Land Use Land Cover Dynamics of Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria, Employing Multispectral Imagery and GIS

Land use Land cover (LULC) has undergone progressive changes worldwide over the years. However, there is limited information available about these changes in Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria. The existing spatial analysis of the forest excluded important land use classes like settlements. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the dynamics of LULC in Oba Hills Forest Reserve between 1987 and 2019. Images from Landsat 5, Landsat 7, and Landsat 8 for the years 1987, 2001, 2013, and 2019 were obtained and subjected to preprocessing and classification using the maximum likelihood algorithm, change detection, and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI). The coordinates of specific benchmark locations and other points were acquired for ground-truthing and developing Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Three distinct LULC classes were identified: forest, bare land (including open spaces, agriculture, rocks, and grasslands), and built-up areas. The forest cover in the reserve gradually decreased from 56% in 1987 to 47% in 2019, resulting in a total area loss of 455.4 hectares. Correspondingly, the other LULC classes experienced exponential expansion. Bare land increased from 44% in 1987 to 52% in 2019, while the built-up area expanded by 57.28 hectares. These changes are attributed to prevalent anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, grazing, logging, firewood collection, and population growth within the catchment area. The declining NDVI values in the forest reserve, from 0.52 to 0.44 within the years of assessment, further substantiated the substantial loss of forest cover. The DEM and topographical map highlighted notable steep slopes and elevations of up to over 550 m above sea level (asl) within the reserve, which have implications for forest growth and dynamics. In conclusion, this study reveals extensive rates of forest cover changes into bare land, primarily for agriculture, and settlements, and offers further recommendations to reverse the trend.

Rapid detection of chlorophyll content and distribution in citrus orchards based on low-altitude remote sensing and bio-sensors

The accuracy of detecting the chlorophyll content in the canopy and leaves of citrus plants based on sensors with different scales and prediction models was investigated for the establishment of an easy and highly-efficient real-time nutrition diagnosis technology in citrus orchards.The fluorescent values of leaves and canopy based on the Multiplex 3.6 sensor,canopy hyperspectral reflectance data based on the FieldSpec4 radiometer and spectral reflectance based on low-altitude multispectral remote sensing were collected from leaves of Shatang mandarin and then analyzed.Additionally,the associations of the leaf SPAD(soil and plant analyzer development)value with the ratio vegetation index(RVI)and normalized differential vegetation index(NDVI)were analyzed.The leaf SPAD value predictive model was established by means of univariate and multiple linear regressions and the partial least squares method.Variable distribution maps of the relative canopy chlorophyll content based on spectral reflectance in the orchard were automatically created.The results showed that the correlations of the SPAD values obtained from the Multiplex 3.6 sensor,FieldSpec4 radiometer and low-altitude multispectral remote sensing were highly significant.The measures of goodness of fit of the predictive models were R^(2)=0.7063,RMSECV=3.7892,RE=5.96%,and RMSEP=3.7760 based on RVI_((570/800)) and R^(2)=0.7343,RMSECV=3.6535,RE=5.49%,and RMSEP=3.3578 based on NDVI[(570,800)(570,950)(700,840)].The technique to create spatial distribution maps of the relative canopy chlorophyll content in the orchard was established based on sensor information that directly reflected the chlorophyll content of the plants in different parts of the orchard,which in turn provides evidence for implementation of orchard productivity evaluation and precision in fertilization management.