Forests and wetlands played a crucial role in minimizing the increasing trends of land surface te... more Forests and wetlands played a crucial role in minimizing the increasing trends of land surface temperature (LST). This study aimed to analyze the contribution of forests and wetlands on LST in Yayo district using multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite. Landsat images of 1986, 2003 and 2021 were downloaded from United State Geological Survey website with 30 m spatial resolution. Results show that the mean LST was increased from 22.8 �C in 1986 to 27 �C in 2003 over cultivated land. As the results of forest conservation and wetland protection, the LST in Yayo district is experencing a declining trend in the recent year. Result reveal that the normalized difference vegetation index and Normalized Difference Water Index show a strong negative relationship with LST. Over the last two decades, the LST was declined by 1.5 �C due to the protection of forest and wetland ecosystem. Thus, governmental and non-governmental organization should encourage the conservation and protection of forest and wetland ecosystems.
Ethiopia is investing in Oil Palm cultivation to minimize palm oil imports from other countries. ... more Ethiopia is investing in Oil Palm cultivation to minimize palm oil imports from other countries. Our aim was to analyze the potential land suitability for oil palm tree cultivation by using geospatial technology with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the Jejeba watershed, Western Ethiopia. Ten parameters such as, land use land cover (LULC), land surface temperature (LST), agro-ecological zone (AEZ), slope, rainfall, soil types, soil texture, soil drainage, soil depth and road were aggregated and reclassified according to their suitability to evaluate potential land for oil palm cultivation in the study. In the presnt study, ArcGIS 10.3, ERDAS 2015, and ArcSWAT software were used. Results show that about 36.7 km2 (1.3%) was highly suitable for palm oil cultivation. Consiquentially,1780.5 km2 (64.8%) was moderately suitable for oil palm cultivation whereas, about 25.2 km2 (0.9%) of the study area was not suitable for oil palm cultivation. The southeastern part was highly suitab...
Floods are produced as a result of several factors such as human-induced land-use changes, topogr... more Floods are produced as a result of several factors such as human-induced land-use changes, topographic conditions, and climate change. This study aimed to assess flood risk using geographic information system-based multi-criteria evaluation techniques in the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin. Six parameters, namely, soil type, slope, land use and land cover, proximity to rivers, rainfall, and elevation, were used. The eigenvector of weight for each factor was computed in IDRISI Selva 17.0. Results show that the study area was subjected to a very high 527.31 km2 (9.42%), high 2133.66 km2 (38.12%), moderate 1906.44 km2 (34.06%), low 847.35 km2 (15.14%), and a very low 182.54 km2 (3.26%) flood risk, respectively. Results reveal that the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin is highly vulnerable to flooding. This study assists policymakers with regard to land-use planning. To reduce the effects of flood risk, integrated watershed management must be implemented in the study area.
Human-induced actions aggravate forest degradation and result in carbon emissions. Increment of c... more Human-induced actions aggravate forest degradation and result in carbon emissions. Increment of carbon emission raises land surface temperature (LST) and contributes to climate change. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of forest cover change on carbon stocks, carbon emissions and LST over the period 1992–2022 using geospatial techniques in the Sor watershed, Western Ethiopia. The results revealed that forest land declined by 336.6 km2 due to the expansion of agricultural land with an area of 274.9 km2. Results show a decline in carbon stock of 58,883.4 tons/km2 while annual carbon emission exhibited an increasing trend of 2,418,083.91 tons to the atmosphere over the past three decades. As vegetation declined, LST increased by an average of 3.7 °C over the past three decades. All actors, including government and non-governmental organizations, should contribute to tree planting and reafforestation programmes to minimize the increasing trend of LST and carbon emissions. ...
Groundwater is fresh water that is stored in an underground zone, which is less vulnerable to pol... more Groundwater is fresh water that is stored in an underground zone, which is less vulnerable to pollution than surface water and communally used for economic, social, and ecological purposes. This study aimed to evaluate groundwater recharge potential by using a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing in the Ziway Abijata sub-basin, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. In the present study, the six parameters of soil drainage, slope, lineament density, drainage density, soil texture, and land use land cover were used. ArcGIS 10.3, ERDAS Imagine 2015, IDRISI Selva 17, Arc SWAT 10.3, and Google Earth Pro were applied. The results revealed that about 58 km2 (2.1%) and 1,442.5 km2 (52.9%) were ranked as excellent and good for the groundwater recharge potential. Consequently, about 1,183.2 km2 (43.4%) was covered by a moderate groundwater recharge zone. Larger parts of the study area were dominated by good and moderate groundwater recharge potential. Based on the results, we rec...
