Integrated Landsat Image Analysis and Hydrologic Modeling to Detect Impacts of 25-Year Land-Cover Change on Surface Runoff in a Philippine Watershed

Remote Sensing

Jojene Santillan¹  Meriam Makinano² 

[1]Applied Geodesy and Space Technology Research Laboratory, The Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry, College of Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines

[2] E-Mail:

[3]College of Engineering and Information Technology, Caraga State University, Ampayon, Butuan City 8600, Philippines

[4] E-Mail:

关键词: land-cover;    hydrology;    impact analysis;    modelling;    Landsat;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs3061067

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Landsat MSS and ETM+ images were analyzed to detect 25-year land-cover change (1976–2001) in the critical Taguibo Watershed in Mindanao Island, Southern Philippines. This watershed has experienced historical modifications of its land-cover due to the presence of logging industries in the 1950s, and continuous deforestation due to illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture in the present time. To estimate the impacts of land-cover change on watershed runoff, land-cover information derived from the Landsat images was utilized to parameterize a GIS-based hydrologic model. The model was then calibrated with field-measured discharge data and used to simulate the responses of the watershed in its year 2001 and year 1976 land-cover conditions. The availability of land-cover information on the most recent state of the watershed from the Landsat ETM+ image made it possible to locate areas for rehabilitation such as barren and logged-over areas. We then created a “rehabilitated” land-cover condition map of the watershed (re-forestation of logged-over areas and agro-forestation of barren areas) and used it to parameterize the model and predict the runoff responses of the watershed. Model results showed that changes in land-cover from 1976 to 2001 were directly related to the significant increase in surface runoff. Runoff predictions showed that a full rehabilitation of the watershed, especially in barren and logged-over areas, will be likely to reduce the generation of a huge volume of runoff during rainfall events. The results of this study have demonstrated the usefulness of multi-temporal Landsat images in detecting land-cover change, in identifying areas for rehabilitation, and in evaluating rehabilitation strategies for management of tropical watersheds through its use in hydrologic modeling.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.