Multi-temporal Landsat Satellite Research Articles

Monitoring land use/land cover change using multi-temporal Landsat satellite images in an arid environment: a case study of El-Arish, Egypt

Environment in arid conditions is dynamic and needs more investigation to understand the complexity of change. This spatiotemporal study will help to assess and monitor the land use and land cover change in the arid region of El-Arish area, where the climate and human activities are the major threats to rural development. In the past 11 years, dramatic changes of environment have been recorded in case studies. The post-classification comparison method was used to observe the changes using multi-temporal satellite images which were captured in the years 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2010. The overall accuracy of the produced thematic images was assessed regarding to the quantity and allocation disagreements. Five classes were defined in this investigation: bare soil, vegetation, urban, sand dunes, and fertile soil. From the year 1999 to 2010, fertile soil was increased by 13 %. Bare soil class occupied more than 50 % of land in the case study during for over a decade. From year 1999 to 2010, vegetation cover witnessed a dramatic increase. Soil and water management are the keys of land development and positive land use and land cover dynamics. Changing agricultural policies of using the available water resources are needed in the case study to prevent severe food shortage in the future.

Developing a Great Lakes remote sensing community

Observational data collection of the Laurentian Great Lakes has advanced during the past decade to such a level as to allow real-time analysis from moorings and near real-time from satellite data. Ocean color satellite-based remote sensing provides a rich data set that when properly analyzed allows for the generation of geospatial maps of chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon, suspended minerals, harmful algae blooms (HABs), surface plumes, benthic vegetation communities, primary productivity (pp) and optical water properties (extinction coefficient (kd), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and photic zone depth) on a 2 m to 1 km grid dating back in some cases to the early 1970s. Microwave satellite sensors such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and scatterometers provide near real-time information on lake ice cover, winds and waves. Multi-temporal Landsat and ALOS PALSAR satellite data are also being used in the Great Lakes to map wetlands and invasive plantswithin these coastal areas. Airborne LiDARs alsoprovide useful nearshore water depth and bottom type mapping in Great Lakes waters. Making the most of such improvements in the historical Great Lakes datasetwill require diligence and a comprehensive strategy, with recognition of the importance of open collaboration in developing a regional working strategy for remote sensing technologies, sensor data applications, and the datamanagementmethods thatwill integrate the technologies within regional and global observation systems. The IOOS/Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), in collaboration with NOAA/GLERL, and in conjunction with the ongoing NOAA CoastWatch Great Lakes programwith its stakeholders that include federal, state, local government alongwith theprivate sector and academia, can implement into operational scenarios the suite of remote sensing algorithms developed to generate meaningful Great Lakes products.

Evolution of glacial lakes from the Northern Patagonia Icefield and terrestrial water storage in a sea-level rise context

An increase of glacial lake area of 66.0km2 has been measured at the periphery of the Northern Patagonia Icefield (NPI) between 1945 and 2011. Results have been obtained by digitizing the glacial lakes from Lliboutry's topographic map and from various multitemporal Landsat satellite scenes (1976, 1987, 2001 and 2011). This first complete glacial lake inventory of the NPI indicates a total lake area of 167.5±8.4km2 for 2011, which represents an increase of 64.9% with respect to the total glacial lake area of the NPI in 1945 (101.6±19.1km2). The highest area increase was experienced by the San Quintín Lake with an expansion of 18.0km2 in the 1945–2011 period. Using a volume–area scaling model, a total volume increase of 4.8km3 is estimated for the entire glacial lake population in the 66-year period. Based on the volumetric increase of the glacial lakes we compute a terrestrial water storage factor of 10% of the contribution of NPI to sea-level rise for the last decade (2001–2011), which is considered as a lower bound since lakes that have lost contact with the ice are not considered in the inventory. The increasing risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF's) due to the glacial lake enlargement is also discussed.

