A land cover monitoring system for Cambodia: preliminary results

Abstract

A monitoring system using cmrse satellite data integrated into a geographic information system (CIS) has been developed to asses? the land cover change in Cambodia. This case study focuses (in thc awxsment of land cover variables involving the issues of deforestation, slash and burn practices and variation in !vater levels of the Tonle Sap lake. The baseline of the monitoring is defined from the comparison of the esisting maps. The NOAA AVHRR data provide the information on an annual basts for the vegetation variablc and every two months for the n.ater-lcvel variable. The main mapping outputs are an updated version of the evergrcen forest map and the niap of the burnt arcas of Cambodia. Valuable information has also bcen found at the scasonal and annual scale of the water-level change of the Tonic Sap.