Use of cartographic data and Landsat TM images to determine land use change in the vicinity of Mexico City

Evaluation of change in land use is important for planning further development in populated areas. Here we attempt to determine the growth of urban areas in the vicinity of Mexico City, using a 1993 Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image and cartographic data contained in maps published by the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografia e Informatica (INEGI 1975, 1983). The area occupied by urban areas in 1975 and 1983 was quantified using raster images generated by scanning the maps. Supervised classification processes were applied to a 1993 Landsat TM image in bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, of the area of Chalco. The image was pre-processed and then processed to enhance the spectral response of the surface materials. The different land cover types that characterise distinct land uses in the study area were identified in the image and an overall classification accuracy of 82% was estimated using aerial photographs from the Chalco area. The resulting evaluation of the land use changes in the Chalco urban area was plotted, and a growth greater than 14% per year was estimated.