Monitoring landuse change in Uchhali and Khabeki wetland lakes, Pakistan using remote sensing data

Abstract

Although it is a globally significant wetland, the ecological environment of Soon valley (Ucchali and Khabeki wetland lakes, Pakistan) is being negatively impacted by the rapid transformation of its land-use change brought about by economic and human activities. Through supervised classification and interpretation, we extract land use categories from Landsat remote sensing images acquired between 1990 and 2020. Using Google Earth Engine with machine learning algorithms (e.g., Smile CART Classifier), we generate four maps depicting different types of land use with a 10-year time horizon. In statistics, Built-up area increased by 18 % between 1990 and 2020, while barren lands declined by 31 %. Wetland and mudflat extent exhibited fluctuations but demonstrated an overall 21 % reduction since 1990. Adopting a land use transfer matrix and a dynamic stance toward land use, this paper examines the factors that led to the change in wetland landuse in Soon Valley (Ucchali and Khabeki wetland lakes, Pakistan). The results show that between 1990 and 2020, there will be a significant shift in the wetland land use types in Soon valley, with a relatively wide change range for builtup land, mudflat and barren land, and an upward trend. Overall, we saw a reduction in wetland and grassland areas, and a sizable amount of land was diverted from other uses. This land was used primarily for building sites, rice paddies, and other dry purposes. From a dynamic standpoint, the range of change was relatively small as compared to the woodland area expanded. Overall, results indicating a gentle transitioning of one type of land use to another, with the mudflat wetland area decreasing first and then increasing. Although the population was not much larger, but played a significant role with precipitation which may be another driver of land use land cover (LULC) change in the Uchhali-Khabeki wetland lakes, as implied by correlation analysis. The foregoing study of LULC remote sensing is valuable for the preservation of Uchhali and khabeki Lake's wetlands and the administration of the lake's land resources.