scholarly journals Water Resources Dynamics and Vulnerability in Rusizi National Park (Burundi) from 1984 to 2015, in the Context of Climate Change and Global Warming

Author(s):  
Ntiranyibagira Elysée ◽  
Sambou Bienvenu ◽  
Abou Thiam ◽  
Naramabuye François Xavier ◽  
Uwiringiyimana Thacienne ◽  
...  

The study of water resources’ dynamics and vulnerability in Rusizi national Park aimed to achieve the following objectives: (1) to identify, characterize and map water bodies, (2) to analyze and explain their periodical evolutions and (3) to analyze the spatial transformation processes affecting them. It is a contribution to the knowledge of the Park’s water resources for the development of monitoring systems and the sustainability of their functions as strategic ecosystems. It is based on the diachronic analysis of land cover from multi-date Landsat images of years 1984, 1990 and 2011 (TM), 2000 (ETM+) and 2015 (OLI-TIRS), landscape ecology tools and socio-economic and climate data. Supervised classification of images allowed the identification of 9 to 10 land cover classes including water bodies, according to years. A total number of 17 water bodies were detected from 1984 to 2015. During this period, regularly detected and dried up water bodies represent 18.2% and 54.6% respectively. The rates of water bodies’ drying up were 69.2% in 2000 and 64.2% in 2015. Water bodies are experiencing a great deterioration in number, size and stability. The Park's water coverage has decreased from 3.56% in 1984 to 2.43% in 2015. This corresponds to a decline of 31.2%. The water bodies’ stability, which was 75.70% between 1984 and 1990, represents only 42.78% between 1984 and 2015. The stability of individual water bodies is decreasing as well while low spatial connectivities are being observed between some close water bodies. The spatial transformation processes carrying these dynamics are patch enlargement, patch creation, patch attrition and patch dissection, depending on the period. Global warming, rainfall variability and farming activities like land drainage and irrigation are the most important threats to water resources.

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 691
Author(s):  
Bernardo Starling Dorta do Amaral ◽  
João Filadelfo de Carvalho Neto ◽  
Richarde Marques da Silva ◽  
José Carlos Dantas

As características específicas das chuvas variam entre regiões, e o conhecimento da sua potencialidade erosiva é necessário para o planejamento dos recursos hídricos. Este estudo determinou a erosividade, analisou a variabilidade espacial da precipitação e o coeficiente de chuva para o Estado da Paraíba mediante técnicas de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica. Para a realização deste estudo foram utilizados dados climatológicos de 98 estações climatológicas da Embrapa, com séries de 1911 a 1990. Em seguida as informações sobre a erosividade foram processadas cartograficamente. O valor médio anual da erosividade das chuvas com base no índice EI30 para o Estado da Paraíba foi de 5.032,03 MJ.mm/ha/h, valor que representa o Fator “R” da Equação Universal de Perdas de Solo (USLE). As equações de regressão entre erosividade e precipitação e coeficiente de chuva não foram significativas. As principais conclusões são que: (a) os índices de erosividade encontrados são maiores na zona litorânea do que nas demais porções do Estado, e (b) as erosividades encontradas variaram de acordo com os valores da precipitação.   A B S T R A C T Specific rainfall characteristics vary among regions and their erosion potential must be known for the planning of water resources. This study analyzed the erosivity and rainfall variability and precipitation coefficient for Paraíba State based on Geographic Information Systems techniques. In order In this paper 98 climatological stations of Embrapa were used, with rainfall data of 1911 to 1990. For this study we use d climate data from 98 weather stations of Embrapa, with series from 1911 to 1990. Additionally we processed the information of the erosivity index cartographically by year and microregions. The mean annual value of erosivity was 5,032.03 MJ.mm/ha/h, which is to be used as “R” Factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for Paraíba State and surrounding regions with similar climatic conditions. The main conclusions are that: (a) erosivity indexes are higher in coastal areas than in inland areas, and (b) the erosivity range according to the precipitation.   Keywords: erosivity, rainfall, water resources   


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Brinkmann ◽  
Ellen Hoffmann ◽  
Andreas Buerkert

