Land Cover Transformations Research Articles

A Spatio-Temporal Groundwater Fluoride Contamination Assessment to Infer the Hydro-geochemical Analysis of Punjab Satluj Floodplain

Punjab Satluj Floodplain is a Hydro-geologically, ecologically, and economically very precious resource-rich landscape. This area is fragile due to flood risk; since its inception, it has attracted lots of economic and sociocultural activities that adversely affect hydro-geochemical conditions. Spatial and statistical analysis of land use and land cover change reveals that from 1975 to 2011, this landscape experienced 56.55 % land use and land cover transformation. Maximum transformation is noticed in the agricultural and built-up areas. In 1975, agricultural and built-up areas covered 47057.11 hectares (45.13 %) and 469.5 hectares (0.45 %), respectively, of the Punjab Satluj floodplain, which was expanded and covered 91011.36 hectares (87.28 %) and 6495.7 hectares (6.24 %) respectively in 2011. Adversities of these values can be estimated from the groundwater contamination analysis that reveals the specific electrical conductance (EC), nitrate (NO3), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), and fluoride (F) contamination in the water exceed its permissible consumption limits and effects ecological health. The present research work is the epigram of the hydrogeochemical condition of the Punjab Satluj floodplain concerning the spatial distribution of fluoride contamination and its proximate causes.

Impact of climatic factors on air pollution and human health in the Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh, India

Urban air pollution is a complex and ever-changing blend of gaseous pollutants, particulate matter and land surface temperature. This multifaceted mixture experiences daily and seasonal fluctuations influenced by anthropogenic activities, land-cover transformation, and climatic conditions. This study investigates the impact of climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity on air pollution and human health in Lucknow city of India. NASA's open data site (Data Access Viewer (DAV) - NASA POWER) was used to gather information on the earth's skin temperature, 2-meter temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity. Data on air pollutants like PM10, SO2, NO2, and the Air Quality Index across seven locations has been collected from the government pollution control board. The present research examines the correlation between these climatic factors and pollutants, such as particulate matter and sulphur dioxide, as well as the relationship between temperature and relative humidity with the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the study area. This research shows a negative correlation between pollutants and precipitation, temperature at 2m, relative humidity and earth skin temperature, respectively. On the other hand, it shows a positive correlation between precipitation and disease. Thus, this paper will provide valuable insights into the potential impacts of climate change on air pollution and human health in Lucknow and similar urban areas.

The impact of the development of the tourism sector in terms of economic, social population and land cover in Batu City

The development of the tourism sector has a positive impact on city growth through increased profits and revenues, encouraging competition from city managers in increasing tourist attraction through facilities, investment, employment, and local income. The development of tourism-supporting infrastructure accelerates city growth by increasing population, economic interaction, and land cover transformation. This study identifies the relationship between tourism development, economic transformation, socio-population, and land cover. The 2016-2021 constant price GDP shift-share analysis is used to understand economic transformation, while the 2020-2021 population growth and population density analysis for social aspects. As a result, the socio-population aspect shows a transformation in Batu City, where manufacturing business has shifted to service business as the main occupation, which has an impact on increasing population growth. In land cover, significant changes are seen in built-up, open, plantation, and forest. This research provides a preliminary analysis of the development of the tourism sector from the economic, socio-population, and land cover aspects in 2016-2022. These transformations reflect dynamic changes in the city's economic and social structure, requiring continuous monitoring for better policies.

Land use/cover change and transormations in Upper Runde Sub-catchment area in Zimbabwe

The study assessed land use/cover changes in the Upper Runnde sub-catchment in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020 using GIS and remote sensing techniques with the support of interviews and field observations. Faster land use/cover changes were experienced within the 2000–2010 decade when compared to the 2010–2020 decade; for instance, bare land increased by 92.1% between 2000–2010 compared to 16.5% between 2010–2020. Major land cover transformations included change from forest land to bare land, grassland and shrub land, and change from grassland to bare and shrub land to grassland. The results confirmed conversion of forests to agricultural lands and settlements following the fast-track land reform program in 2000, and livestock increase induced overgrazing as major human activities driving land cover changes. There is a need for serious attention from resource management stakeholders before depletion of critical resources like water and woodlands. Therefore, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority may consider strict auditing of land uses and water resource use in catchment areas to guard against encroachment of agriculture and other land uses in protected lands and fragile ecosystems like water bodies and wetlands.

