Land-Use/Land Cover Changes Contribute to Land Surface Temperature: A Case Study of the Upper Indus Basin of Pakistan

Land-use/land cover (LULC) changes have an impact on land surface temperature (LST) at the local, regional, and global scales. To simulate the LULC and LST changes of the environmentally important area of northern Pakistan, this research focused on spatio-temporal LULC and associated LST changes since 1987 and made predictions to 2047. We classified LULC from Landsat TM and ETM data, using the maximum probability supervised categorization approach. LST was retrieved using the Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE) methodology. Furthermore, we simulated LULC using the integrated approaches of Cellular Automata (CA) and Weighted Evidence (WE) and used a regression model to predict LST. The built-up areas and vegetation have increased by 2.1% and 11% due to a decline in the barren land by −8.5% during the last 30 years. The LULC is expected to increase, particularly the built-up and vegetation classes by 2.74% and 13.66%, respectively, and the barren land would decline by −4.2% by 2047. Consequently, the higher LST classes (i.e., 27 °C to <30 °C and ≥30 °C) soared up by about 25.18% and 34.26%, respectively, during the study period, which would further expand to 30.19% and 14.97% by 2047. The lower LST class (i.e., 12 °C to <21 °C) indicated a downtrend of about −41.29% and would further decrease to −3.13% in the next 30 years. The study findings are useful for planning and management, especially for climatologists, land-use planners, and researchers in sustainable land use with rapid urbanization.

Utilizing Multi-Temporal Thermal Data To Assess Environmental Land Degradation Impacts: Example From Suez Canal Region, Egypt.

Land surface temperature (LST) analysis of Satellite data is critical for studying the impacts of geo-environmental, hydrometeorological, and land degradation. However, challenges arise to resolve the LST and ground field data resulting from the constant development of land use and land cover (LULC). This study aims to monitor, analyze, assess, and map the environmental land degradation impacts utilizing image processing and GIS tools of space-borne thermal data and fieldwork. Two thermal and optical sets of multi-temporal Landsat TM+5 and TIRS+8 satellite data dated 1984 and 2018 were used to test, detect, and map the thermal and LULC change and their land degradation in the Suez Canal region (SCR). The LULC classification was categorized into seven classes: water bodies, urban, agricultural land, barren land, wetland, clay, and salt crust. LULC and LST change detection and mapping results revealed that the impervious surface, industrial area, saline soil, and urban area have high LST, while wetlands, vegetation cover, and water bodies suffered low LST. The spectral, LST profiles and statistical analyses examined the association between LST and LULC deriving factors. The cluster analyses defined the relationship between LST and LC patterns at the LU level, where the fast transformation of LULC had significant changes in LST. According to these analyses and the fieldwork observations, the SCR was divided into six main areas. These areas vary in LST in association with land degradation and hydro-environmental impacts such as rising groundwater levels, salt accumulation, active seismic fault zones, water pollution, and urban and agricultural activities.

Remote sensing, GIS, and RUSLE in soil loss estimation in the Kulfo river catchment, Rift valley, Southern Ethiopia

Quantification of soil is crucial for maximizing the advantages of land resources while minimizing the negative consequences of land degradation in the long term. It will also make it possible to identify locations that need immediate soil erosion management. The present study was carried out in the Kulfo river catchment, Rift valley, Southern Ethiopia. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) method was utilized to estimate the mean yearly soil loss in the research region using remote sensing, other collateral data. The RUSLE model inputs were mapped and integrated into the ArcGIS software, and the results show that 0 and 1211 t ha−1year−1 are the minima and maximum soil loss in the present study area. Soil erosion-prone regions were divided into three categories: 0-42 t ha−1year−1 (low), 43-128 t ha−1 year−1 (medium), and > 128 t ha−1 year−1 (high). And the average rate of soil erosion is 68.47 t ha−1year−1. Low, medium, and high soil erosion areal extent and area percentages in the current research area is 270 km2 (77 %), 61 km2 (17 %), and 19 km2 (6%), respectively. A high rate of soil erosion was found where high steep slope, barren land, and high precipitation occurred in the present study area. The current study's outcomes were confirmed by comparing soil loss estimates in the same geo-environmental conditions found in Ethiopia's highlands. The outcome of this study is important for decision-makers and policymakers.

