Land is an important natural resource, which mainly comprises of soil, water, flora and fauna, thus involving the total ecosystem. Landscape is a montage of heterogeneous interacting dynamic elements, i.e., manifestations of natural and anthropogenic processes. The functioning of the landscape is affected by the flow of nutrients, minerals, energy etc., based on interaction of landscape elements [1]. Forests are integral part in the socio-economic, ecological, and cultural fabric of tropical regions [2]. Humans depend either directly or indirectly on forests to an extent of 80% in developing world [3]. The structure of a landscape affects its functional aspects such as bio-geo chemical cycling. Hydrologic regimes play a decisive role in ecosystem function. This necessitates the understanding of landscape structure (size, shape, and configuration) and constituent’s spatial patterns (linear, regular and aggregated) through land use analysis. Land use [LU] provides the usage of land by humans as per requirement, e.g., habitations, agricultural lands, etc. Accelerated LU changes in the recent years by the increased human activities have been playing a decisive role in altering climate and biogeochemistry patterns at global as well as at regional scales [4] [5]. These anthropogenic activities have caused a destructive role in the environment, degrading the natural resources beyond the requirement leading to the haphazard, uncontrolled urban development leading to the deterioration of environment [6] quality over a period of time effecting soil erosion, watershed degradation and agrochemical pollution (World Bank 2008), an increase in impervious surface area and landscape fragmentations. Availability of multiresolution temporal remote sensing (RS) data has helped in analyzing the areas at various spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions in addition to the collateral data (spatial as well as statistical) to assess land use pattern [7].

Remote sensing satellite data acquired through space borne sensors plays a pivotal role in differentiating the different land use categories, based on the spectral reflectance curve [8]. The advantage of this remote sensing data is that temporal data could be achieved for the same area periodically which could be analyzed to determine the alterations in the area. This data helps in decision making and environmental management approaches. The objective of the current study is to determine the landscape dynamics in Western Ghats using temporal and spatial remote sensing data. An attempt is also made to give appropriate solutions to curtail the insignificant activities.