Assessment of the future environmental carrying capacity using machine learning algorithms

Globally, ecological overshoot has become more prevalent. Enhancing biocapacity has become critical to resolving ecological demand overshoot in sustainable urban development. However, most of the prior research has focused on minimizing environmental carrying capacity (ECC) while ignoring the potential of carbon footprint, population growth, and land cover (LULC). This research assessed the past and projected changes in bio-capacity and bio-productivity dynamics in Khulna City due to land use and land cover (LULC) transformations spanning from 2000 to 2035. Support Vector Machine algorithms were utilized for the classification of LULC, and LULC, bio-capacity and bio-productivity predictions were made using Cellular Automata-Artificial Neural Network models. Results revealed that built-up and cropland area expansion led to an increase in carbon emissions by 43,000 tons/year and bio-productive land by 1100 gha, while a decrease in bio-capacity from 0.09 gha to 0.06 gha occurred during 2000–2020. The prediction shows that by 2021, population growth and urban growth will exceed Khulna City's bio-capacity, and by 2035, bio-capacity (without built-up cover) will decrease to 0.00 gha. The R2 values (–0.67 and –0.91) indicate the strong negative influence of population growth and urbanization on the optimization capacity of soil surfaces. The study demonstrates that Khulna's present urban growth and population growth will result in irreversible ecological collapse, with dire consequences for humans in thenear future.However, the findings facilitate the potential for the decision makers including policymakers, planners, and environmentalists to enhance local land use practices, thereby addressing CO2 emissions and their associated consequences meriting further study.

Spatial transformation of land use and land cover and identification of hotspots using geospatial technology: a case of major industrial zone of eastern India.

Technology-driven population expansion is closely linked to land use change. Unregulated mining, urbanization, industrialization, and forest clearing threaten land use and cover. This study used GIS and statistical methods to examine land use and cover changes in eastern India's Asansol-Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA). The Kappa coefficient was used to validate each year's LULC map accuracy. This region is changing rapidly due to industrial and urban development, which might cause environmental issues. Thus, this area is ideal for a scientific land-use change study. The central hypothesis of this study is that the LULC of an industrial area is spatially heterogeneous and that the number of hotspots is gradually increasing in response to the dynamicity of land use change over time and space. Three years (1992, 2007, and 2022) were used to determine the estimated transition rate. Hotspots of land use change were identified using autocorrelation statistics for LULC clustering using Moron's I and Gi Z statistics. The proportion of land encompassed by natural vegetation experienced a decline from 12% in 1992 to 4% in 2022. Similarly, the extent of land occupied by agricultural activities decreased from 47 to 38% during the period spanning from 1992 to 2022. The industrial and coal mining sectors experienced a modest growth rate of 1% during the period spanning from 1992 to 2022. If the current rate of land use change persists, it will gradually and consistently alter the existing landscape. This study's findings can potentially inform strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of industrialization and urbanization on the region's natural resources.

Causes and consequences of forest cover transformation on human-wildlife interaction in the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh

Protected Areas (PAs) in Bangladesh have been pivotal for conserving wildlife. The country plans to increase the number of PAs by implementing new forest-governing policies with the involvement of local communities. Their efficacy in wildlife conservation and forest preservation is being questioned due to significant land cover changes within PA boundaries. It is essential to understand the current role of existing PAs in forest cover transformation and their impact on wildlife conservation before expanding the PAs and implementing new policies. This study aims to explore the land cover transformation within Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) and describe the role of the local community and its impact on wildlife. Utilizing Landsat satellite images from 1989 to 2015, this study discovered a 46 % deforestation rate within TWS, surpassing its surrounding areas. Since 1989, 75 % of primary forests have been eradicated, leaving a mere 650 hectares intact. This transformation is shifting forested areas towards the PA boundaries, potentially threatening conservation efforts by making wildlife more vulnerable. Socioeconomic surveys of 5769 households revealed that bigger landowners within the local communities played a significant role in this deforestation. Such community-driven forest alterations increased wildlife vulnerability by intensifying their interaction with forest surrounding communities. This study presents an interesting case of the process of forest transformation within PAs with the intersection of human-wildlife conflict and deforestation. For effective wildlife conservation, strategies need to address and rectify these forest cover transformations and focus on the wildlife habitats, ensuring conservation and coexistence for forests, humans and wildlife.

