Geospatial Technique Approach to Land Degradation Assessments in Ghana: The Case of the Ejura Sekyedumase District
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Albert Nii Moe Allotey
Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (CSIR-INSTI), Box CT 2211, Cantonments, Accra,
Ghana
Abstract
This study examined the use of geographic information systems (GIS) as atool in assessing land degradation caused by water erosion in the Ejura Sekyedumase
District, a major food crop production district in Ghana. Data used were land use/cover,
slopes/digital elevation models (DEMs) and soil maps. The land use/cover map was
derived from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) 2015 satellite imagery.
Digital image processing techniques involving image enhancement, manipulation and
classification were conducted for land use/cover analysis and images were reclassified
with an erosion vulnerability map. A slope map (in degrees) was derived from the
DEM. The digital soil map, which was classified according to Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) groups, was reclassified according to the erodibility classes. The
multi-criteria decision module, with a standardized and weighted linear combination
approach (WLC) in IDRISI Kilimanjaro was used for the analysis. First, a fuzzy map was
created for each map layer, which were later combined to produce a land degradation
risk map. The study confirmed that land degradation risks due to erosion exist in the
area. Specifically, the southern and central parts of the district were observed as low
risk areas (21%), whereas only nine per cent of the area was under high risk. These
areas were observed in patches around the southeast, southwest and north-central areas.
This study demonstrates that remote sensing (RS) is a major environmental data source
which, when integrated with GIS, becomes an effective tool for assessing and mapping
land degradation.
Key words: Land degradation, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems
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