Dynamic of the Land Use and Land Cover Change in Banyuwangi Regency From 1995-2019

The land use and land cover change phenomenon has become one concern over many regions worldwide, including Indonesia. Land use and land cover change due to human activities triggered alteration terrestrial ecosystems and its services including climate control functions. The study aimed to analyze land use and land cover change in Banyuwangi regency during 1995 – 2019. Four satellite images from acquisition year 1995, 2000, 2014 and 2019 were used to analyze the spatial and temporal changes along with field observations. The classification processes of land use and land cover included determination of training areas, supervised classification, and accuracy assessment. There are 12 land use and land cover based on supervised classification as follow primary forest, secondary forest, plantation forest, mangrove forest, plantation, settlement, cropland, paddy field, shrubs, water, fishpond and barren land. The result showed during observation period of 1995 until 2019 land use and land cover which tends to decrease are secondary forest, mangrove forest, and rice fields. On the other hand, the area of settlements, shrubs and fishponds were increased significantly.

Integrated Approach to Quantify the Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Water Quality of Surma River, Sylhet, Bangladesh

This study aims to assess the impacts of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on the water quality of the Surma river in Bangladesh. For this, seasonal water quality changes were assessed in comparison to the LULC changes recorded from 2010 to 2019. Obtained results from this study indicated that pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations were higher during the dry season, while dissolved oxygen (DO), 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5), temperature, total suspended solids (TSS), and total solids (TS) concentrations also changed with the season. The analysis of LULC changes within 1000-m buffer zones around the sampling stations revealed that agricultural and vegetation classes decreased; while built-up, waterbody and barren lands increased. Correlation analyses showed that BOD5, temperature, EC, TDS, and TSS had a significant relationship (5% level) with LULC types. The regression result indicated that BOD5 was sensitive to changing waterbody (predictors, R2 = 0.645), temperature was sensitive to changing waterbodies and agricultural land (R2 = 0.889); and EC was sensitive to built-up, vegetation, and barren land (R2 = 0.833). Waterbody, built-up, and agricultural LULC were predictors for TDS (R2 = 0.993); and waterbody, built-up, and barren LULC were predictors for TSS (R2 = 0.922). Built-up areas and waterbodies appeared to have the strongest effect on different water quality parameters. Scientific finding from this study will be vital for decision makers in developing more robust land use management plan at the local level.

Decadal Modeling (2004-2021) Ecosystem Recovery Impacted by Mount Semeru Eruption Volcanic Activities using Vegetation Succession as a Proxy in the Lava Flow Stream

Volcano eruptions undoubtly cause environmental impacts and damages. After the eruption, there will be vast barren land that was previously fertile ground covered by vegetation and tree line. Lava from an eruption will flow to the land via a river stream, destroying everything in its path, including vegetation. While the ecosystem actually has an ability to recover. The natural process of ecosystem recovery is related to the succession of vegetation. Then this study aims to assess and model how the ecosystem can recover and how the vegetation can respond to the damage caused by Semeru, one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions on Java island. The study areas were 2 regions that had been impacted by the Semeru lava flow for the period of 2004&ndash;2021. Based on the results, the ecosystem recovery of Semeru post-eruption was achieved within 5 years. During this time, the vegetation succession rate, as measured by vegetation cover, increased nearly ten folds. The post-eruption ecosystem recovery was indicated by the ecosystem transformation from a damaged ecosystem indicated by a lava-dominated surface to one with the presence of vegetation and hardened lava. The recovered ecosystem in Semeru's posteruption was composed of solid lava covers (39%), liquid lava (34%), and vegetation covers (27%).Then, the presence of vegetation and its succession rate can be used as a proxy of ecosystem recovery after a vast volcanic eruption.

The Dynamics of Canal Colonies; Agricultural Development and Socio-Political Change in British Multan

Punjab was the last province which annexed with British India in 1949.British implemented many reforms in sub-continent, but Canal Colonies were excellent irrigation system introduced by the British, especially in the south west part of the Punjab province. These canal colonies proved very useful for the agriculture sector which boost up the not only the economic condition of the native people of the colonies areas but also increase revenue collection of the British government in India. Canal Colonies changed the arid/ barren land of the southern district of the province into a fertile land. British government also achieved their objectives through canal colonies. Therefore, government allotted the land of the canal colonies in different categories and rewarded some specific classes in native communities of the canal colonies. In canal colonies government reserved huge piece of land for their military objective because Indian Military was necessary for the strong law and order in British India and their strong influence in Middle East and other parts of the world. These canal colonies bring an agriculture revolution in the province which change the socio-economic condition of the people of the native districts. In Multan three major canal colonies were introduced, Sidhnai, Lower Bari Doab and Nili Bar canal colony. In these canal colonies British government also implemented same polices like the previous canal colonies of the province. Therefore, the in Multan district landed elites were loyal and cooperative with government with their wealth and men. These landed elites played important role at political canvas of the province during British rule in Multan.

