Land-Use Land-Cover Change Detection Using Geospatial Techniques in Zalingei, Central Darfur, Sudan

Abstract

Using remote sensing for land use and land cover (LULC) is essential for systems that help people make decisions because it gives valuable information about space and time. A study was conducted in Zalingei, Sudan, to analyze the changes in LULC over 30 years from 1991 to 2021 using multi-temporal Landsat images. Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) were classified using the supervised classification method. The pictures were divided into four groups based on how the land was used: residential areas, bodies of water, vegetation cover, and bare land. Results showed that the residential area increased by 20.74% while the water body increased by 2.32%. However, the vegetation cover decreased by 0.7%, and bare land decreased by 22.37%. The changes were caused by people, which shows how vital good land management practices and involvement from the local community are for reducing LULC change. So, to reduce LULC change in the study area, proper land management practices and active participation from the local community are needed. The study concluded that remote sensing technology is an effective tool for assessing and mapping land use and land cover changes and providing valuable information for decision support systems.