Land use changes on the slopes of Mount Elgon and the implications for the occurrence of landslides

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

MUGAGGA, F.

Dep. of Geosciences, Nelson Mandela Univ., Port Elizabeth, Afrique du Sud

KAKEMBO, V.

Dep. of Geosciences, Nelson Mandela Univ., Port Elizabeth, Afrique du Sud

BUYINZA, M.

Fac. of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Makerere Univ., Kampala, Ouganda

Description :
Aerial photographs taken in 1960 formed the benchmark for the analysis of respective land use changes between 1995 and 2006, using 30 m Landsat TM and 20 m SPOT MS images. Landslide sites were mapped using a MobileMapper, and terrain parameters were derived using a 15 m Digital Elevation Model. A supervised classification approach was employed to generate land-cover maps, from which the areas of 3 land-cover classes (agricultural fields, woodlands and forests) were calculated. A post-classification comparison change-detection technique revealed different trends in land-cover change between the periods 1960–1995 and 1995–2006. Deforestation and cultivation alter the soil hydrological conditions on steep concave slopes, rendering them susceptible to saturation. This may trigger debris flows during rainfall events. There is a need to restore forest cover on critical slopes.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Catena (Giessen), issn : 0341-8162, 2012, vol. 90, n°. 1, p. 39-46, nombre de pages : 8, Références bibliographiques : 1 p.

Date :
2012

Editeur :
Pays édition : Allemagne, Cremlingen-Destedt, Catena

Langue :
Anglais