amiegbe, G. E. (2024). Automated leak and water quality detection system for piped water supply. Malaysian Journal of Science, 43(3), 98–118. https://doi.org/10.22452/mjs.vol43no3.11

Atojunere, E. E., & Omotoro, B. (2024). Internet of Things (IOT) enabled drip irrigation system (DIS) for the growth of Allium Fistulosum. Selcuk University Journal of Engineering Sciences, 23(3), 70–76.

Atojunere, E. E., Onasanya, O, S., & Alademomi, A. S. (2025). Efficiency evaluation of a developed Cassava wastewater treatment system (CWTS) based on physico-chemical parameters studied. Slovak Journal of Civil Engineering (SJCE), 33(2), 46–52. https://doi.org/10.2478/sjce-2025-0011

Atojunere, E. E. (2026). The Cassava wastewater treatment system with and without recirculation – challenge and prospect. Vokasi UNESA Bulletin of Engineering, Technology and Applied Science, 3(1), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.26740/vubeta.v3i1.43872

Bain, R., Bartram, J., Elliott, M., Matthews, R., McMahan, L., Tung, R., Chuang, P., & Gundry, S. (2012). A summary catalogue of microbial drinking water tests for low and medium resource settings. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(5), 1609–1625. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9051609

Bowie, G., Mills, W., Porcella, D., Campbell, C., Pagenkopf, J., Rupp, G., Johnson, K., Chan, P., Gherini, S., & Chamberlin C. (1985). Rates, constants, and kinetics formulations in surface water quality modeling. (2nd ed.) (EPA/600/3-85/040). US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory Office of Research and Development.

Bozorg-Haddad, O., Soleimani, S., & Loáiciga, H. A. (2017). Modeling water-quality parameters using genetic algorithm–least squares support vector regression and genetic programming. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 143(7), Article 04017021. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0001217

Brown, R. M., McClelland, N. I., Deininger, R. A., & O’Connor, M. F. (1972). A water quality index: Crashing, the psychological barrier. In W. A. Thomas (Ed.), Indicators of environmental quality (pp. 173–182). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1698-5_15

Bureau of Indian Standards. (2012). Drinking water – specification (IS Standard No. 10500:2012). https://standards.bis.gov.in/website/standard-details?encryptedId=eyJpdiI6IkdneDZYWXpySi9CZW5qV3VFZGs0R1E9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoicmNCTzFmNy9Mc2JNSlVraTI0UjNMUT09IiwibWFjIjoiYjQzYjE2NjU3MTJmNzA0ZWE2ZDdlZjNmNzBkYTYyMzEzZjkxYWZmZmM1MTlmZTVkNTc4NDA0YTcxNGEwM2JmNiIsInRhZyI6IiJ9

Carvalho, L., Cortes, R., & Bordalo, A. A. (2011). Evaluation of the ecological status of an impaired watershed by using a multi-index approach. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, 174, 493–508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1473-9

Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. (2013). Introduction to drinking water quality testing. https://washresources.cawst.org/en/resources/6e942241/drinking-water-quality-testing-manual

Chatterjee, A. (2001). Water supply, waste disposal, and environmental pollution engineering (Including odour, noise, and air pollution and its control) (7th ed.). Khanna Publishers.

Chatterjee, C., & Raziuddin, M. (2002). Determination of the water quality index of a degraded river in the Asanol Industrial area, Raniganj, Burdwan, West Bengal. Nature, Environment and Pollution Technology, 1(2), 181–189.

Davis, M. L., & Masten, S. J. (2004). Principles of Environmental Engineering and Science. McGraw-Hill.

Davis, M. L. (2010). Water and wastewater engineering – design principles and practice. McGraw-Hill.

Das, A. (2022). Multivariate statistical approach for the assessment of water quality of Mahanadi basin, Odisha. Materials Today: Proceedings, 65, A1–A11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.08.146

Das, C. R., & Das, S. (2023). Acceptability of MEREC criteria compared to existing weighted WQI models to assess coastal groundwater quality in eastern India. Journal of Coastal Conservation, 27, Article 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-023-00975-7

Das, C. R., Das, S., & Panda, S. (2023). MLR index-based principal component analysis to investigate and monitor probable sources of groundwater pollution and quality in coastal areas: A case study in East India. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, 195, Article 1158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11804-7

