Change detection of bare areas in the Xolobeni region, South Africa using Landsat NDVI
Date
2015-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
CONSAS Conference
Abstract
Identification and protection of areas that are vulnerable to erosion is essential for
the
conservation of the sensitive wetlands and estuarine ecosystems along the Xolobeni coastal strip.
The forecasting of these erosion susceptible areas requires an understanding of the inter-
relationships of the critical factors that have influenced erosion potential over time. Vegetation
and bare areas are some of the contributing factors that have influenced erosion at Xolobeni. This
study used remote sensing as a tool to provide some information on the inter-relationship between
vegetated classes and bare areas. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data derived from
multi-temporal Landsat 5 imagery has formed the baseline information for this study. A density
slicing approach was adopted to classify the region into four vegetation structure classes of
predominant land cover types. Post classification change detection data has provided an
understanding of the relative susceptibility of the different vegetated classes to being degraded
to bare areas. The results suggest that poorly vegetated regions were most susceptible to further
degradation and an elevated susceptibility to erosion. On the other hand, moderately and densely
vegetated regions were less susceptible to land degradation. The information can be used to
identify
measures to mitigate the effects of land degradation in vulnerable areas.
Description
CITATION: Singh, R. G., Engelbrecht, J. & Kemp, J. 2015. Change detection of bare areas in the Xolobeni region, South Africa using Landsat NDVI. South African Journal of Geomatics, 4(2):138-148.
The original publication is available at http://www.sajg.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.sajg.org.za
Keywords
Erosion, Remote sensing, Landsat satellites
Citation
Singh, R. G., Engelbrecht, J. & Kemp, J. 2015. Change detection of bare areas in the Xolobeni region, South Africa using Landsat NDVI. South African Journal of Geomatics, 4(2):138-148.