Remote Sensing Information Sciences Research Group, Santa Barbara Information Sciences Research Group, year 3

Research continues to focus on improving the type, quantity, and quality of information which can be derived from remotely sensed data. The focus is on remote sensing and application for the Earth Observing System (Eos) and Space Station, including associated polar and co-orbiting platforms. The remote sensing research activities are being expanded, integrated, and extended into the areas of global science, georeferenced information systems, machine assissted information extraction from image data, and artificial intelligence. The accomplishments in these areas are examined

Geographical Determinants of the Structural and Functional Growth of Damaturu Town in Yobe State, Nigeria

Damaturu town became the capital of Yobe State when the state was created in 1991. Since then, the town has been experiencing rapid changes in the landuse/landcover types due to urban expansion, economic development, and social transformation in the town. This study examined the geographical determinants of the growth of Damaturu town from 1986 to 2009. The satellite imageries of Damaturu were obtained processed and analysed using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques to determine the growth rate of the town within the period of study. This was complemented with the information acquired from the field survey to achieve the objectives of the study. Findings revealed that within this period (1991-1999), Damaturu built-up area increased about four times while the urban area increased more than four times. This significant growth was influenced by the location of the administrative offices and housing estates at the periphery of the town, categorisation of the land into administrative, residential, commercial, and industrial areas; as well as the transportation network and substantial population growth within the period. The most influential change within the second period (1999-2005) was increased agriculture and significant urban expansion. Within the current period (2005-2009), the urban area expanded by about 22Km2. This remarkable expansion of urban area is responsible for the significant reduction of more than two-third of Damaturu wetland and significant reduction of shrub land. The geographical determinants of change within the period is the location of the State University, the construction of over 1000 housing units at Gujba and Gashua roads, as well as the relocation of other government ministries and agencies far away from the centre of Damaturu town. Besides, the structural growth of the town within this period engulfed four nearby villages. This study demonstrated the role of Remote Sensing and GIS techniques in understanding the dynamics of urban growth. Therefore, GIS should be employed for continuous monitoring and management of landuse change in the town to control development

Land utilization and ecological aspects in the Sylhet-Mymensingh Haor Region of Bangladesh: An analysis of LANDSAT data

The use of remote sensing data from LANDSAT (ERTS) imageries in identifying, evaluating and mapping land use patterns of the Haor area in Bangladesh was investigated. Selected cloud free imageries of the area for the period 1972-75 were studied. Imageries in bands 4, 5 and 7 were mostly used. The method of analysis involved utilization of both human and computer services of information from ground, aerial photographs taken during this period and space imageries

Identification & Mapping of Mustard Cultivation Sites Using a Multi Criteria Evaluation Approach (MCEA) for Kamrup District of Assam, India

Land suitability analysis is a pre requisite to achieve optimum utilization of available land resources for sustainable agricultural management. One of the most important agriculture related issues in the state of Assam is to improve the agricultural output with an efficient use of available land resources. Agriculture is the prime economic activity for most of the people of Assam but the overall production figures for different agricultural crops are still stands at a notably lower level compared to the national average. The aim of the present study is to assess the physical land suitability level for Mustard crop using a Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) method with the help of GIS Remote sensing tool. The existing pattern of physiographic, meteorological and soil based components were thoroughly considered for the identification mapping of mustard cultivation sites of Kamrup district with the help of geospatial tool. Present Landuse/Land cover scenario of the study area highlights that although a substantial portion out of the total geographical area falls under agricultural landuse category but it has distinctly been noticed that a major shrunk of future suitable area are till unutilized. The landuse/land cover statistics of the area shows that the Mustard cultivation is confined to only 178.82 sq.km area which shows a huge possibility of further increase in Mustard cultivation sites in coming years. “Overlay analysis†method in GIS based environment was applied to prepare an “Index model†for multi criteria analysis of different natural and soil parameters. Finally, the results show that mustard cultivation sites are mainly concentrated only in the plain areas and in the river adjacent fertile tracts adjacent to river Brahmaputra and its tributaries

Natural Resource Mapping for Development Plan Using Geospatial Technology

Geospatial technology includes three different technologies that are all related to mapping features on the surface of the earth. These three technology systems are RS (Remote sensing), GIS (Geographical Information System) and GPS (Global Positioning System).Geospatial technology and its scope of applications have undergone significant change since its advent. It has now been universally accepted as the most important modern tool for mapping and monitoring of various natural resources as well as amenities and infrastructure. The huge and voluminous spatial database generated from various remote sensing platforms needs proper management like storage, retrieval, manipulation and analysis to extract desired information, which is beyond the capability of human brain. This is where the computer-aided GIS technology came into existence. A GIS with major inputs from remote sensing satellites for natural resource management must be able to handle the spatio-temporal data, supporting spatio-temporal quarries and other spatial operations. Software and the computer-based tools are designed to make things easier to the user and to improve the efficiency and quality of information processing tasks. The Bina region has attracted the attention of the planners from the beginning of Five Year Plans for industrial development. A number of projects were carried out in individual districts (Sagar, Vidisha, Guna and Ashoknagar) which also gave fruitful results, but no serious efforts have been made for the entire region. No efforts were made to use geospatial technologies like remote sensing, GIS, GPS to prepare a well structured computerized database without which it is very different to retrieve, analyses and compare data for monitoring as well as for planning the developmental activities in future. Keywords: Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS, Facilities & Amenities