Drivers of land use land cover change and intensity analysis of land transformation in the moist semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana: Case of Bobiri Forest Reserve and its environs

Understanding land cover transformation over time and space is crucial for comprehending ecological challenges, particularly in environmentally vulnerable areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the demand for fuel, food, and fibre is expected to significantly expand croplands, resulting in the degradation of natural ecosystems. This research presents a spatiotemporal analysis of land-cover change in the Bobiri forest and its surrounding areas in Ghana's moist semi-deciduous forest zone. The study’s main objectives were to identify the drivers of land-cover change, and to analyse the intensity of land transformation from 1986 to 2022 in the study area. The methodology used measured land-cover changes at different levels, including intervals, categories, and transitions. The findings indicate that the annual rate of land change was higher from 1986 to 2007 (1.64%) compared to the period from 2007 to 2022 (1.04%). Additionally, the analysis at the category level reveals that the increase in cropland and non-vegetated areas during both time intervals was higher than the uniform intensity. The analysis at the transition level suggests that most of the cropland gains originated from non-vegetated areas during both periods. There is also evidence of localized increases in closed forests, likely due to afforestation policies implemented by the Ghanaian government. However, overall, there has been a decline in closed forests over the entire timeframe, with an annual rate of change of -1.25%. This study contributes valuable data for enhancing our understanding of the scale and direction of land-cover change, which is essential for developing policies aimed at mitigating the impact on local livelihoods and the environment at national and sub-national levels.

Transformation of land use and land cover and its implication to the local climate in Aceh Besar District, Aceh, Indonesia

Many researchers claim that human influence on local climate change is unavoidable. Global climate change can cause catastrophic damage (disturbing human health, ecosystems, and socio-economic aspects). Characteristics of areas that affect rainfall, such as topography, slope, and land use and cover (LULC). This study aimed to specify the relationship between LULC changes and the local climate context in Aceh Besar District. LULC changes are analyzed with a transformation matrix. The method used to determine the occurrence of climate change is the Mann-Kendall Test, which looks at whether there is a trend in a data series based on the relative rankings of the data spanning 1992-2020. The Mann-Kendall test analysis results show that climate variables that change significantly on rainy days are weather temperature, humidity, and wind speeds. The statistical test results show that there has been a change in the local climate, as indicated by the variables of The Sen’s Slope Estimator test results in an increase in temperature of 0.002°C every year, and humidity increases by 0.01%. When viewed from LULC, one of the influences is changing (2000-2020) from forest, cropland, and bareland to built-up areas.

Urbanization is associated with non-coding polymorphisms in candidate behavioural genes in the Eurasian coot.

Extensive transformation of natural land cover into urbanized areas enhances accumulation of phenotypic differences between animals from urban and nonurban populations, but there is little information on whether these changes, especially in terms of animal behaviour and circadian rhythm, have a genetic basis. The aim of this study was to investigate genetic background of behavioural differences between four pairs of urban and nonurban populations of a common waterbird, the Eurasian coot Fulica atra. For this purpose, we quantified polymorphisms in personality-related candidate genes, previously reported to be associated with avian circadian rhythms and behavioural traits that may be crucial for urban life. We found general associations between landscape urbanization level and polymorphisms in 3'UTR region of CREB1 gene encoding transcriptional factor, which participates in development of cognitive functions and regulation of circadian rhythm. We also found significant differentiation between urban and nonurban populations in the intronic region of CKIɛ gene responsible for regulation of circadian clock. Although we lacked evidence for linkage of this intronic variation with coding polymorphisms, genetic differentiation between urban populations was significantly stronger at CKIɛ intron compared with neutral microsatellite markers, suggesting possible local adaptations of CKIɛ expression regulation to specific urban sites. Our results indicate that behavioural differentiation between urban and nonurban coot populations may be the effect of habitat-specific selective pressure resulting in genetic adaptations to urban environment and supporting the microevolutionary scenario. These adaptations, however, prevailed in non-coding regulatory rather than coding gene regions and showed either general or local patterns, revealing high complexity of associations between behaviour and landscape urbanization in birds.