Asian megacities have attracted much scientific attention in the context of global urbanization, but few quantitative studies analyze wetland transformation in the rural–urban interface. With its rampant growth and transformation from a tree-lined “Garden City” to a busy megalopolis with often-blocked highways and large built-up areas, Bengaluru (Karnataka, S-India) is a good example for assessing how urbanization has led to the acute degradation of wetlands. We therefore investigated long-term land cover and wetland changes from 1965 to 2018 based on an object-based classification of multi-temporal Corona and Landsat images. To quantify and compare the dynamics of open water surfaces and vegetation, we defined the potential wetland areas (PWA) along the rural–urban gradient and linked our analyses to an index describing the degree of urbanization (survey stratification index (SSI)). During the five decades studied, built-up areas in the Bengaluru Urban district increased ten-fold, with the highest growth rate from 2014 to 2018 (+ 8% annual change). Patches of lake wetlands were highly dynamic in space and time, partly reflecting highly variable annual rainfall patterns ranging from 501 mm in 1965 to 1374 mm in 2005 and monsoon-driven alterations in the hydrologic regime. While water bodies and flooded areas shrunk from 64 km2 in 1965 to 55 km2 in 2018, in 1965, the total rural wetland area with an SSI > 0.5 was twice as high as in 2018. The rural–urban land cover pattern within potential wetland areas changed drastically during this period. This is reflected, for example, by a four-fold increase in the wetland area with an SSI of 0.3, as compared to a decline by 43% in wetland area with an SSI of 0.8. While, in urban areas, wetlands were mostly lost to construction, in areas with a rural character, open water bodies were mainly transformed into green space. The detected changes in urban wetlands were likely accompanied by ecological regime changes, triggering deteriorations in ecosystem services (ESS) which merit further research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (45) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ezequiel Gómez-Rodríguez ◽  
Francisco José Molina-Pérez ◽  
Diana María Agudelo-Echavarría ◽  
Julio Eduardo Cañón-Barriga ◽  
Fabio De Jesús Vélez-Macías

The municipality of Nechí (Antioquia, Colombia) has a long mining history associated with the extraction of gold. This paper evaluates the evolution of land cover changes caused by this mining activity over 24 years. The spatial analysis was based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of three LANDSAT images (1986, 1996 and 2010). The difference in NDVI values between 1986 and 2010 were used to determine the actual state of vegetation, the direction of change (improvement, stability or deterioration), and the area associated with each soil cover. Polygons for different types of coverage (forest, pasture, bare soil, and water bodies) were extracted from each satellite image to quantify the changes and develop land cover maps for each year. Results show that almost 124.8 km² of forest have been lost during the analyzed period. By contrast, water bodies gained an area of 66.3 km². Both results may be related to the type of gold exploitation in the region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 921 (1) ◽  
pp. 012024
Author(s):  
A K M Ginting Monthe ◽  
R Padjung ◽  
P Dale

Abstract National parks in Indonesia are valuable assets for the next generations. The urgency to maintain and protect their existence from land degradation and deforestation is an obligation. Moreover, deforestation is the most severe threat to biodiversity. In Kalimantan, deforestation is happening and usually leads to economic loss and poverty. Despite this habitat loss, our ability to quantify deforestation in certain areas to improve mitigation measures, meet the needs of agricultural land, and increases local communities’ resilience and ensure that their customary rights. This study aims to provide models to assess the deforestation rate in Kayan Mentarang National Park and give recommendation action based on existing Land Use Zonation. To achieve this aim, firstly Landsat images was obtained and analysed to produce land use and land cover classification. However, cloud coverage in this area is more than 30% which is too difficult to classify the land cover area. This research use alternative resources from JAXA to generate deforestation map at study area. Then compile this map into map of Land Use Zonation of KMNP to provide specific location of deforestation occurrence. The result showed that deforestation rate at KMNP is low, around 3% and the Traditional Zone has the biggest amount of deforestation occurrence; 18.727 hectare. This finding would give information to the government of KMNP to accelerate empowerment program among indigenous people in term of utilizing their customary land in this zone. Moreover, this research suggest the best practical way to evaluate deforestation occurrence in KMNP area followed by specific recommendation of each land use zonation of KMNP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-328
Author(s):  
Suraj Prasad Bist ◽  
Rabindra Adhikari ◽  
Raju Raj Regmi ◽  
Rajan Subedi

