Table 1 Description of land use and land cover categories considered in image classification

Forest

Areas covered with dense trees including Eucalyptus and coniferous trees, and riverine trees

Cultivated land

Areas used for rain-fed crop production and scattered rural settlements

urban Built-up area

Areas occupied by urban residential houses, buildings, and industrial uses

Bush/shrub land

Land with shrubs and bushes, scattered small trees mixed with grasses

Bare land

Areas with no or very little vegetation cover and are characterized with the shallow and rocky surface along the flooding area of the local stream valleys, over gentle and steep mountain slopes

Grassland

Land predominately covered with grasses, forbs, grassy areas used for communal grazing

Water

Areas covered by Lake in the catchment permanently