Landscape ecological risk analysis of subtropical vulnerable mountainous areas from a spatiotemporal perspective: Insights from the Nanling Mountains of China

Although mountains provide various important ecological services for human beings, the need remains to be stressed for further research on conducting ecological risk analysis in vulnerable mountainous regions characterized by a relatively high population density. In this study, the Nanling Mountains, which are recognized as a significant mountainous region in southern China, were selected as a case. Using the Globe Land30 dataset and landscape metrics, we calculated landscape ecological risk indices from 2000 to 2020. Our objective was to investigate the distribution and changes in landscape ecological risks within mountainous areas and their associated implication, to support the protection and development of the Nanling Mountains, and to provide a valuable reference case for risk management in other mountainous regions. The results showed that the land cover transformation in Nanling was predominantly driven by the expansion of artificial surfaces and open water, accompanied by a decline in woodland, cultivated land, grassland, wetland, and shrubland areas. The overall landscape metrics exhibited minimal changes, with the majority of modifications observed between 2000 and 2010. During this period, there was a noticeable shift in patch shape from complex to simple, a decrease in landscape continuity, an increase in landscape separation, and an overall increase in landscape heterogeneity. The landscape ecological risk index displayed substantial spatial heterogeneity within the study area. High-risk and medium–high-risk areas were primarily concentrated in the central and eastern regions, surrounded by medium-risk areas. Low-risk and medium–low-risk areas were widely dispersed across the entire study area. Between 2000 and 2020, there was an observed rise in the percentage of low and medium–low-risk areas from 61.74% to 64.05%. This indicates an overall enhancement in the ecological environment of the study area. The transfer of landscape ecological risk primarily involved artificial surfaces and high-altitude grasslands. The correlation analysis between the total regional GDP and LERI showed that there was a smooth inverse “U” linear relationship between them. To conclude, there exists a definite correlation between the landscape ecological risk and human activities, particularly environmental policies. Additionally, the relationship between the landscape ecological risk index and the total regional GDP aligns with the Environmental Kuznets Curve. It is crucial to approach major decisions concerning densely populated and fragile mountainous areas with careful consideration and caution. In promoting land optimization and integration, priority should be given to the area around the artificial surface.

More than agriculture: Analysing time-cumulative human impact on European land-cover of second half of the Holocene

Assessment of past anthropogenic modifications of land-cover dynamics is key to understanding the human role in the Earth system. Recent advances in palaeoenvironmental sciences allow us to assess the long-term impacts of anthropization on ecosystems, landscapes, and land-cover.Our study aims to evaluate the role of human impact on European land-cover over the past 6000 years by comparing two independent datasets. First, we use a dynamic vegetation model forced by debiased climate model outputs. The climate model uses natural forcings only and therefore the computed vegetation distribution is interpreted as the potential natural vegetation. Second, we use pollen-based reconstructions, which intrinsically include anthropogenic influence. The discrepancies between the two datasets are attributed to human activity and quantified in a form of a human pressure index (HPI).Patterns of spatio-temporal evolution of the HPI agree with previously published data about the spread of agriculture in Europe. In particular, both HPI and anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC) scenarios indicate a rapid increase of the human pressure around 1200–1700 BP, and a significant increase of agriculture-related land-cover modifications by nearly 60% throughout the second half of the Holocene. However, initially high HPI values (up to 70%) at 5700–6200 BP, which correlate with population estimates (r = 0.75, p-value <0.005), suggest high levels of anthropogenic land-cover transformations, introduced by earlier agricultural as well as non-agricultural activities.The results of our study suggest that vegetation cover of the Mid-Holocene substantially differed from the state of potential natural vegetation (PNV) due to cumulative effect of early human alterations on the land-cover. This challenges the hypothesis that vegetation in the Mid-Holocene was in a relatively natural state and contributes valuable insights to the onset of agriculture as the start of the Anthropocene.