Impact of urbanization on land use/land cover of Dudhganga watershed of Kashmir Valley, India

The rapid rate of urban expansion due to a rise in population and economic growth is causing land use/land cover changes in fringe areas of Srinagar city especially in the Dudhganga watershed. This paper analyzes land use/land cover changes that occurred due to urban expansion and points out the major impact of urbanization on landscape through multi-temporal Landsat satellite data (1991 and 2010) of the Dudhganga watershed. In order to assess the pattern of urbanization, land consumption ratio (LCR) and land absorption coefficient (LAC) have been estimated. The results revealed that throughout the period of 1991–2010, the amount of built up area has increased dramatically whereas the area under agriculture has decreased drastically. The built-up area has experienced an increase of 5056 hectares while the area under agriculture has witnessed a decrease of 3241 hectares. The values of land consumption ratio and land absorption coefficient reveal remarkable changes at both spatial and temporal scales. The lower reaches of the watershed are becoming urbanized due to the outer growth of Srinagar city at the cost of prime agricultural land. Serious environmental problems have cropped up as a result of rapid urban development. If the present trend continues it will lead to severe degradation of natural resources of the watershed, hence it calls for a proper land use policy.

IMPACT OF THE ATATÜRK DAM LAKE ON AGRO-METEOROLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA REGION USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS ANALYSIS

Abstract. The Atatürk Dam is the fourth largest clay-cored rock fill dam in the world. It was constructed on the Euphrates River located in semi-arid Southeastern Turkey in the 1980s as the central component of a large-scale regional development project for the Southeastern Anatolia region (referred to as GAP). The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after filling up the reservoir was accomplished in 1992. The Atatürk Dam, which has a height of 169 m, a total storage capacity of 48.7 million m3, and a surface area of about 817 km2 plays an important role in the development of Turkey's energy and agriculture sectors. In this study, the spatial and temporal impacts of the Atatürk Dam on agro-meteorological aspects of the Southeastern Anatolia region have been investigated. Change detection and environmental impacts due to water-reserve changes in Atatürk Dam Lake have been determined and evaluated using multi-temporal Landsat satellite imageries and meteorological datasets within a period of 1984 to 2011. These time series have been evaluated for three time periods. Dam construction period constitutes the first part of the study. Land cover/use changes especially on agricultural fields under the Atatürk Dam Lake and its vicinity have been identified between the periods of 1984 to 1992. The second period comprises the 10-year period after the completion of filling up the reservoir in 1992. At this period, Landsat and meteorological time-series analyses are examined to assess the impact of the Atatürk Dam Lake on selected irrigated agricultural areas. For the last 9-year period from 2002 to 2011, the relationships between seasonal water-reserve changes and irrigated plains under changing climatic factors primarily driving vegetation activity (monthly, seasonal, and annual fluctuations of rainfall rate, air temperature, humidity) on the watershed have been investigated using a 30-year meteorological time series. For all images, geometric corrections including digital elevation information and Tasseled Cap transformations were carried out to attain changes in surface reflectance and denoting disturbance of Landsat reflectance data. Consequently, thematic maps of the affected areas were created by using appropriate visualization and classification techniques in conjunction with geographical information system. The resulting dataset was used in a linear trend analysis to characterize spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation-cover development. Analysis has been conducted in ecological units that have been determined by climate and land cover/use. Based on the results of the trend analysis and the primary factor analysis, selected parts of South-eastern Anatolia region are analyzed. The results showed that approximately 368 km2 of agricultural fields have been affected because of inundation due to the Atatürk Dam Lake. However, irrigated agricultural fields have been increased by 56.3% of the total area (1552 km2 of 2756km2) on Harran Plain within the period of 1984 – 2011. This study presents an effective method for time-series analysis that can be used to regularly monitor irrigated fields in the Southeastern Anatolia region.

Sensitivity analysis of the GEMS soil organic carbon model to land cover land use classification uncertainties under different climate scenarios in senegal

Abstract. Spatially explicit land cover land use (LCLU) change information is needed to drive biogeochemical models that simulate soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. Such information is increasingly being mapped using remotely sensed satellite data with classification schemes and uncertainties constrained by the sensing system, classification algorithms and land cover schemes. In this study, automated LCLU classification of multi-temporal Landsat satellite data were used to assess the sensitivity of SOC modeled by the Global Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS). The GEMS was run for an area of 1560 km2 in Senegal under three climate change scenarios with LCLU maps generated using different Landsat classification approaches. This research provides a method to estimate the variability of SOC, specifically the SOC uncertainty due to satellite classification errors, which we show is dependent not only on the LCLU classification errors but also on where the LCLU classes occur relative to the other GEMS model inputs.

