Assessment and Monitoring of Land Use Land Cover Dynamics in Edo State Over a Designated Temporal Interval Utilizing Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

The demand for accurate and timely information regarding land resources and their temporal evolution is increasingly critical, especially in rapidly expanding urban areas. In this study, Landsat satellite imagery spanning eleven time points; 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 was utilized to assess changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in Edo State and its environs over a 21-year period. Employing ArcGIS 10.6.1 and ERDAS Imagine software, false-color composites (FCCs) were generated, and supervised classification using the maximum likelihood technique was conducted to categorize the study area into thirteen secondary classes including forest (evergreen broadleaf forest, deciduous broadleaf forest, and mixed forest), woodland (closed shrublands, woody savanna, and savanna), grasslands, permanent wetlands, croplands, urban/built-up areas, cropland/vegetation, barren land, and water bodies. Results revealed a notable increase in water bodies, with increments of 5.852% from 2001 to 2009, 5.932% from 2009 to 2015, and 4.936% from 2015 to 2022. Additionally, closed shrublands, urban/built-up areas, and water bodies exhibited considerable growth over the entire period, while croplands, grasslands, permanent wetlands, cropland/vegetation, evergreen broadleaf forest, and deciduous broadleaf forest experienced declining growth rates. In 2001, the urban/built-up area measured approximately 317.873 km², with gradual increases observed in subsequent years. For instance, from 2003 to 2007, the urban/built-up area expanded from 319.127 km² in 2003 to 323.780 km² in 2005 and 329.320 km² in 2007. These results highlight significant changes in land use and land cover patterns over the study period.