The present study was conducted in the Mohana watershed of Far-western Nepal to assess land use land cover change. The study has used ArcGIS and three Landsat images - Landsat TM (1999), Landsat ETM+ (2009), and Landsat OLI (2019) – to analyze land use the land cover change of the watershed. The change matrix technique was used for change detection analysis. The study area was classified into five classes; forest, agriculture, built-up, water bodies, and barren lands. The study has found that among the five identified classes forest and build-up increased positively from 45.40 % to 51.51 % - forest cover and 11.26 % to 19. 85 % - build-up respectively. Similarly, agricultural land and water bodies initially increased but after 2009 both land cover areas decreased to 23.79 % and 0.73 % from 31.38 % and 0.97 % in 2009 respectively. Barren land decreased from 15.37% to 4.12% over the last 20 years. This study might support land-use planners and policymakers to adopt the best suitable land use management option for the Mohana watershed.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wakjira Takala Dibaba ◽  
Tamene Adugna Demissie ◽  
Konrad Miegel

Understanding the trajectories and extents of land use/land cover change (LULCC) is important to generate and provide helpful information to policymakers and development practitioners about the magnitude and trends of LULCC. This study presents the contributing factors of LULCC, the extent and implications of these changes for sustainable land use in the Finchaa catchment. Data from Landsat images 1987, 2002, and 2017 were used to develop the land use maps and quantify the changes. A supervised classification with the maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify the images. Key informant interviews and focused group discussions with transect walks were used for the socio-economic survey. Over the past three decades, agricultural land, commercial farm, built-up, and water bodies have increased while forestland, rangeland, grazing land, and swampy areas have decreased. Intensive agriculture without proper management practice has been a common problem of the catchment. Increased cultivation of steep slopes has increased the risk of erosion and sedimentation of nearby water bodies. Multiple factors, such as biophysical, socio-economic, institutional, technological, and demographic, contributed to the observed LULCC in the study area. A decline in agricultural yield, loss of biodiversity, extended aridity and drought, land and soil degradation, and decline of water resources are the major consequences of LULCC in the Finchaa catchment. The socio-economic developments and population growth have amplified the prolonged discrepancy between supply and demand for land and water in the catchment. More comprehensive and integrated watershed management policies will be indispensable to manage the risks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 2984
Author(s):  
Ali Hamoud AL-Falahi ◽  
Naeem Saddique ◽  
Uwe Spank ◽  
Solomon H. Gebrechorkos ◽  
Christian Bernhofer

Management of water resources under climate change is one of the most challenging tasks in many arid and semiarid regions. A major challenge in countries, such as Yemen, is the lack of sufficient and long-term climate data required to drive hydrological models for better management of water resources. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of accessible satellite and reanalysis-based precipitation products against observed data from Al Mahwit governorate (highland region, Yemen) during 1998–2007. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) data, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks-Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM 3B42), Unified Gauge-Based Analysis of Global Daily Precipitation (CPC), and European Atmospheric Reanalysis (ERA-5). The evaluation was performed on daily, monthly, and annual time steps by directly comparing the data from each single station with the data from the nearest grid box for each product. At a daily timescale, CHIRPS captures the daily rainfall characteristics best, such as the number of wet days, with average deviation from wet durations around 11.53%. TRMM 3B42 is the second-best performing product for a daily estimate with an average deviation of around 34.7%. However, CFSR (85.3%) and PERSIANN-CDR (103%) and ERA-5 (−81.13%) show an overestimation and underestimation of wet days and do not reflect rainfall variability of the study area. Moreover, CHIRPS is the most accurate gridded product on a monthly basis with high correlation and lower bias. The average monthly correlation between the observed and CHIRPS, TRMM 3B42, PERSIANN-CDR, CPC, ERA-5, and CFSR is 0.78, 0.56, 0.53, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.51, respectively. The average monthly bias is −2.9, −5.25, 7.35, −25.29, −24.96, and 16.68 mm for CHIRPS, TRMM 3B42, PERSIANN-CDR, CPC, ERA-5, and CFSR, respectively. CHIRPS displays the spatial distribution of annual rainfall pattern well with percent bias (Pbias) of around −8.68% at the five validation points, whereas TRMM 3B42, PERSIANN-CDR, and CFSR show a deviation of greater than 15.30, 22.90, and 66.21%, respectively. CPC and ERA-5 show Pbias of about −88.6% from observed data. Overall, in absence of better data, CHIRPS data can be used for hydrological and climate change studies on the highland region of Yemen where precipitation is often episodical and measurement records are spatially and temporally limited.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7761
Author(s):  
Abdelkader Bardadi ◽  
Zahira Souidi ◽  
Marianne Cohen ◽  
Mohamed Amara

