Land-cover dynamics in an urban area of Ghana

Type Journal Article - Earth Interactions
Title Land-cover dynamics in an urban area of Ghana
Author(s)
Volume 8
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2004
Page numbers 1-15
URL http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/1087-3562(2004)008<0001:LDIAUA>2.0.CO;2
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to quantify land-cover changes. A short-term projection of land-cover distribution in a 2400-ha (1 ha = 10 000 m2 ) area of northern Ghana was generated. Landsat Thematic Mapper images acquired in 1984, 1992, and 1999 were used for land-cover mapping, whereas land-cover projections were carried out using transition probability techniques. Remote sensing analyses showed that in the first period (1984–92), the dominant land-cover change process was the expansion of the built-up area (26 ha yr-1) as a result of an increase in demand for housing by the increasing population. Expansion of the built-up area continued at the rate of 35 ha yr-1 in the second period (1992–99), as well as development of peri-urban agriculture (24 ha yr-1) to meet the food demand of the rapidly growing population. Projection of land-cover distribution showed that the built-up area would further increase at the expense of cropland and natural vegetation, covering about 39% of the landscape by 2006. Policy implications of this trend are discussed.

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