Wetland has been substantially decreased by anthropogenic activities worldwide, requiring urgent ... more Wetland has been substantially decreased by anthropogenic activities worldwide, requiring urgent conservation action. The present study aimed to analyze the effects of land use land cover change on wetland dynamics from 1992 to 2022 in Jimma City, Southwestern Ethiopia. Landsat TM of 1992, ETM+ of 2000, ETM+ of 2009 and OLI/TIRS of 2022 were used in this study. Landsat images were classified by using supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm. The results revealed that grassland, wetland and vegetation land cover classes declined by 2,304.9 ha, 1410.2 ha and 820.5 ha, respectively whereas farm land, settlement and bare land increased by 2,199 ha, 2,111 ha and 225.4 ha, respectively. Results show that the normalized difference water index (NDWI) has positive and negative strong relationship with normailized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference built up index (NDBI) with the coefficent determination (R2) of 0.96 and 0.98, respectively. Due to r...
Land use/land cover change is a global environmental problem that significantly affects sustainab... more Land use/land cover change is a global environmental problem that significantly affects sustainable development and environmental quality. Anthropogenic activities are one of the main driving forces of land use/land cover change in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study is conducted in the Geba watershed in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. This study aimed to analyze the land use/land cover change over the past thirty years using geospatial technologies. The present study uses Landsat TM 1990, Landsat ETM + 2003, and OLI/TIRS 2020 to examine the land use/land cover change between 1990 and 2020. Land use/land cover classes are classified using a supervised classification method with the maximum likelihood technique. Results show that the agricultural land increased significantly, from 1786.6 km2 (37.2%) in 1990 to 3163.2 km2 (65.8%) in 2020, representing an increased rate of 45.9 km2/year. On the other hand, dense forest has declined from 2129.2 km2 (44.3%) in 1990 to 1127.8 k...
Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at the River sub-basin level is crucial for developing ... more Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at the River sub-basin level is crucial for developing land-use planning at basin scale and beyond. The present study aims to analyze the LST variations in response to land-use and land-cover (LULC) dynamics in the case of Didessa River Sub-basin, Western Ethiopia using geospatial techniques. We used Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (1991), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (2003), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS, 2020). Moreover, meteorological data (1991–2020) of seven stations, namely, Sire, Nekemte, Arjo, Limu Genet, Atnago, Agaro, and Yayu, were obtained from National Meteorological Agency to validate the LST with air temperature. Our results reveal that the cultivated land in the study area increased by 1180 km2 (22.5%), while grassland and forest cover were declined by 828.7 km2 (15.8%) and 444.1 km2 (8.5%), respectively over the past 29 years. These land-cover dynamics contributes for the increasing trend of LST in the study area. The study also analyzed relationship of LST with normalized differences in vegetation index and air temperature. Maximum-likelihood classification methods were used for LULC classification, while the LST data were retrieved from Landsat image. The results indicate that the LST has been increasing since 1991 in reaction to LULC dynamics. Within the sub-basin, high LST values were recorded on bare land and settlement land use followed by cultivated land cover, while forest and water body experienced the lowest LST. This study will contribute in understanding of impact of LULC dynamics on the local climate and would further provide assistance to the policy makers in regard to land-use planning and climate change mitigation strategies.
The paper attempts to investigate the urban heat islands (UHIs) effect driven by land use land co... more The paper attempts to investigate the urban heat islands (UHIs) effect driven by land use land cover (LULC) change over Jimma city in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at city level is essential for examining UHI effect on residents. In the present study, LULC, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) were extracted from Landsat 7 ETM + (2000) and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS (2020) using geospatial technologies. This research evaluates the trends of UHI in response to LULC dynamics. Results show that the spatiotemporal coverage of vegetation has slightly declined from 12.3% in 2000 to 10.8% in 2020. Results confirmed that there is a negative relationship between vegetation coverage and mean LST. The mean LST in the city ranges between 24.5 and 26.3 °C in 2000 and 2020, respectively. Maximum UHI increased from 32.5 °C in 2000 to 34.7 °C in the year 2020. Maximum LST in the city is observed around built-up areas and bare land, whereas minimum temperature was recorded around vegetative and open space areas. The results of this research will be helpful for urban managers to consider the importance of urban green areas and open space in minimizing the potential impacts of UHI on city residents in the study area and beyond.