Das, C. R., & Das, S. (2024). Coastal groundwater quality prediction using objective-weighted WQI and machine learning approach. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31, 19439–19457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32415-w

Das, A. (2024). An innovative approach for quality assessment and its contamination on surface water for drinking purpose in Mahanadi River Basin, Odisha of India, with the integration of BA-WQI, AHP-TOPSIS, FL-DWQI, MOORA, and RF methodology. Applied Water Science, 14, Article 263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-024-02326-9

Das, A. (2025a). Evaluation and downstream effects of household and industrial effluents discharge on some physicochemical parameters and surface Water Quality Index of River Mahanadi, Odisha, India. Discover Water, 5, Article 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43832-025-00220-2

Das, A. (2025b). Surface water quality evaluation of Mahanadi and its Tributary Katha Jodi River, Cuttack District, Odisha, using WQI, PLSR, SRI, and geospatial techniques. Applied Water Science, 15, Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-024-02357-2

DeZuane, J. (1997). Handbook of drinking water quality (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Debels, P., Figueroa, R., Urrutia, R., & Barra, R. (2005). Use of benthic macroinvertebrates to assess the impact of organic pollution and nutrient enrichment in high‐Andean streams and rivers of Ecuador. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 110, 301–322.

Edzwald, J. K. (2010). Water quality and treatment: A handbook on drinking water. McGraw-Hill.

Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment. (2021). Equipment for water quality testing [Product manual/brochure]. Royal Eijkelkamp.

El-Shafeiy, E., Alsabaan, M., Ibrahem, M. I., & Elwahsh, H. (2023). Real-time anomaly detection for water quality sensor monitoring based on multivariate deep learning technique. Sensors, 23(20), Article 8613. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23208613

Fashanu, T. A., Eche, J. P., Akanmu, J., Adeyeye, O. J., & Atojunere, E. E. (2019). A virtual autodesk-simulink reference plant for wastewater treatment. Nigerian Journal of Technology (NIJOTECH), 38(1), 267–277.

Gómez, N., & Licursi, M. (2001) The Pampean Diatom Index (IDP) for assessment of rivers and streams in Argentina. Aquatic Ecology, 35, 173–181. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011415209445

Gray, N. (2010). Water technology (3rd ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315276106

Gray, N. F. (2008). Drinking water quality: Problems and solutions (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511805387

Hsu, C., & Sandford, B. A. (2007). The Delphi technique: Making sense of consensus. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 12, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.7275/pdz9-th90

Indian Council of Medical Research. (1975). Manual of Standards of Quality for Drinking Water Supplies (Special Report No. 44. 27).

Jha, D. K, Prashanthi Devi, M., Vidyalakshmi, R., Brindha, B., Vinithkumar, N. V., & Kirubagara, R. (2015). Water quality assessment using water quality index and geographical information system methods in the coastal waters of Andaman Sea, India. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 100(1), 555–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.08.032

Kannel, P. R., Lee, S., Lee, Y.-S., Kanel, S. R., & Khan, S. P. (2007). Application of water quality indices and dissolved oxygen as Indicators for river water classification and urban impact assessment. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 132, 93–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9505-1

Kiprono, S. W. (2017). Fish parasites and fisheries productivity in relation to extreme flooding of Lake Baringo, Kenya [Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Kenyatta University].

Krishnan, J. S. R., Rambabu, K., & Rambabu C. (1995). Studies on water quality parameters of bore waters of Reddigudum Mandal. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 16(2), 91–98.

Lakshmikantha, V., Hiriyannagowda, A., Manjunath, A., Patted, A., Basavaiah, J., & Anthony A. A. (2021). IoT based smart water quality monitoring system. Global Transitions Proceedings, 2(2), 181–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gltp.2021.08.062

Magesh, N. S., Chandrasekar, N., & Soundranayagam, J. P. (2013). Spatial analysis of groundwater quality using geographical Information system (GIS): A case study of Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu, India. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 6(11), 4239–4252.

Standard Organization of Nigeria. (2007). Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (Nigerian Industrial Standard No. NIS 554:2007). https://washnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/publications-Nigerian-Standard-for-Drinking-WaterQuality.pdf

National Population Commission. (2006). Nigerian Population Census Report. Abuja.

