Abstract
Land use change is a major factor in alterations in natural processes and cycles. Remote sensing has become an excellent tool to evaluate technological changes in land cover and land use changes over large areas, such as those occurring in the Valley of San Luis Potosi (VSLP). Here, such changes have impacted a system which is 95% dependent on the aquifer. The methodology for the present study is based on the use of satellite images for the years 1976, 1986, 1995 and 2000. To asses land use change, a supervised classification process was used with a decision tree technique and ENVI 4.3 software. The evolution of groundwater levels for the years 1977, 1986, 1995, 1998 and 2007 was also analyzed, as well as problems of subsidence and fissuring in the urban area of the valley in 2006. With the support of remote sensing, it was possible to analyze the dynamic changes in land use over large areas and highlight their impact on the environment.
Highlights
Land use changes resulting from the interaction between people and their environment have become one of the primary factors responsible for altering natural processes and cycles
With the support of remote sensing, it was possible to analyze the dynamic changes in land use over large areas and highlight their impact on the environment
Extraction in the Valley of San Luis Potosi (VSLP) metropolitan area, which is evidenced by the appearance of fissures in the urban terrain that partially overlap with the drawdown
Summary
Land use changes resulting from the interaction between people and their environment have become one of the primary factors responsible for altering natural processes and cycles. Land use changes due to urbanization has caused deforestation, soil erosion and a loss of biodiversity and environmental services, and has had a high impact on the degradation and depletion of water resources [1]. It is recognized that even if land use changes occur locally, they may have global effects on the hydrogeological cycle since, as it has been shown, the quantity and quality of water depend largely on the type of land use in areas that provide for the catchment, flow, storage, provision and renewal of water resources. Human activities that cause degradation are deforestation (29%), inappropriate agricultural practices (28%) overgrazing (35%), extraction of fuelwood (7%) and industry and urbanization (1%). Agricultural clearings are responsible for 82% of deforestation [3]
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