Open AccessAssessment of Land Cover Changes in Litumbandyosi-Gesimasowa Game Reserve using Remote Sensing and GIS
Author(s) -
S J Nakamo,
. Syartinilia,
Yudi Setiawan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/950/1/012083
Subject(s) - shrubland , land cover , deforestation (computer science) , environmental science , cohen's kappa , vegetation (pathology) , grassland , remote sensing , overgrazing , forestry , land use , wetland , woodland , agroforestry , geography , physical geography , ecosystem , ecology , mathematics , computer science , grazing , medicine , statistics , pathology , biology , programming language
As countries in Sub-Saharan Africa strive to reduce deforestation in Miombo woodlands, it is essential to use the appropriate, reliable, and cost-effective tools for assessing land cover changes. This study employed Remote Sensing and GIS techniques to assess land use and its changes in the Litumbandyosi-Gesimasowa Game Reserve between 1990 and 2020. The tools employed were GEE and Collect Earth. The study employed Sentinel-2 and Landsat-5 TM imagery and also incorporated the Atmospheric Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI) for improving classification by overcoming the effects of Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation (NPV) and phenology. The study produced highly accurate land cover maps, with an overall accuracy of 99.53% and a kappa coefficient of 98.11% in 1990, 99.84% and a kappa coefficient of 98.69% in 2011, and 92.10% and an 89.62% kappa coefficient in 2020. The findings of the post-classification revealed an alarming change in land cover over the last 30 years, with heavy forestland decreasing by 10.77%, shrubland increasing by 12.19%, and grassland increasing by 13.35%. Furthermore, farmland expanded by 4.58%, barren land grew by 5.82%, and wetlands grew by 0.74%. Significant agents of change have been identified as forest fires, overgrazing, crop farming, and mining.