Integration of remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) for analysis of land cover changes and sensitives areas

Abstract

Integrating remote sensing and Geographical Information System can successfully increase the performance and efficiency for studies on forestry, agriculture and town development management. In this study, the integration of the two disciplines was used to detect land cover area, type of land cover, land cover changes and sensitive areas within the administrative boundary of Mukim Kuala Kuantan, Pahang. The study area covers approximately 78,368 hectares. For land cover determination, satellite image (Landsat TM) with band combination 4,5,3, captured on 27th June 1997 was analyzed and classified using 'Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC)' with overall accuracy of 87.4%. From the results, 16 classes of land cover were differentiated. There are zones of High Vegetation, High Development, Low Development and Shrub, Mangrove, Associate Mangrove, Cleared Area (for agriculture), Cleared Area (for development), Oil Palm (mature), Oil Palm (immature), Rubber (mature), Rubber (old), Grassland, Peat Swamp, Swamp, Water (with vegetation) and Water.