LANDCOVER DYNAMICS IN THE NIGER INLAND DELTA (MALI) – ACLASSIFICATION APPROACH FOR MERIS DATA

摘要

The Sahel, the semi-arid fringe south of the Saharan desert, is one of the most endangered zones worldwide, as are thernsensible semi arid regions in Sub-Saharan Africa in general. The extent of annual flooding of the vast plains of thernNiger Inland Delta during September to December depends on the amount of rainfall in the catchment areas of thernNiger-Bani river system. The interaction among pre-flood, flood and post-flood conditions strongly affect land usernpatterns in and around the delta. Assessing and mapping dynamics of land use are made possible by the systematicrnapplication of remote sensing and image analysis. This paper presents results of an application of Medium ResolutionrnImaging Spectrometer (MERIS) for monitoring spatio-temporal patterns of land cover and land cover change in SubrnSaharan wetlands. The MERIS instrument operates with a 15 band setting in the visible and near infrared part of thernelectromagnetic spectra (EMS). It acquires data with spatial resolution of 300 m (full resolution mode), aloowing forrnanalyses at regional to global scale. Main focus of this paper is laid upon the vegetation cover dynamics at the NigerrnInland Delta and the neighbouring Plateau du Bandiagara by appliing the Meris Global Vegetation Index (MGVI).