Effect of sand mining on riparian landcover transformation in Dallung-Kukou catchment of the White Volta basin, Ghana

Rapid urbanization has increased demand for sand in the construction industry to meet housing and infrastructure needs of urban population. The Dallung-Kukuo catchment of the White Volta River Basin is a major sand mining site for the construction industry in Tamale and other peri-urban communities. On the contrary, the river serves as a major source of water supply to the population. Riparian vegetation is essential to water protection, but research has focused extensively on the impact of sand mining on water quality in the river basin. The present study employed GIS and remote sensing techniques coupled with in-situ vegetation sampling to assess riparian land cover changes from 1990 to 2021. Land cover images of the catchment revealed a 14.9% increase in sand mining area, while river bed area and woodland cover decreased by 0.7% and 20%, respectively, from 1990 to 2021. A comparison of woody plant diversity also showed a higher Shannon diversity index in the unmined area of the riparian zone (3.0) compared to the sand mining area (2.0). Environmental Protection Agency and traditional authorities should intensify monitoring to protect the White Volta basin from unsustainable exploitation.

Carbon uptake of the sugarcane agroecosystem is profoundly impacted by climate variations due to seasonality and topography

Sugarcane is an economically important crop whose growth and carbon uptake play vital roles in the carbon cycle, food security, and global trade development. However, the response of the carbon uptake of sugarcane to climate variations and the influencing factors are still unclear. In this study, seven sugarcane plantation distribution maps during 2000 and 2018 in Guangxi, China, were generated using time series Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery, and these maps were used to produce stable sugarcane sites by identifying pixels without land cover transformation. Time series gross primary production (GPP) and climate datasets were used to analyze the response of annual GPP to temperature, precipitation, and their interacting effects under different landforms (rugged ground and flat ground) and growing periods. The results showed a significantly positive correlation between annual GPP change and temperature variations. Extreme precipitation, including extreme drought and extreme wetness, caused the annual GPP to decrease sharply, except for extreme wetness in the early growing period. The decrease in annual GPP mainly appeared when extreme drought and hot conditions or extreme wet and cold conditions coexisted, ranging from −20.37% to −0.23%, while the increase in annual GPP especially appeared when non-extreme precipitation and high temperature co-occurred, ranging from 0.02% to 8.44%. In addition, the responses of sugarcane annual GPP change to extreme temperature and precipitation were significantly different between rugged and flat ground. Overall, this study indicated that spatiotemporal heterogeneities existed in the response of sugarcane carbon uptake to climate variations. In the future, effective measures should be adopted in sugarcane management and cultivation to reduce the negative effects of climate change on crop production. • Sugarcane’s carbon uptake response discrepantly to heat and water stresses. • Impacts of climate variations on sugarcane GPP varied with growing stages. • Rugged grounds change the response of sugarcane GPP to extreme climates.

The influence of seasonal land-use-land-cover transformation on thermal characteristics within the city of Pietermaritzburg

Urbanisation has been identified as a major threat to the environment as it increases demand for urban spaces and transforms natural landscapes to impervious surfaces, leading to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. Natural landscapes such as vegetation and water bodies act as thermal sinks that absorb heat while impervious surfaces such as buildings and concrete pavements act as thermal sources that retain and emit heat. The thermal emission results in several negative effects such as temperature inversion, compromised human health, pollution, species loss, high energy consumption and climate change at a local, regional and global scales. Whereas studies on UHI are abound, there is paucity in literature on the influence of seasonal urban Land Use Land Cover (LULC) transformation on urban thermal characteristics. Specifically, the proportional seasonal variability and contribution of individual LULCs to urban heat is often poorly understood. Using the freely available Landsat 8 optical and thermal bands, this study examined the seasonal characteristics of the UHI phenomenon in relation to LULCs in the Pietermaritzburg city, South Africa. Results in this study revealed that UHIs exist in both winter and summer, but with more intensity in summer. The study also established that LULCs varied with seasons. Bare surfaces and dense vegetation had the most thermal influence during winter while dense vegetation and low density buildings had the most thermal influence during summer. These findings provide a better understanding of thermal distribution based on LULC seasonality changes, valuable for sustainable urban planning and climate change mitigation.