Soil erosion is a major environmental problem that affects people's livelihoods and environme... more Soil erosion is a major environmental problem that affects people's livelihoods and environmental health, particularly in developing countries. The present study aimed to identify soil erosion hotspot areas and prioritization in the Anger River sub-basin for conservation planning. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and geospatial technologies were adopted to identify soil erosion hotspot areas and prioritization of the sub-watershed for conservation planning. Key parameters such as rainfall data, soil data, slope length and steepness factor, cover management, and conservation practices were used to estimate potential soil erosion risk in the sub-watershed. The results showed that the annual soil loss rate in the Anger River Sub-basin ranged between 0 and 932.6 t/ha/year with a mean annual soil loss of 83.7 t/ha/year. About 1,140.7 km2 (43.6%) and 220.6 km2 (8.4%) were categorized under very severe and severe soil loss types, respectively. The mid- and upstrea...
Land surface temperature (LST) is increasing due to land use land cover (LULC) conversion in the ... more Land surface temperature (LST) is increasing due to land use land cover (LULC) conversion in the world. Global warming was caused by highly expansion of agricultural land, expansion of human settlements and removal of vegetation cover. Here, we analyzed the impacts of LULC dynamics on LST from the year 1991 to 2020 in the Anger River Sub-basin, western Ethiopia. The LST and LULC changes were derived from thermal infrared and multispectral band of Landsat 5 TM (1991), Landsat 7 ETM+ (2003) and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS (2020), respectively. The LULC map of the study area was produced using the supervised classification method with the maximum likelihood algorithm. Our study results revealed that agricultural land was increased by the rate of 30.4 km 2 /year. Between 1991 and 2020, about 650.3 km 2 of grassland was converted to agricultural land while 305.4 km 2 was converted from forest to agricultural land. The mean minimum LST was 21.2 °C in 1991 and increased to 23.50 °C and 26.80 °C in the years 2003 and 2020, respectively. Thus, the mean LST of the study area was increased by 5.6 °C between 1991 and 2020. Consequently, the conversion of LULC is the main factor for the increment of the LST. The LST was highly increased when forestland and grassland were converted to agricultural land. Similarly, when forestland was converted to bare land, the LST was increased. Our results suggest the need for environmental protection to respond to the increasing trend of LST and rapid conversion of LULC change in the study area.
Forests and wetlands played a crucial role in minimizing the increasing trends of land surface te... more Forests and wetlands played a crucial role in minimizing the increasing trends of land surface temperature (LST). This study aimed to analyze the contribution of forests and wetlands on LST in Yayo district using multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite. Landsat images of 1986, 2003 and 2021 were downloaded from United State Geological Survey website with 30 m spatial resolution. Results show that the mean LST was increased from 22.8 �C in 1986 to 27 �C in 2003 over cultivated land. As the results of forest conservation and wetland protection, the LST in Yayo district is experencing a declining trend in the recent year. Result reveal that the normalized difference vegetation index and Normalized Difference Water Index show a strong negative relationship with LST. Over the last two decades, the LST was declined by 1.5 �C due to the protection of forest and wetland ecosystem. Thus, governmental and non-governmental organization should encourage the conservation and protection of forest and wetland ecosystems.
Ethiopia is investing in Oil Palm cultivation to minimize palm oil imports from other countries. ... more Ethiopia is investing in Oil Palm cultivation to minimize palm oil imports from other countries. Our aim was to analyze the potential land suitability for oil palm tree cultivation by using geospatial technology with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the Jejeba watershed, Western Ethiopia. Ten parameters such as, land use land cover (LULC), land surface temperature (LST), agro-ecological zone (AEZ), slope, rainfall, soil types, soil texture, soil drainage, soil depth and road were aggregated and reclassified according to their suitability to evaluate potential land for oil palm cultivation in the study. In the presnt study, ArcGIS 10.3, ERDAS 2015, and ArcSWAT software were used. Results show that about 36.7 km2 (1.3%) was highly suitable for palm oil cultivation. Consiquentially,1780.5 km2 (64.8%) was moderately suitable for oil palm cultivation whereas, about 25.2 km2 (0.9%) of the study area was not suitable for oil palm cultivation. The southeastern part was highly suitab...