CHANGE DETECTION IN LAND USE AND LAND COVER OF DISTRICT CHARSADDA PAKISTAN ALONG RIVER KABUL (2010 FLOOD): TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND REMOTE SENSING

This study aims to quantify land use and land cover changes before and after the 2010 flood in district Charsadda, Pakistan. Advanced geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques (RST) evaluate land use and land cover changes. The purpose of this research is to estimate and compare the pre-and post-flood changes and their influences on land use and land cover changes. Land use land cover data studies are important for sustainable management of natural resources; they are becoming increasingly important for assessing the environmental impacts of economic development. Moreover, some remedial measures are adopted to develop the area’s land cover to overcome future problems. Land use and land cover changes are measured using satellite images. Two instances, i.e., pre-flood and post-flood, are compared to analyze the change in land use and land cover of district Charsadda within 5 km along the Kabul River. Comparative analysis of pre-flood and post-flood imageries highlighted some drastic changes over the water body, built-up area, agricultural land, and bare land during flood instances. The study area is rural and agricultural land is dominant as compared to other land uses. We evaluated the percentage of different land use and land cover within our study area. The agricultural land found about 68.5%, barren land 22.5%, and the water body 8.8% before the flood. After inundation, the water body raised to 16.4%, bare soil increased to 26.3%, agricultural land degraded up to 57.0%, and settlements (villages) along the Kabul River were severely damaged and finished by this flood. 2010’s flood heavily damaged approximately four villages in district Nowshera, six in district Peshawar, and twenty-seven Charsadda District villages.

The Heterogeneous Impact of High-Speed Railway on Urban Expansion in China

High-speed railway (HSR) promote the efficient flow of the population and materials between cities and have profoundly affected urban economic development in China. However, there is currently limited research about how HSR influences urban expansion, especially related to the variable impacts on different urban agglomerations, different size cities, and the conversion of non-urban land to urban land. In this study, from two levels of regional heterogeneity and type heterogeneity, a multi-stage difference-in-differences (multi-stage DID) model and land use remote sensing data are used to investigate these research areas. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The first opening of HSR had a more significant role in promoting urban expansion than HSR frequency, but several years after opening, HSR no longer promotes urban expansion. (2) The opening of HSR only played a significant role in promoting urban expansion in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei. HSR frequency had a significant role in promoting urban expansion in the Yangtze River Delta. (3) The opening of HSR had no significant impact on urban expansion for different size cities, and HSR frequency only had a significant negative impact on urban expansion of small cities. (4) The first opening of HSR led to urban expansion dominated by the occupation of cultivated land. Cities in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia mainly converted barren land and vegetation cover to urban land after the first opening of HSR. In northeast China, the first opening of HSR made the conversion of vegetation cover and cultivated land to urban land roughly equivalent in size. The results of this study are helpful to understand the impact of the first opening of HSR and the scale of conversion of different types of non-urban land into urban land on urban expansion. In the era of HSR, these findings provide a valuable reference for regional planning and preventing the disorderly expansion of cities.

Energy Exchange and Evapotranspiration over the Ejina Oasis Riparian Forest Ecosystem with Different Land-Cover Types

Investigating the energy and water vapor exchange in oasis riparian forest ecosystems is of significant importance to improve scientific understanding of land surface processes in extreme arid regions. The Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) provided many observations of water vapor and heat fluxes from riparian forest ecosystem by using a network of eddy-covariance (EC) systems installed over representative surfaces in the Ejina Oasis, which is located in the downstream areas of the Heihe River Basin, northwestern China. Based on EC flux measurements and meteorological data performed at five stations and covering representative surface types of Populus euphratica tree with associated Tamarix chinensis shrub, Tamarix chinensis shrubland, cantaloupe cropland, and barren-land, this study explored the spatio-temporal patterns of heat and water vapor fluxes over the Ejina Oasis riparian forest ecosystem with five different surface types over the course of a growing season in 2014. Energy balance closure of the flux data was evaluated; footprint analysis for each EC site was also performed. Results showed that energy balance closure for the flux data was reasonably good, with average energy balance ratio (EBR) of 1.03. The seasonal variations in net radiation (Rn), latent (LE), and sensible heat flux (H) over the five contrasting surfaces were similar, and a reverse seasonal change was observed in energy partitioning into LE and H. Remarkable differences in Rn, LE, and H between the five surfaces were explored preliminarily, associated closely with the soil properties and foliage phenology. Over the growing season (May–October) in 2014, the total ET ranged 622–731 mm for mixed forest of P. euphratica trees with associated T. chinensis shrubs with average daily ET of 3.6–4.2 mm; ET from T. chinensis shrubland was about 541 mm, with average daily ET of 3.6 mm. ET for barren-land was 195 mm. The total ET in irrigated cantaloupe cropland with plastic mulch was 431 mm for its four-month growing period with a total average of 3.8 mm d−1. Determination of ET over riparian forest ecosystem helps to improve reasonable use of limited water resource in the Ejina Oasis.