An analysis of Land Use/Land-cover Changes in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Using Remote Sensing Images

摘要

Nay Pyi Taw has experienced significant land use and land-cover changes since its becoming the capital city of Myanmar in 2005. Its area was once a greenfield site in the shrub land but new developments have been underway since 2005. Detecting land use/ land-cover (LULC) changes in the city and its vicinity and understanding the impact of such changes on the environment are of vital importance for city planning, not only for the evaluation of the past but also for future prospects. In this study, multispectral satellite remote sensing images acquired in 2000 and 2014 were used for the analysis of LULC changes in the Nay Pyi Taw area. The post-classification change detection method with LULC classes, namely agricultural land, natural vegetation, water, settlements/built-up and bare land, was applied in this study. From the results of the change detection, the changes of LULC in different categories were analyzed. The areas of settlements/built-up, water and bare land increased by 28,902 ha, 2,249 haand 569 ha, respectively, whereas agricultural land and natural vegetation decreased by 9,929 ha and 21,790 ha, respectively. The increase in settlements/built-up land mainly came from the conversion of agricultural land (56%) and natural vegetation (44%) during the study period. The area of the water body increased due to the construction of new dams. The information on spatial pattern changes and statistics in LULC classes makes an invaluable contribution to appropriate decisionmaking in the development of a sustainable land management strategy for agriculture as well as urbanization.