Economic and Spatial Study of the Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change of Coastal Areas in Senegal
The African coastal countries are facing
several environmental and socio-economic challenges, such as
unplanned urban and economic development, fueled by a
growing rural exodus; non-functional or non-existent public
infrastructures to handle the demographic growth along the
coastline; air, water and soil pollution; and alteration of
coastal ecosystems. West Africa, in particular, is facing
severe land losses and major damage due to coastal erosion
Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin : Transport
The Congo Basin is among the most poorly
served areas in terms of transport infrastructure in the
world, and it faces a challenging environment with dense
tropical forests crisscrossed by numerous rivers that
require construction of numerous bridges. Given such
complexities, constructing transport infrastructure as well
as properly maintaining it is certainly a key challenge for
the Congo Basin countries. Recent studies indicate that
Spatial and temporal analysis of probabilities for acquiring cloud-free optical sensor images using MODIS cloud mask products 2000-2008 in Southeast Asia
Accessibility to cloud-free optical sensor images is essential for large-area monitoring of land and forest cover changes. In this study, the acquisition probabilities of cloud-free images were analyzed using MODIS cloud mask products from 2000 to 2008 in Southeast Asia. The daily cloud masks were summarized into monthly acquisition probabilities for cloud-free images over the period at a spatial resolution of 1km. The mean annual acquisition probability profiles were extracted averaging nine years' observation.
Changes in the understory vegetation of a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc.) grazing forest, including the grass-growing area
Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin : Logging
The Congo Basin has the largest forest
cover on the African continent. Of the 400 million hectares
that the Basin comprises, about 200 million of them are
covered by forest, with 90 percent being tropical dense
forests. The Congo Basin's logging sector has a
dualistic configuration. It boasts a highly visible formal
sector that is export oriented and dominated by large
industrial groups with foreign capital and an informal
Land use land cover change in the fringe of eThekwini Municipality: Implications for urban green spaces using remote sensing
This study sought to determine a 22-year past and future land use and land cover trend and its implication on green spaces in an eThekwini Municipal Area’s peripheral settlement. Results show a consistent pattern of decline in land use and land cover types associated with green spaces and an increase in impervious surfaces. The study is taken to confirm recent urban bio-physical transformation and anticipated increased pressure on peripheral urban green spaces in eThekwini Municipality.
Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Adaptation in the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in Nicaragua
Climate change is at the top of the
development agenda in Central America. This region, together
with the Caribbean, is highly vulnerable to the effects of
climate change in Latin America. Climate change is
manifesting itself through higher average temperatures and
more frequent droughts that result in higher water stress,
and through the rising frequency of extreme weather events
such as tropical storms, hurricanes, floods and landslides,
Influence of aridity on vegetation
Book chapter
Uncovering Dominant Land-Cover Patterns of Quebec: Representative Landscapes, Spatial Clusters, and Fences
Mapping large areas for planning and conservation is a challenge undergoing rapid transformation. For centuries, the creation of broad-extent maps was the near-exclusive domain of expert specialist cartographers, who painstakingly delineated regions of relative homogeneity with respect to a given set of criteria. In the satellite era, it has become possible to rapidly create and update categorizations of Earth’s surface with improved speed and flexibility. Land cover datasets and landscape metrics offer a vast set of information for viewing and quantifying land cover across large areas.
Integrating Land Change Science and Savanna Fire Models in West Africa
Fire is a key component of many land use systems and a determinant of land change. There is a growing concern that climate change will cause more catastrophic fires, but in many areas the impacts will be mediated by human land use practices. In African savannas, for example, fires are frequent and research finds low inter-annual variability in burned areas in places with highly variable rainfall. This regularity of fire suggests that African regimes are humanized, meaning that they are governed by human practices more than climate variation.
Land Cover Change Detection in Ulaanbaatar Using the Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend Method
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, has expanded rapidly over the past decade. Insufficient authority is in place to address this expansion, and many residential plots have been developed in the peripheral regions of the city. The aim of this study is to estimate changes in land cover within the central part of Ulaanbaatar, which has been affected by anthropogenic disturbances.