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Quantify the changes in landscape patterns and their impact on ecosystem services values using land use land cover data in the middle reaches of the Damodar river basin
1-15Views:41Human activities continuously modify the landscape area for their purpose which forces the landscape structure to change continuously. Therefore, it is essential to examine the impact of changing landscape structure on Ecosystem services values (ESV). The study has quantified the dynamic of ESV using land use land cover data and landscape metrics. The study has applied the Costanza et al. (1997 &2014) method to estimate ESV in the Middle reaches of the Damodar River Basin area and the Getis-Ord Gi* technique to delineate the dynamic hot spot and cold spot region in ESV within the stipulated period. The study has shown that ESV varies with the changes in landscape structure. The diminishing of vegetation, agricultural land, water body area and the expansion of built-up area has shifted the ESV zone from the North-West part in 2000-2012 to the wider part of North-West and North-East in 2012-2023 and 2000-2023 periods and marked the North-West and North-East part as a more dynamic zone within the study period.
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Spatial distribution of vegetation cover in Erbil city districts using high-resolution Pléiades satellite image
10-22Views:409Green spaces are playing an essential role for ecological balance and for human health in the city as well. They play a fundamental role in providing opportunities for relaxation and enjoying the beauty of nature for the urban population. Therefore, it is important to produce detailed vegetation maps to assist planners in designing strategies for the optimisation of urban ecosystem services and to provide a suitable plan for climate change adaptation in one fast growing city. Hence, this research is an investigation using 0.5 m high-resolution multispectral Pléiades data integrated with GIS data and techniques to detect and evaluate the spatial distribution of vegetation cover in Erbil City. A supervised classification was used to classify different land cover types, and a normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) was used to retrieve it for the city districts. Moreover, to evaluate the accessibility of green space based on their distance and size, a buffer zone criterion was used. The results indicate that the built-up land coverage is 69% and vegetation land cover is 14%. Regarding NDVI results, the spatial distribution of vegetation cover was various and, in general, the lowest NDVI values were found in the districts located in the city centre. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of vegetation land cover regarding the city districts was non-equal and non-concentric. The newly built districts and the districts far from the Central Business District (CBD) recorded the lowest vegetation cover compared with the older constructed districts. Furthermore, most of the districts have a lack of access to green spaces based on their distance and size. Distance and accessibility of green areas throughout the city are not equally distributed. The majority of the city districts have access to green areas within radius buffer of two kilometres, whereas the lowest accessibility observed for those districts located in the northeast of the city in particular (Xanzad, Brayate, Setaqan and Raperin). Our study is one of the first investigations of decision-making support of the spatial planning in a fast-growing city in Iraq and will have a utilitarian impact on development processes and local and regional planning for Erbil City in the future.