Identificação de Cerrado Rupestre por meio de imagens multitemporais do Landsat: proposta metodológica

O Cerrado Rupestre corresponde a uma formação savânica do bioma Cerrado, ocorre em relevos acidentados e em meio a afloramentos rochosos, apresenta elevada biodiversidade e várias espécies endêmicas e funciona como barreira para a expansão agrícola. No estado de Goiás, ocorrências expressivas dessa fitofisionomia são encontradas no Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros (PNCV). O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver uma nova abordagem metodológica para discriminar Cerrado Rupestre do PNCV com base em imagens multitemporais do satélite Landsat. Sete cenas do referido satélite foram convertidas para reflectância de superfície terrestre com suporte do algoritmo de correção atmosférica denominado FLAASH (Fast Line-of-Sight Atmospheric Analysis of Spectral Hypercubes). Em seguida, os valores de reflectância de cada cena foram somados e as imagens resultantes foram processadas por meio da técnica de segmentação de imagens por crescimento de regiões. Os segmentos foram exportados para o formato shape e os polígonos correspondentes ao Cerrado Rupestre foram identificados por meio de análise visual na tela do computador da composição colorida falsa-cor das bandas 3, 4 e 5. Foram mapeados 24.451 hectares de Cerrado Rupestre, o que corresponde a 37% da área do parque. A exatidão global do mapeamento foi de 85%. Como continuação desta linha de pesquisa, recomenda-se a inclusão de um número maior de cenas, principalmente da estação chuvosa, a integração dos dados de sensoriamento remoto com modelos digitais de elevação e a análise sinergística entre os sensores ETM+ e TM do Landsat com calibração cruzada.

Multi-Temporal Analysis and Mapping of Coastal Erosion Caused by Open-Mining Areas

Coastal zones are exposed to erosion due to natural and human-induced activities around the world. The land use of the coastal zone in the northern part of Istanbul, Turkey, has been changing due to open-pit coal mining begun in 1980. The objective of this study is to determine the changes that occurred in a selected coastal zone by utilizing interpretations of multi-temporal LANDSAT satellite data. Satellite images of the zone taken during the years 1984, 1992, and 2001 were transformed to the universal transverse mercator (UTM) coordinate system, and 17 bands of images for each of these years were interpreted using layer-stack method. A new red, green, and blue (RGB) image including infrared band of each year was created. These findings show that 304.7 ha area of sea was filled with soil between years 1984 and 1992. However, the total area filled between 1984 and 2001 was only 67.7 ha, due to the fact that 237.0 ha was removed by coastal erosion after year 1992.

Developing a wetland condition prediction model using landscape structure variability

Recent studies found substantial variability in plant community integrity of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of central North Dakota, USA. We speculated that this variability might be connected to the nature of the surrounding landscapes and that a link might exist between landscape spatial metrics and wetland condition. We explored this potential link, using a case study in the PPR. A combination of remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and landscape spatial metrics was used to: 1) examine the condition-landscape pattern relationship of temporary and seasonal wetlands, and 2) develop a landscape-level decision support tool for rapid assessment of wetland condition. We sampled 73 wetlands in the study area. We used the Index of Plant Community Integrity (IPCI) as our measure of wetland condition. A wetland landscape was defined by a 300 m radius circular area (0.283 km2) around each habitat. Quantitative characterization of landscape pattern was conducted using metrics computed from land cover categorization maps processed from multi-temporal Landsat satellite data. Ordination of wetland samples in a multivariate space of landscape metrics using non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed strong associations between wetland condition and 10 landscape metrics, primarily among seasonal wetlands. The Landscape Wetland Condition Analysis Model (LWCAM) was developed and validated for rapid quantitative assessment of wetland condition. The model was based on three landscape metrics considered most important for use in the PPR: 1) grassland percent core area of landscape, 2) grassland largest patch index, and 3) the number of patches per unit area. We concluded that surrounding natural grasslands and landscape fragmentation were the most important influences on the structure and plant community condition of wetland ecosystems.