Investigation of Cultural–Environmental Relationships for an Alternative Environmental Management Approach Using Planet Smallsat Constellations and Questionnaire Datasets

The values (i.e., importance) that humans place on ecosystems are critical for sustainable socioecological management. Recently, the value pluralism approach with instrumental, intrinsic, and relational values using multiple disciplines that integrate qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been encouraged. However, these values have received little attention in environmental management. This study explored the values placed on cultural practices among groups experiencing different land cover transformations (LCTs) under the rapid shrinkage of the Limboto Lake, Gorontalo Province, Indonesia, using questionnaires and time-series Landsat and PlanetScope smallsat constellations (SSCs). The time series of LCTs and questionnaire data were computed, visualized, and analyzed statistically using the chi-square test for comparing the two village groups. Results show SSCs enabled a detailed analysis due to high spatiotemporal resolutions in tropical regions. This observation would help in monitoring natural disasters (floods) caused by the decreased lake’s water storing capacity, agricultural damage, locality safety, and environmental protection in shorter cycles. Furthermore, we found that relational values originating from traditional beliefs and practices were the domain values in the land steady-type villages. Hence, integrating the cultural–environmental values of localities with prior spatiotemporal analysis into environmental management policy and implementation processes would be a high-potential alternative for environmental conservation.

Monitoring Coexisting Rapid Small-Scale and Large-Scale Gold Mining Developments Using Planet Smallsats Constellations

Gold mining is a significant strategic sector for local, regional, and national economies. The rapid development of coexisting camp-type artisanal and small-scale gold mining (C-ASGM) and large-scale mining (LSM) accelerates the environmental and health risks associated with mercury pollution; however, transformations of coexisting sites have not been well quantified. This study used remote sensing (the PlanetScope smallsat constellations systems) to investigate the development of coexisting C-ASGM and LSM sites in Gorontalo, Indonesia, from 2019 to 2022. The results show a positive increase in the extent of barren land across all study zones, resulting from a road network construction connecting the southern port to major mining sites. Notably, greater landcover transformations in the C-ASGM sites after 2020 were attributed to the dumping of underground soils excavated using a shaft-mining method. The findings of this study expand our understanding of the rapid development of coexisting mining operations and quantify significant mining-induced environmental changes. These findings are anticipated to assist in timely monitoring and identification of development areas, rates, and volumes, together with the existing C-AGSM’s reactions associated with LSM’s massive developments. This also helps to detect possible local-level socioenvironmental impacts from massive land shape changes, leading to human disasters, including landslides and floods.

Peri-urban area delineation and urban sprawl quantification in Thiruvananthapuram Urban Agglomeration, India, from 2001 to 2021 using geoinformatics

In Southeast Asia, rising population, economic growth, and lack of land supply in the city core have led to the widespread irreversible land cover transformation in peri-urban areas. Such extensive and haphazard urban growth in peri-urban areas raises concern about analyzing and promoting planned urban growth. Therefore, this paper attempts to assess land cover changes from 2001 to 2021 and delineate peri-urban areas of a midsized Indian city, i.e., Thiruvananthapuram Urban Agglomeration (UA) using geoinformatics. The maximum likelihood supervised classification tool in ArcGIS 10.3 was used to prepare land cover maps for 2001, 2007, 2014, and 2021. Further, the presence of urban sprawl in the peri-urban areas was detected through Shannon’s entropy index. The urban sprawl typologies in the peri-urban areas were quantified using the adjacent neighborhood relationships concept. The results revealed rapid growth in built-up land cover and decline in non-built-up land cover within Thiruvananthapuram UA during the study period. Peri-urban areas were delineated based on nine indicators, such as total population, population growth, population density, literacy rate, percentage of the male workforce, percentage of the female workforce, agricultural land cover, distance from urban core, and percentage of cultivators to agricultural workers. A rise in Shannon’s entropy index from 1.59 in 2001 to 2.05 in 2021 exhibited the occurrence of rapid urban sprawl in the peri-urban areas. Dominance of discontinuous low-density development, i.e., scatter development typology of urban sprawl, was observed in peri-urban areas of Thiruvananthapuram UA. Such studies using geoinformatics would assist local governments in scientifically formulating sustainable urban policies and plans.