Floods are produced as a result of several factors such as human-induced land-use changes, topogr... more Floods are produced as a result of several factors such as human-induced land-use changes, topographic conditions, and climate change. This study aimed to assess flood risk using geographic information system-based multi-criteria evaluation techniques in the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin. Six parameters, namely, soil type, slope, land use and land cover, proximity to rivers, rainfall, and elevation, were used. The eigenvector of weight for each factor was computed in IDRISI Selva 17.0. Results show that the study area was subjected to a very high 527.31 km2 (9.42%), high 2133.66 km2 (38.12%), moderate 1906.44 km2 (34.06%), low 847.35 km2 (15.14%), and a very low 182.54 km2 (3.26%) flood risk, respectively. Results reveal that the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin is highly vulnerable to flooding. This study assists policymakers with regard to land-use planning. To reduce the effects of flood risk, integrated watershed management must be implemented in the study area.
Human-induced actions aggravate forest degradation and result in carbon emissions. Increment of c... more Human-induced actions aggravate forest degradation and result in carbon emissions. Increment of carbon emission raises land surface temperature (LST) and contributes to climate change. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of forest cover change on carbon stocks, carbon emissions and LST over the period 1992–2022 using geospatial techniques in the Sor watershed, Western Ethiopia. The results revealed that forest land declined by 336.6 km2 due to the expansion of agricultural land with an area of 274.9 km2. Results show a decline in carbon stock of 58,883.4 tons/km2 while annual carbon emission exhibited an increasing trend of 2,418,083.91 tons to the atmosphere over the past three decades. As vegetation declined, LST increased by an average of 3.7 °C over the past three decades. All actors, including government and non-governmental organizations, should contribute to tree planting and reafforestation programmes to minimize the increasing trend of LST and carbon emissions. ...
Groundwater is fresh water that is stored in an underground zone, which is less vulnerable to pol... more Groundwater is fresh water that is stored in an underground zone, which is less vulnerable to pollution than surface water and communally used for economic, social, and ecological purposes. This study aimed to evaluate groundwater recharge potential by using a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing in the Ziway Abijata sub-basin, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. In the present study, the six parameters of soil drainage, slope, lineament density, drainage density, soil texture, and land use land cover were used. ArcGIS 10.3, ERDAS Imagine 2015, IDRISI Selva 17, Arc SWAT 10.3, and Google Earth Pro were applied. The results revealed that about 58 km2 (2.1%) and 1,442.5 km2 (52.9%) were ranked as excellent and good for the groundwater recharge potential. Consequently, about 1,183.2 km2 (43.4%) was covered by a moderate groundwater recharge zone. Larger parts of the study area were dominated by good and moderate groundwater recharge potential. Based on the results, we rec...
Wetland has been substantially decreased by anthropogenic activities worldwide, requiring urgent ... more Wetland has been substantially decreased by anthropogenic activities worldwide, requiring urgent conservation action. The present study aimed to analyze the effects of land use land cover change on wetland dynamics from 1992 to 2022 in Jimma City, Southwestern Ethiopia. Landsat TM of 1992, ETM+ of 2000, ETM+ of 2009 and OLI/TIRS of 2022 were used in this study. Landsat images were classified by using supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm. The results revealed that grassland, wetland and vegetation land cover classes declined by 2,304.9 ha, 1410.2 ha and 820.5 ha, respectively whereas farm land, settlement and bare land increased by 2,199 ha, 2,111 ha and 225.4 ha, respectively. Results show that the normalized difference water index (NDWI) has positive and negative strong relationship with normailized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference built up index (NDBI) with the coefficent determination (R2) of 0.96 and 0.98, respectively. Due to r...
Land use/land cover change is a global environmental problem that significantly affects sustainab... more Land use/land cover change is a global environmental problem that significantly affects sustainable development and environmental quality. Anthropogenic activities are one of the main driving forces of land use/land cover change in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study is conducted in the Geba watershed in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. This study aimed to analyze the land use/land cover change over the past thirty years using geospatial technologies. The present study uses Landsat TM 1990, Landsat ETM + 2003, and OLI/TIRS 2020 to examine the land use/land cover change between 1990 and 2020. Land use/land cover classes are classified using a supervised classification method with the maximum likelihood technique. Results show that the agricultural land increased significantly, from 1786.6 km2 (37.2%) in 1990 to 3163.2 km2 (65.8%) in 2020, representing an increased rate of 45.9 km2/year. On the other hand, dense forest has declined from 2129.2 km2 (44.3%) in 1990 to 1127.8 k...
Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at the River sub-basin level is crucial for developing ... more Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at the River sub-basin level is crucial for developing land-use planning at basin scale and beyond. The present study aims to analyze the LST variations in response to land-use and land-cover (LULC) dynamics in the case of Didessa River Sub-basin, Western Ethiopia using geospatial techniques. We used Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (1991), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (2003), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS, 2020). Moreover, meteorological data (1991–2020) of seven stations, namely, Sire, Nekemte, Arjo, Limu Genet, Atnago, Agaro, and Yayu, were obtained from National Meteorological Agency to validate the LST with air temperature. Our results reveal that the cultivated land in the study area increased by 1180 km2 (22.5%), while grassland and forest cover were declined by 828.7 km2 (15.8%) and 444.1 km2 (8.5%), respectively over the past 29 years. These land-cover dynamics contributes for the increasing trend of LST in the study area. The study also analyzed relationship of LST with normalized differences in vegetation index and air temperature. Maximum-likelihood classification methods were used for LULC classification, while the LST data were retrieved from Landsat image. The results indicate that the LST has been increasing since 1991 in reaction to LULC dynamics. Within the sub-basin, high LST values were recorded on bare land and settlement land use followed by cultivated land cover, while forest and water body experienced the lowest LST. This study will contribute in understanding of impact of LULC dynamics on the local climate and would further provide assistance to the policy makers in regard to land-use planning and climate change mitigation strategies.
The paper attempts to investigate the urban heat islands (UHIs) effect driven by land use land co... more The paper attempts to investigate the urban heat islands (UHIs) effect driven by land use land cover (LULC) change over Jimma city in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. Land surface temperature (LST) estimation at city level is essential for examining UHI effect on residents. In the present study, LULC, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) were extracted from Landsat 7 ETM + (2000) and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS (2020) using geospatial technologies. This research evaluates the trends of UHI in response to LULC dynamics. Results show that the spatiotemporal coverage of vegetation has slightly declined from 12.3% in 2000 to 10.8% in 2020. Results confirmed that there is a negative relationship between vegetation coverage and mean LST. The mean LST in the city ranges between 24.5 and 26.3 °C in 2000 and 2020, respectively. Maximum UHI increased from 32.5 °C in 2000 to 34.7 °C in the year 2020. Maximum LST in the city is observed around built-up areas and bare land, whereas minimum temperature was recorded around vegetative and open space areas. The results of this research will be helpful for urban managers to consider the importance of urban green areas and open space in minimizing the potential impacts of UHI on city residents in the study area and beyond.
Soil erosion is a major environmental problem that affects people's livelihoods and environme... more Soil erosion is a major environmental problem that affects people's livelihoods and environmental health, particularly in developing countries. The present study aimed to identify soil erosion hotspot areas and prioritization in the Anger River sub-basin for conservation planning. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and geospatial technologies were adopted to identify soil erosion hotspot areas and prioritization of the sub-watershed for conservation planning. Key parameters such as rainfall data, soil data, slope length and steepness factor, cover management, and conservation practices were used to estimate potential soil erosion risk in the sub-watershed. The results showed that the annual soil loss rate in the Anger River Sub-basin ranged between 0 and 932.6 t/ha/year with a mean annual soil loss of 83.7 t/ha/year. About 1,140.7 km2 (43.6%) and 220.6 km2 (8.4%) were categorized under very severe and severe soil loss types, respectively. The mid- and upstrea...
Land surface temperature (LST) is increasing due to land use land cover (LULC) conversion in the ... more Land surface temperature (LST) is increasing due to land use land cover (LULC) conversion in the world. Global warming was caused by highly expansion of agricultural land, expansion of human settlements and removal of vegetation cover. Here, we analyzed the impacts of LULC dynamics on LST from the year 1991 to 2020 in the Anger River Sub-basin, western Ethiopia. The LST and LULC changes were derived from thermal infrared and multispectral band of Landsat 5 TM (1991), Landsat 7 ETM+ (2003) and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS (2020), respectively. The LULC map of the study area was produced using the supervised classification method with the maximum likelihood algorithm. Our study results revealed that agricultural land was increased by the rate of 30.4 km 2 /year. Between 1991 and 2020, about 650.3 km 2 of grassland was converted to agricultural land while 305.4 km 2 was converted from forest to agricultural land. The mean minimum LST was 21.2 °C in 1991 and increased to 23.50 °C and 26.80 °C in the years 2003 and 2020, respectively. Thus, the mean LST of the study area was increased by 5.6 °C between 1991 and 2020. Consequently, the conversion of LULC is the main factor for the increment of the LST. The LST was highly increased when forestland and grassland were converted to agricultural land. Similarly, when forestland was converted to bare land, the LST was increased. Our results suggest the need for environmental protection to respond to the increasing trend of LST and rapid conversion of LULC change in the study area.
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