1. Detecting land use/land cover changes in the Lake Hayq ( Ethiopia) drainage basin, 1957-2007.
- Author
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Yesuf, Hassen M., Assen, Mohammed, Melesse, Assefa M., and Alamirew, Tena
- Subjects
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LAND use , *HYDRAULIC engineering , *WATERSHEDS , *SANITARY engineering , *WATER activity of food - Abstract
Land use/land cover changes in a lake drainage basin reflect changes in the magnitude of the water balance components and rate of sediment deposition in a lake as a reflection of the fundamental linkage between what happens in a lake considered against what is happening in the drainage basin of the lake. The objective of this study was to quantify the spatio-temporal land cover/land use changes across the Lake Hayq closed drainage basin in north-east Ethiopia over a 50-years period, using multitemporal remote sensing and geospatial data. Two historical occasions of aerial photographs (1957 and 1986) and one satellite image (2007) were examined with image analysis tools: Leica Photogrammetric Suite ( LPS 9.2) Project Manager, ArcGIS10.0, and ERDAS EMAGINE 9.2. Seven aerial coverage of land use/land cover categories were identified and mapped for the past three historical times. The results indicated that farmlands/settlements and shrublands/degraded lands increased by 43.1% and 136.9%, at an annual rate of 27.4 and 13.5 ha year−1, respectively, between 1957 and 2007. In contrast, bushlands, grasslands, forestlands and lake surface area were diminished by 68.8%, 62.7%, 90.5% and 7.6%, at a rate of 24.0, 7.6, 6.1 and 3.7 ha year−1, respectively, over the past five decades. The basin had undergone significant transformation in land use/land cover over the past half century, affecting the lake's biophysical stability by accelerating soil erosion in the basin, sediment accumulation, and a reduced quantity and quality of cumulative stream flow into the lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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