Completing yearly land cover maps for accurately describing annual changes of tropical landscapes

Abstract

Availability of up-to-date land cover information is increasingly important for describing annual changes in tropical landscapes that significantly affect ecosystem–economy interactions and environmental management. However, land cover change monitoring in humid tropical areas is complicated by difficult remote sensing conditions, which often leads to a crucial lack of accurate land cover information. In this study, we use visual interpretation of Landsat images in combination with existing land cover maps to create a set of annual maps for the East Kalimantan Province in Indonesia from 2000 to 2016. These datasets allow us to analyze the development of land cover change trends in the province since 2000 with high spatial and temporal detail. Our results reveal the acceleration of land cover changes, with overall cover changes from natural forest to plantation forest and other cultivated land cover classes, and undeveloped shrublands. The mapping approach used in this study effectively provides information on land cover changes in humid tropical areas, which can support environmental monitoring and government development programs.