Monitoring coastal zone land use and land cover changes of Abu Dhabi using remote sensing

Coastal zones are most vulnerable for landuse changes in this rapid industrialization and urbanization epoch. It is necessary to evaluate land use — land cover (LULC) changes to develop efficient management strategies. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate and quantity Abu Dhabi coastal zone LULC changes from 1972 to 2000 using multi-temporal LANDSAT satellite data and digital change detection techniques. Supervised classification coupled with expert visual interpretation techniques were used to produce LULC classified images with an accuracy of 88%. Change detection process was achieved by applying post-classification comparison techniques in ENVI software. From this study it has been observed that the important coastal landuse types of Abu Dhabi coast .i.e. wetlands and woody Vegetation (Mangrove, represented by a single species,Avicennia marina) have been reduced drastically in their extent due to reclamation, dredging, tipping and other anthropogenic activities along the coastal zone. However, it has been observed that there is rapid increase in the man-made plantation and managed vegetation from 1990 to 2000 due to the Abu Dhabi government initiation. This study has given good insight into Abu Dhabi coastal zone changes during last 3 decades.

A modelled carbon account for Australia's post-1990 plantation estate

Summary Australia's national carbon account for afforestation and reforestation activities qualifying under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol between 2008 and 2012 can be estimated using a carbon accounting model supported by a range of forest-related data. Using inventories of current plantation areas and projected expansion of the plantation estate, it is possible to project carbon sequestration in 36 known plantation management regimes to give an annual national account of net (sequestration minus emissions) carbon stock change. Data for the modelling were provided through a range of studies undertaken for the development of the National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS). These included compendiums of available information on management regimes, plantation growth and yield, wood density, carbon contents and allocations to non- stem components of trees. Future refinements of the modelling will include the extraction of a ‘mask’ of relevant afforestation and reforestation activities from the continental multi-temporal Landsat satellite coverages of Australia developed for the NCAS. Other improvements will include the use of the NCAS national annual 1 km grid productivity mapping to determine variability in growth associated with variability in climate and soil characteristics. Soil carbon modelling capability using the Roth C model will also be possible when the spatial mapping is complete and details of plantation areas can be merged with the relevant maps of soils and climate.

An analysis of deforestation patterns in the extractive reserves of Acre, Amazonia from satellite imagery: A landscape ecological approach

Classified multi-temporal Landsat satellite imagery for one of the extractive reserves in Acre, Amazonia was classified into forest and cleared forest patches. Three indices of landscape structure were applied to the classified satellite imagery to characterize the impact of social and economic processes on the development of the forest landscape. The Lacunarity Index was used to measure landscape homogeneity, the Korcak Patchiness Index to measure the distribution of patches according to their size and the Area-Perimeter Fractal Exponent to measure change in the shape of cleared forest patches. The changing shape, size and spatial frequency of patches in the forest landscape showed that major changes in the forest landscape occurred between 1975-1989. Pre-1975 the region was mainly exploited by family groups who formed an extractive economy based on natural resources. By 1985 the economy had changed, with larger more regular patches indicating a transformed economy based on a settled and well developed farming economy. The techniques are important for measuring the human impact on fragile tropical ecosystems.

Change detection of the effect of severe drought on subsistence agropastoral communities on the Bolivian Altiplano

The purpose of this study was to identify the ecological effects of drought on the vegetation resources of subsistence agropastoral communities on the Bolivian Altiplano. The objectives of the study were to (1) characterize vegetation cover response during a typical year, and (2) identify vegetation cover type's response to drought using an image differencing change detection technique. A geographical information system (GIS), which included multi-temporal (from 1972-1987) Landsat satellite imagery, was used as the assessment tool. Vegetation index difference images showed that (1) all vegetation types were impacted by drought, but the wet meadow vegetation cover type had the least response, and (2) approximately 90 per cent of vegetation cover had not changed between 1972 and 1987. Crop and animal production in agropastoral systems are dependant on the availability of vegetation resources. The wet meadow vegetation type was the most resistant to drought, which suggests that during drought periods it is a key resource upon which the livestock of the community would depend. Little change in vegetation cover over the 15-year span of the study, and the rapid recovery of this parameter following the drought of 1983-84, suggest that agricultural practices (especially livestock grazing) are not contributing to resource degradation when measured only in terms of change in vegetation cover.

Potato crop distribution and subdivision on soil type and potential water deficit An integration of satellite imagery and environmental spatial database

Abstract This study-examines the use of multitemporal Landsat satellite radiance values to classify the potato crop. Using this data, the distribution and area of the crop within the Kincardine and Deeside District of Grampian Region is presented. The area and individual locations identified are found to be comparable to Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland statistical returns. The study also integrates the spatial distribution database with soil and potential water deficit data to generate statistical information on the proportion of the potato crop growing on drought susceptible soils.