The Tlemcen region is characterized by very diverse and steep areas exposed to gravity hazards, especially in high and medium mountain areas. Tlemcen National Park was chosen for this study, the main objective of which is to map fragile areas in close relation to reduced vegetation cover due to land-use changes and forest fires. Multi-source data were used to monitor land use/land cover (LULC)patterns in the study area between 1987 and 2017. The methodology is based on an object-oriented classification of the Landsat images, using the K nearest neighbor method for mapping the major LULC classes at the national park level. The results show that LULC is constantly changing in the study area. In 1987, the landscape was made up of (16.5%) oak forests (holm oak, cork oak, zean oak) and Aleppo pine, which then deteriorated following repeated fires in the nineties to barely represent 7.22% of the surface in 1995, followed by a fast forest reclamation, with the forest area doubling in 10 years (13.46% of the area in 2005), and a near stabilization of the forest cover in 2017 with 14.68% of the area. These mutations are mainly due to fluctuations in anthropogenic action. Despite past declines and disturbances, the current forested area in the Tlemcen area represents significant forest capital classified as a national park to be protected and developed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwami Coco Dzidula Agbewornu

One of the most important climatic phenomena of our planet on the threshold of this third millennium is undoubtedly that of global warming. This phenomenon, whose impact on the global environment is disastrous, has been attracting the attention of the international community since the end of the last century. Global warming can be observed on a global scale, but with regional and local signatures. In Togo, the Maritime region which houses the bulk of industrial activities (90%) and densely populated (40% of the national population), would be more exposed to the effects of global warming than all the other regions of the country. The current study uses meteorological and hydrological data to calculate statistical indexes which show the evolution of temperatures and water resources variability. The aim is to detect the signs of global warming and the variability of water resources in order to envisage better adaptation strategies. The results of the analysis of climate data for a long enough period (30 to 50 years) demonstrated a change on rain distribution after 1960 which is prejudicial to rainfall agriculture practiced by about 90% of Togolese crop growers, and an augmentation of the average temperature about 2.2 degree celsius for Lomé and 1.7 degree celsius for Tabligbo.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 2891-2941 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Minora ◽  
D. Bocchiola ◽  
C. D'Agata ◽  
D. Maragno ◽  
C. Mayer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Karakoram is one of the most glacierized region worldwide, and glaciers therein are the main water resource of Pakistan. The attention paid to this area is increasing, because the evolution of its glaciers recently depicted a situation of general stability, known as "Karakoram Anomaly", in contrast to glacier retreat worldwide. Here we focused our attention upon the glacier evolution within the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP, a newborn park of this region, ca. 12 162 km2 in area) to assess the magnitude and rate of such anomaly. By means of Remote Sensing data (i.e.: Landsat images), we analyzed a sample of more than 700 glaciers, and we found out their area change between 2001 and 2010 is not significant (+27 km2 ± 42 km2), thus confirming their stationarity. We analyzed climate data, snow coverage from MODIS, and supraglacial debris presence, as well as potential (con-) causes. We found a slight decrease of summer temperatures (down to −1.5 °C during 1980–2009) and an increase of wet days during winter (up +3.3 days yr−1 during 1980–2009), possibly increasing snow cover duration, consistently with MODIS data. We further detected considerable supra-glacial debris coverage (ca. 20% of the glacier area which rose up to 31% considering only the ablation area), which could have reduced buried ice melting during the last decade. These results provide further ground to uphold the existence of the Karakoram Anomaly, and present an useful template for assessment of water availability within the glaciers of the CKNP.


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