Doctoral Dissertation Research: Land-Cover Change Detection for the Tropics Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Read, Jane Louisiana State University Land-cover change detection in northeastern Costa Rica will provide spatio-temporal data of human impacts on a tropical forest environment. The objectives are to identify causes and effects of human activities on land cover and identify a method using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to detect local land cover changes in the study area, which comprises two protected areas in the province of Heredia. The use of selected remote sensing/GIS methods using Landsat data for three dates from 1970 to 1990 will take place at both the base institution and in the field. Change maps developed from these analyses will be quantitatively assessed against change maps derived from field observations, aerial photographs, maps and literature sources. The study will improve understanding of the performance and accuracies of standard remote sensing/GIS techniques for assessing land cover change detection in tropical forest environments. It will also enlarge our knowledge of human impacts upon the environment in a global context.