Ram, A., Tiwari, S. K., Pandey, H. K., Chaurasia, A. K., Singh, S., & Singh, Y. V. (2021) Groundwater quality assessment using water quality index (WQI) under GIS framework. Applied Water Science, 11, Article 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-021-01376-7

Sánchez, E., Colmenarejo, M. F., Vicente, J., Rubio, A., García, M. G., Travieso, L., & Borja, R. (2007). Use of the water quality Index and dissolved oxygen deficit as simple indicators of watershed pollution. Ecological Indicators, 7(2), 315–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.02.005

Shah, T. (2017). Handbook of water resources and pollution control. CRC Press.

Singh, S., Ghosh, N. C., Krishan, G., Galkate, R., Thomas, T., & Jaiswal, R. K. (2015). Development of an overall water quality index (OWQI) for surface water in Indian context. Current World Environment, 10(3), 813–822. https://doi.org/10.12944/CWE.10.3.12

Spellman, F. R. (2013). Spellman’s standard handbook for wastewater operators: Fundamental level (Vol. 1). CRC Press.

Spellman, F. R. (2017). Handbook of environmental engineering: Air and noise pollution control. CRC Press.

Sun, W., Xia, C., Xu, M., Guo, J., & Sun, G. (2016). Application of modified water quality indices as indicators to assess the spatial and temporal trends of water quality in the Dongjiang River. Ecological Indicators, 66, 306–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.054

Sutadian, A. D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A. G., & Perera, B. J. C. (2016). Development of river water quality indices – a review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188, Article 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-5050-0

Tarras-Wahlberg, H., Harper, D., & Tarras-Wahlberg, N. (2003). A first limnological description of Lake Kichiritith, Kenya: A possible reference site for the freshwater lakes of the Gregory Rift Valley. South African Journal of Science, 99, 494–496.

Tchobanoglous, G., Peavy, H. S., & Rowe, D. R. (1985). Environmental Engineering. McGraw-Hill.

Tchobanoglous, G., & Schroeder, E. (1985). Water quality: Characteristics, modeling, modification. Pearson.

Vallet, B., Muschalla, D., Lessard, P., & Vanrolleghem, P. A. (2014). A new dynamic water quality model for stormwater basins as a tool for urban runoff management: Concept and validation. Urban Water Journal, 11(3), 211–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2013.775313

UNICEF. (2013). Children are dying daily because of unsafe water supplies, poor sanitation, and hygiene. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://reliefweb.int/report/world/children-dying-daily-because-unsafe-water-supplies-and-poor-sanitation-and-hygiene

Uddin, M. G., Moniruzzaman, M., Quader, M. A., & Hasan, M. A. (2018). Spatial variability in the distribution of trace metals in Groundwater around the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Ishwardi, Bangladesh. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 7, 220–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2018.06.002

World Health Organization. (2017). Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th edition, incorporating the 1st addendum. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549950

Uwadiae, R. E. (2010) An inventory of the benthic macrofauna of Epe Lagoon, South-West Nigeria. Journal of Scientific Research and Development, 12, 161–171.

Zhang, W., Wang, Y., Peng, H., Li, Y., Tang, J., & Wu, K. B. (2010). A coupled water quantity-quality model for water allocation analysis. Water Resources Management, 24(3), 485–511. References

Ambrose, Z. A., Abbas, B., & Asa, S. (2019). The effects of urban parameters on the development of urban heat Island in Jalingo Metropolis: Analysis and statistical modeling. Jalingo Journal of Social and Management Sciences, 1(4), 146–165.

Bouhennache, R., Bouden, T., Taleb-Ahmed, A., & Cheddad, A. (2019). A new spectral index for the extraction of built-up land features from Landsat 8 satellite imagery. Geocarto International, 34(14), 1531–1551. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2018.1497094

Chen, L., Li, M., Huang, F., & Xu, S. (2013, December 16–18). Relationships of LST to NDBI and NDVI in Wuhan city based on Landsat ETM+ image. In 2013 6th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing (CISP) (pp. 840–845). Hangzhou, China. IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/CISP.2013.6745282

Dimyati, M., Mizuno, K., Kobayashi, S., & Kitamura, T. (1996). An analysis of land use/cover change in Indonesia. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 17(5), 931–944. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431169608949056

Du, H., Cai, W., Xu, Y., Wang, Z., Wang, Y., & Cai, Y. (2017). Quantifying the cool island effects of urban green spaces using remote sensing data. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.008

