Land use/cover Change Detection Using Remotely Sensed Data and GIS (1984 - 2014) Case Study: Al-Ubayyid Area- Sudan

Abstract

This study was conducted in the Al-Ubayyid Area in North Kordofan State (1985 to 2014), its aim was to assess the Land use/cover change using Remote Sensing and GIS technologies. A supervised (Maximum likelihood) method was implemented for land cover classifications. The overall results from the change detection report show a noticeable change in the land use classes during the study period of (1984 – 2014. During the period 1984 – 1994, there was a decrease of bare land 1 and vegetation, and a significant expansion of urban areas; this might go back to heavy migration of rural people to the city due to conflicts and drought. During (1994 – 2014), there was an observable loss of sand and water, and a gradual increase of vegetation; this might be attributable to intensive afforestation programs followed by the construction of the green belt of Al-Ubayyid area. During the period 1984 – 2014,  there was a dramatic increase of bare land 2 and urban areas, and a decrease of bare land 1 and sand. The research concludes that urban growth has led the city to expand outward at the expense of vegetation cover and bare land. However, in the absence of wise; land management, serious land use problems will occur in the near future. This might negatively impact the ecosystems of the whole area of North Kordofan State.

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