Hydrological response to land use and land cover change on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and Meru Mountains

Land use and cover change are closely linked to catchment hydrology characteristics. Land uses and cover determine the ability of the catchment to collect, store, and release water. The catchment water storage and flow ability affect the quantity and timing of runoff, soil erosion, and sediment transport downstream. Agriculture on of the major drivers for the changes in water flow pathways, which also causes a catastrophic shift of aquatic ecosystems. We assessed the impact of land-use changes on the water flow characteristics in the Upper Pangani Sub catchment using the hydrologic model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Land use and cover changes within the Upper Pangani Sub catchment were analyzed between 1987 and 2017 using QGIS. The result shows that agriculture has expanded from 96,737 ha to 314,871 ha between 1987 and 2017. Bare land and built-up land have gained 14690 ha and 7083 ha respectively during this period. Land-use changes have affected the basin's land cover. Forest has decreased from 196558 ha to 106839 ha between 1987 and 2017. Bush land cover has lost 83445 ha during this period. Bushland cover fall victim to agricultural activities, whereas forest is cleared for logging and fire incidences. Consequently, surface runoff has increased from 60.84 to 73.02 (20.6% increase) between 1987 and 2017. Sediment yield has increase from 6.9 to 12.74 ton/ha (46% increase), and groundwater recharge has decreased from 106.53 to 99.56 (6.5% decrease). It concluded that land cover transformation alters hydrology characteristics of the catchment, resulting to fast surface flow, high rate of soil erosion and low infiltration rate. It is recommended that agro-forestry should be emphasized in the catchment.

Changing nature of Land surface temperature and transformation of vegetation cover and water bodies in the 2nd largest urban agglomeration of West Bengal, Eastern India

Land surface temperature (LST), vegetation and water are very crucial for maintaining a healthy urban ecosystem. Asansol is one of the fast growing urban industrial agglomerations of West Bengal in Eastern India. In the last few decades the city has experienced a rapid urban industrial expansion along with the population growth which is associated with the continuous increase of LST. Considering this the present study has been designed to explain the nature of LST changes and transformation of land cover over the last thirty years utilizing the Landsat imageries in GIS platforms. In this study changing nature of land surface temperature, vegetation cover and surface water bodies and their interrelationship over the last thirty years have been analysed. Landsat 5TM images of May and October for the year 1990, 2000 and 2010 and Landsat 8 OLI images of May and October for 2020 have been utilized in GIS platform. LST and different indices NDVI, MNDWI and NDBI have been extracted for analyzing the nature of change along with image classification. The results of the study depict that LST is increasing continuously. In the first decade (1990–2000) LST increased at 0.24 °C/year followed by an increasing rate of 0.33 °C/year in the second decade (2000–2010) and 0.37 °C/year in the last decade (2010–2020). Same trend is also perceived for built up area, where it increased at 0.96 km2/year, 1.71 km2/year, and 2.49 km2/year in corresponding decades. On the other hand, the vegetation cover is continuously decreasing (1.59 km2/year, 0.75 km2/year and 0.49 km2/year in consecutive decades) as well as the surface water bodies (0.62 km2/year in, 0.41 km2/year, and 0.25 km2/year in corresponding three decades) over the last thirty years. Correlation and regression analysis of land surface temperature and various indices shows positive relation between LST and NDBI, negative relation between LST and MNDWI, and also between LST and NDVI. Urban-industrial expansion is the important factor for increasing temperature and transforming vegetation and surface water bodies.