Remote Sensing And Gis Technique To Determine Perecentage Land Use Change Between 1986 -2018: Case Study; Ikwerre Lga Rivers State, Nigeria
Wokocha C.C
Institute Of Natural Resource, Environment And Sustainable Development (Inres) University Of Port Harcourt
Nti Joy U. E
Institute Of Natural Resource, Environment And Sustainable Development (Inres) University Of Port Harcourt
Abstract
Landsat imageries of Rivers State for 1986, 2000 and 2018, of 30m x 30m was utilized to delineate Ikwerre LGA. The generation of land use maps was performed in ArcGIS 10.5 and four land use types, built up areas,farmlands,water bodies and vegetation cover,were identified.The area and size of land use for each year was computed in squared kilometers (Km2). 48 communities under Ikwerre LGA, systematic sampling method was employed to delineate the LGA into four (4) main groups. Findings revealed that the size of vegetation cover decreased significantly between 1986 and 2018 from 504.48 km2 (75.23%) from total land area occupied in 1986 to 297.52 km2 (44.37%) in 2018. Indicating a loss of 30.86% (-206.96 km2) and a percentage change of -44.96% at the expense of other land use types identified especially the built up area land use. Built up area increased significantly from 59 .72 km2 (8.91%) land coverage in 1986 to 190.1 km2 (28.35%) in 2018 with a total percentage change of +130.38%. Land use types and vegetation cover spatial coverage recorded significant variation between 1986 and 2018. The causes of land use pressures identified were: farming (99.4%), buildings construction (53.3%), industrial activities (90.4%) and road construction (78.8%).