Land use change detection using GIS and RS techniques casestudy: The South east of Zayanderood Basin, Esfahan, Iran
By: Vali Abbas Ali, Erahimi Khusfi zohre, Khosroshahi Mohammah, Ghazavi Reza
Key Words: Change detection, Land use/Cover, Remote Sensing, GIS, Supervised Classification.
J. Bio. Env. Sci. 8(6), 87-100, June 2016.[Generate Certificate]
Satellite images and geographic information system (GIS) are important data resources for the dynamic analysis of landscape transformations. The application of these data made possible to monitor the changes in different land uses in less time, at low cost and with better accuracy. In this study, Land use/ Land cover changes was investigated using of Remote Sensing and GIS in the south east of Zayanderood watershed. Multispectral satellite data acquired from images of Landsat satellite for the years 1998and 2013 was used. Processing operations was performed using ENVI4.7 software. Supervised classification-maximum likelihood algorithmwas appliedto detectland cover/land use changes observed in the study area. Studywatershed wasclassified into eight major land use classes viz., Vegetation, Agriculture, Gavkhouni Wetland, Settlement area, Sand dune, Salt land, Bare land and Poor pastureland. The results indicate that over 15 years, agriculture, poor pastures, vegetation and Gavkhouni wetland have been decreased by 1.84% (326.42 km2), 1.11% (319.88 km2), 0.21%(36.4km2) and 0.14% (25.14 km2) while Settlement area, salt land, sand dune and bare land have been increased by 2.07% (366.2 km2), 0.97% (171.6 km2), 0.56%(98.4km2) and 0.4%(71.57km2), respectively. These land cover/use variations lead to serious danger for watershed resources. Therefore, an appropriate watershed management plans and conservation strategiesare required in order to protect these valuable resources or else they will soon be diminished and no longer be able to perform their function in socioeconomic development of the area.