Analyzing land use and land cover change in Densu River basin in Ghana: A remote sensing and GIS approach.

摘要

Over the last two decades, the Densu River basin, one of the main sources of water supply to the city of Accra, Ghana, (and its peri- urban areas) has experienced significant change in land uses. These changes and the factors that drive them are the subject of increasing national concern particularly as they relate to biodiversity loss, land degradation, water resources, and food productivity. This study examined the spatial and temporal patterns of land use change in the watershed as well as its causes using remote sensing and GIS techniques.; The findings of the study revealed that residential land use increased dramatically in the basin between 1990 and 2000 with annual expansion rate of 8.9%. Also, it was determined that about 99% of areas that experienced significant land use change during the study period were either converted to agriculture or residential land uses. Finally, the pattern of urban peripheral land use change observed by the study is similar to the process of urban expansion experienced by many other developing countries. The study revealed that lands close to the city of Accra were more likely to be converted to residential land uses while lands in the interior part of the basin were more likely to be converted to agricultural land uses.