Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Quick Estimation of the URBAN Growth in the North Region of Khartoum State

Abstract

Satellite imagery acquired by IKONOS imaging system in 2003 and the analog map of the study area at scale 1:25000 (1984) have been used to estimate the urban growth taken place in the study area during the period 1984-2003. Remote sensing, digital image processing and GIS techniques were used to map this growth. Different procedures have been applied to the test data to achieve the objectives of this study. Image restoration as well as map projection and rectification operations were adopted to bring the test data at a common geo-reference coordinate system (UTM). Image enhancement and spatial topology processes have been applied and constructed to achieve the virtual representation of the real world. Analysis and overlay process were applied to the test data to model the urban growth in the study area between the year 1984 and the year 2003. The estimated amount of the urban growth was found to be approximately 3.249 Km2. The experimental test, carried throughout this study, proved that integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques have great impact on detecting environmental changes and man-made features variations through time.