Urban sprawl analysis and modeling in Asmara, Eritreia: Application of Geospatial Tools

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.Urbanization pattern of Greater Asmara Area for the last two decades (1989 to 2009) and a prediction for the coming ten years was studied. Satellite images and geospatial tools were employed to quantify and analyze the spatiotemporal urban land use changes during the study periods. The principal objective of this thesis was to utilize satellite data, with the application of geospatial and modeling tools for studying urban land use change. In order to achieve this, satellite data for three study periods (1989, 2000 and 2009) have been obtained from USGS. Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA); and image classification with Nearest Neighbor algorithm in eCognition Developer 8 have been accomplished. In order to assess the validation of the classified LULC maps, Kappa measure of agreement has been used; results were above minimum and acceptable level. ArcGIS and IDRISI Andes have been employed for LUCC quantification; spatiotemporal analysis of the urban land use classes;to examine the land use transitions of the land classes and identify the gains and losses in relation to built up area; and to characterize impacts of the changes. Since, the major concern of the study was urban expansion, the LULC classes were reclassified in to built up and non-built up for further analysis. Urban sprawl has been measured using Shannon Entropy approach; results indicated the urban area has undergone a considerable sprawl. Finally, LCM has been used to develop a model, asses the prediction capacity of the developed model and predict future urban land use change of the GAA. Multi-layer perceptron Neural Network has been used to model the transition potential maps, results were successful to make ‘actual’ prediction with Markov Chain Analyst.Despite the GAA is center of development and its regional economic and social importance, its trend of growth remains the major factor for diminishing productive land and other valuable natural resources. The findings of the study indicated that, in the last twenty years the built up area has tripled in size and impacted the surrounding natural environment. Thus, the findings of this study might support decision making for sustainable urban development of GAA

Support for global science: Remote sensing's challenge

Remote sensing uses a wide variety of techniques and methods. Resulting data are analyzed by man and machine, using both analog and digital technology. The newest and most important initiatives in the U. S. civilian space program currently revolve around the space station complex, which includes the core station as well as co-orbiting and polar satellite platforms. This proposed suite of platforms and support systems offers a unique potential for facilitating long term, multidisciplinary scientific investigations on a truly global scale. Unlike previous generations of satellites, designed for relatively limited constituencies, the space station offers the potential to provide an integrated source of information which recognizes the scientific interest in investigating the dynamic coupling between the oceans, land surface, and atmosphere. Earth scientist already face problems that are truly global in extent. Problems such as the global carbon balance, regional deforestation, and desertification require new approaches, which combine multidisciplinary, multinational research teams, employing advanced technologies to produce a type, quantity, and quality of data not previously available. The challenge before the international scientific community is to continue to develop both the infrastructure and expertise to, on the one hand, develop the science and technology of remote sensing, while on the other hand, develop an integrated understanding of global life support systems, and work toward a quantiative science of the biosphere

Information technology and urban green analysis

It is well recognized that green area plays a pivotal role in improving urban environment, such as preserving water and soil, controlling temperature and humidity of air, preventing pollution, flood prevention, functioning as buffers between incompatible land uses, preserving natural habitat, and providing space for recreation and relaxation. However, due to pressures from new development both in urban fringes and urban centres, urban green and open spaces are seen to be rapidly declining in term of allocated spaces and quality. Without careful urban land use planning, many open spaces will be filled with residential and commercial buildings. Therefore, there is a need for proper planning control to ensure that the provisions of green spaces are adequately being conserved for current and future generations. The need for an urban green information system is particularly important for strategic planning at macro level and local planning at the micro level. The advent of information technology has created an opportunity for the development of new approaches in preserving and monitoring the development of urban green and open spaces. This paper will discuss the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) incorporated with other data sources such as remote sensing images and aerial photographs in providing innovative and alternative solutions in the management and monitoring of urban green. GIS is widely accepted in urban landscape planning as it can provide better understanding on the spatial pattern and changes of land use in an area. This paper will primarily focus on digital database that are developed to assist in monitoring urban green and open spaces at regional and local context. The application of GIS in the Klang Valley region or better known as AGISwlk developed since mid-1990's is currently being used by various organisations in the region. The focus of AGISwlk is not merely in providing relevant database to its stakeholders but more importantly, assist in making specific and relevant decisions with regard to spatial planning. It is also used to monitor the loss of green areas by using several temporal data sets. The method of classifying green and open spaces in the region is also being discussed. This paper demonstrates that GIS can be an effective tool in preserving and monitoring green and open spaces in an urban area. The contribution of urban green digital database in someway may leads toward landscape sustainability as to satisfy the ever changing society