Rapid urban expansion and development have resulted in the conversion of many natural green surfaces within cities to non-transpiring built-up surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt. These artificial urban surfaces cause substantial variation in land surface temperatures that affect the urban microclimate. Thus, there is the need to substantially quantify the extent of green cover loss within growing cities and its impact on surface temperatures. This study used LANDSAT data to spatially assess the extent of urban expansion and its effect on land surface temperature within Kumasi, Ghana. Subsequently, the results showed significant changes in the land cover, which had an effect on the observed land surface temperatures from 1986 to 2015. Generally, there was an overall increase in the built-up areas by 24.13% (55.81 km 2 ) from 1986 to 2015, with a corresponding increase in the mean land surface temperature by 4.16°C. As such, there is the need for the adoption of sustainable urban planning strategies with green vegetation conservation initiatives for modern city planners. This would help reduce urban land surface temperatures while promoting clean air circulation within the city.
Abstract. The Keta Municipality has undergone a rapid increase in population due to economic and commercial activities. This led to the municipal’s coastal and shoreline zone being faced with severe environmental challenges throughout the years. The goal of the study was to evaluate Keta’s shoreline changes and the coastal Land Use Land Cover (LULC) using multi-temporal remote sensing datasets. These datasets were subjected to the following image processing techniques such as image enhancement, image classification and, shoreline extraction. The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), a plugin tool in ArcGIS was utilized to assess the rate of shoreline changes (i.e., erosion or accretion) from 2000 to 2020. These were achieved based on the following statistical methods used; Linear Regression Rate (LRR), Net Shoreline Movement (NSM), and End Point Rate (EPR). The LULC analysis indicated that built-up areas and water bodies have increased rapidly from 14.71–18.43%, and 47.68–50.46% respectively from 2000 to 2021. In terms of the shoreline changes, LRR showed a mean of −0.95m/year with 68.22% faced with erosion and accretion of 31.78%. The EPR and NSM revealed a mean shoreline change of −1.19m/year and −26.3/period respectively from 2000 to 2021. The EPR and NSM results both revealed that 69.24% experienced erosion and 30.76% accretion, indicating the prevalence of erosion at the shoreline. This research is to contribute to both the development of Keta’s shoreline protection and management measures as well as sustainable land use planning. Also, aids in achieving most of the Sustainable Development Goals in the municipal.
Over the last two decades, Mozambique has experienced tremendous tropical cyclonic activities causing many flooding activities accompanied by disastrous human casualties. Studies that integrate remote sensing, elevation data and coupled with demographic analysis in Mozambique are very limited. This study seeks to fill the void by employing satellite data to map inundation caused by Tropical Cyclones in Mozambique. In pursuit of this objective, Sentinel-2 satellite data was obtained from the United States Geological Survey (USGS)'s Earth Explorer free Online Data Services imagery website covering the months of March 20, 2019, March 25, 2019, and April 16, 2019 for two cities, Maputo and Beira in Mozambique. The images were geometrically corrected to remove, haze, scan lines and speckles, and then referenced to Mozambique ground-based Geographic: Lat/Lon coordinate system and WGS 84 Datum. Data from twelve spectral bands of Sentinel-2 satellite, covering the visible and near infrared sections of the electromagnetic spectrum, were further used in the analysis. In addition, Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) within the study area was computed using the green and near infrared bands to highlight water bodies of Sentinel-2 detectors. To project and model the population of Mozambique and see the impact of cyclones on the country, demographic data covering 1980 to 2017 was obtained from the World Bank website. The Exponential Smoothing (ETS) method was adopted to forecast the population of Mozambique. Results from NDWI analysis showed How to cite this paper: Twumasi, Y.A.,
The key anthropogenic effects on climate include the changes in land use and emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Depletion of vegetation poses serious threat that speeds the process of climate change and reduces carbon sequestration by the environment. Thus, the preservation of natural environment in urban areas is an essential component of the garden city model, proposed by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1898, to ensure ecological balance. Recent Landsat images showed that Kumasi does not have the required percentage of green vegetation as was stipulated in the garden city model on which the city was built. It was observed that most parts of Kumasi's green vegetation have been lost to built environments. This study was conducted to assess the impact of urbanization on the garden city status and its effect on the micro-climate of the city. Significant changes in the vegetation cover of the city was evaluated from Landsat-TM imagery and analysis of a long term climatic data of Kumasi carried out over a 55-year period (1960 to 2015). It was observed that, climatic conditions have slightly changed, as mean surface temperature of has increased by 1.2 °C/ 55 years, due to the significant landuse changes from development of non-transpiring, reduced evaporative urban surfaces. However, the impact is not greatly felt due to the geographical location of the city on the globe despite the evidence of a considerable temperature change. Green vegetation conservation for the city is recommended as a top priority in future for city authorities and planners.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.