Remote Sensing for Mapping Land-Use/Cover Changes and Urban Sprawl in Sekondi-Takoradi, Western Region of Ghana

Abstract

------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT---------------------------------------------------Land use/land cover influences a variety of processes on the Earth surface which also generate feedback effects on the natural environment, economic and social systems. Poorly managed changes in urban areas have resulted in many catastrophic consequences such as floods, landslides, droughts etc. The Landsat satellite system has long term data archives and can be used to assess the land cover changes in the landscape to provide information to support future urban planning. In this paper Landsat images were used to map the land use/land cover changes in the city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western region of Ghana from 1988 to 2011 through a change detection process. The post-classification method of change detection was used and the accuracies achieved were high. The analysis showed that a large portion of the city and its surrounding areas has been converted from natural surfaces to impervious surfaces. Also it was observed that precipitation has reduced considerably during the period and high temperatures have been observed. A model developed between land use change and time have showed that in the next 50 years if the trend of land use change continues, there will be complete removal of natural surfaces. These could lead to increased incidence and severity of flash floods and droughts. Therefore the data produced in this study can be used to guide effective urban planning to mitigate the combined effects of land use changes due to urbanisation and climate change. This study demonstrates the critical role remote sensing can play in the developing world in terms of providing data for planning since many countries do not have the resources to map their territories regularly through conventional means.