Vegetation density analysis in Banda Aceh city before and after the tsunami using satellite imagery data

Abstract

Vegetation density in Banda Aceh is an important aspect of monitoring the recovery process after being hit by a tsunami on December 26, 2004. The tsunami disaster had a tremendous impact on Banda Aceh city, both physical and non-physical damage. As a result, a lot of vegetation was swept away by the tsunami waves. After the tsunami disaster, Banda Aceh City carried out rehabilitation and reconstruction to change the land cover. The increasing population growth in the city also has affected land cover. Changes in land use not following the spatial plan of the Banda Aceh can reduce the quality of the environment, e.g., reducing the vegetation density in some areas. This paper presents the utilization of Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 images to analyze the vegetation density in Banda Aceh city before dan after the tsunami in the last 15 years. This study aims to determine the ability of satellite imagery to detect vegetation density in Banda Aceh in designated years before and after the tsunami. This study uses the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index analysis to observe the trend of vegetation density in the Banda Aceh. Results show that the vegetation density in Banda Aceh City in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2015, and 2020 was dominated by low-density classes. Still, in 2015 and 2020, there was an increase in medium and high vegetation density classes. This finding shows the pattern of the vegetation density follows the progress of the recovery after 15 years hit by a tsunami.