Ganeshmoorthi, M., & Nagarathinam, S. R. (2018). Assessment of land use/land cover changes in Coimbatore Notrh Taluk, Tamil Nadu, India using GIS and remote sensing. Asian Review of Social Sciences, 7(2), 19–21. https://doi.org/10.51983/arss-2018.7.2.1436

Ghouri, A. Y., Rasheed, F., Khan, A., Iftikhar, D., Muzamil, R., & Baig, R. (2022). Analytical study of land surface temperature with NDVI, NDBI, and NDBaI of Vehari district and detect the UHI in Vehari city, Pakistan. Journal of Remote Sensing GIS & Technology, 8(3), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18828221

Guha, S., Govil, H., & Diwan, P. (2020). Monitoring LST-NDVI relationship using pre-monsoon Landsat datasets. Advances in Meteorology, Article 4539684. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4539684

Guha, S., & Govil, H. (2021). Annual assessment on the relationship between land surface temperature and six remote sensing indices using Landsat data from 1988 to 2019. Geocarto International, 37(12), 3361–3381. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2021.1886339

Guha, S., & Govil, H. (2025). Evaluating the stability of the relationship between land surface temperature and land use/land cover indices: A case study in Hyderabad city, India. Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes, 9(1), 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2023.2182083

Gupta, A. K., Singh, J. P., Verma, V. K., & Sur, K. (2024). Multi-decadal land transformation in South-Western Punjab, India: A case study using geospatial techniques. Tropical Ecology, 65, 639–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-024-00357-6

Jothimani, M., Gunalan, J., Duraisamy, R., & Abebe, A. (2021, September). Study the relationship between LULC, LST, NDVI, NDWI and NDBI in greater Arba Minch Area, Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Integrated Intelligent Computing Communication & Security (ICIIC 2021) (pp. 183–193). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/ahis.k.210913.023

Kriegler, F. J., Malila, W., Nalepka, R., & Richardson, W. (1969, October 13–16). Preprocessing transformations and their effects on multispectral recognition. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (pp. 97–131). Ann Arbor, University of Michigan.

Mallupattu, P. K., & Sreenivasula Reddy, J. R. (2013). Analysis of land use/land cover changes using remote sensing data and GIS at an urban area, Tirupati, India. The Scientific World Journal, Article 268623. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/268623

Pandey, A., Mondal, A., & Guha, S. (2024a). Assess the relationship of land surface temperature with nine land surface indices in a northeast Indian city using summer and winter Landsat 8 data. Cogent Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2024.2382885 (Retraction published 2026, Cogent Engineering, 13(1), Article 2700946)

Pandey, A., Mondal, A., Guha, S., Upadhyay, P. K., Rashmi, & Kundu, S. (2024b). Comparing the seasonal relationship of land surface temperature with vegetation indices and other land surface indices. Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes, 9(4), 1211–1227. https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2024.2392391

Prabu, P., & Dar, M. A. (2018). Land-use/cover change in Coimbatore urban area (Tamil Nadu, India) – a remote sensing and GIS-based study. Environment Monitoring and Assessment, 190, Article 445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6807-z

Singh, P., Kikon, N., & Verma, P. (2017). Impact of land use change and urbanization on urban heat island in Lucknow city, Central India: A remote sensing based estimate. Sustainable Cities and Society, 32, 100–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.02.018

Weng, Q., Lu, D., & Schubring, J. (2004). Estimation of land surface temperature–vegetation abundance relationship for urban heat island studies. Remote Sensing of Environment, 89(4), 467–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2003.11.005

Xu, M., He, C., Liu, Z., & Dou, Y. (2016). How did urban land expand in China between 1992 and 2015? A multi-scale landscape analysis. PLoS ONE, 11(5), Article e0154839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154839

Zha, Y., Gao, J., & Ni, S. (2003). Use of normalized difference built-up index in automatically mapping urban areas from TM imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 24(3), 583–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160304987

Sur, K., Singh, S., Verma, V. K., & Pateriya, B. (2026). Urbanization-driven secondary climatic changes: Re-envisioning response of fast growing cities of Northern India. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 278, Article 106706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106706

View article in other formats

CrossMark check

CrossMark logo

Published

2026-09-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Singamuthu, N., & Krishnan, E. (2026). Geospatial and machine learning techniques for spatiotemporal analyses of urban dynamics in the Coimbatore city, South India. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 34(3), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2026.28264

Share