Gis And Remote Sensing In Land Use And Land Cover Change Detection And Land Degeradation In Area Between Harar And Dire Dawa Eastern Ethiopia

The study evaluated changes in landuse and landcover that occurred from 1985-2003 in thernarea between Harer and Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia high land. The majority of the study arearnfalls in Alamaya woreda. The total study area covers about 650km2, so it can be representativernof a large part of Eastern Ethiopia highland, in terms of topography, climate, vegetation andrnsocioeconomic conditions.rnThe objectives of the study were to access the pattern and driving forces of landuse and landrncover changes and to analyze implication of the change on land and lake degradation. To thisrnend, remotely sensed data i.e. Landsat satellite images of 1985 and 2003 were used to producernten classes of landuse using Geographical Information System (GIS) with field verification.rnThe results show that during the last 20 years, grassland and shrubs decreased by 716.7 harn(42.4%) and 391.2 ha (20.7%) respectively, mainly due to their conversion to agriculturernlands. Marsh area is the most converted class, it was expanded by over 705.9% of it’s size inrn1985, which is resulted from drying up of lakes. Temporal croplands decreased by 7081.6 harn(25.4%) while perennial cropland increased by 3050.8 ha (26.4%) woodlands and residentialrnarea also increased in 2003.rnLand and lake degradations are observed as major problems in the area. Land degradation isrnincreased by 3089.4 ha (20.5%) where as, lake and other water bodies are decreased by 524.1rnha (59.1%). These land use changes in general have got paramount implications upon thernenvironment and local people. Especially, land degradation which is intensifying itself in thernarea requires immediate attention in particular.rnSlope analyses have been also carried out based on selected and relevant land uses, such as,rnbareland, temporal crop, shrubs and grasslands. So as the result illustrates, the highest changesrnfor barelands are seen in the slope range between 5.5- 9.6, in temporal croplands 9.7 – 19.5rnand in shrubs and grasslands 0- 1.9.rnPopulation growth, topography of the area, unwise use of land and other socio-economicrnactivities are major driving forces for the observed changes. Hence different landusernpractices, environmental rehabilitation programs and family planning education are some ofrnthe appropriate interventions.

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