Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Geography

Major Professor

Joni Downs, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ambe Njoh, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Fenda Akiwumi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Evangeline Linkous, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Stephen Buckman, Ph.D.

Keywords

Change detection, Flood Mapping, Land use Planning, Suitability Analysis, Simulation, Prediction

Abstract

Urbanization is one of the most dominant phenomena of the 21st century; it is propelled by natural growth and rural-to-urban migration. This latter is typically a product of rural residents moving to urban centres in search of economic opportunities. This phenomenon is accompanied by immense land use and cover changes – predominantly agricultural and forest lands to urban land uses such as buildings and infrastructure. The goal of this research was to contribute to efforts to minimize the impacts of urbanization on agricultural land and forest cover in Limbe, Cameroon, and to develop GIS-based strategies to allocate suitable land for future agricultural activities and forest reserves. Several objectives were proposed to meet these goals: Objective one used land use land cover (LULC) change detection analysis using supervised classification methods. Objective two employed a Cellular Automata (CA)-Markov Chain model to simulate and predict 2040 LULC change in Limbe. The third objective delineated flood risk zones and identified potential impacts on LULC. The fourth objective employed GIS-based strategies to map agricultural and forest land use suitability and classify areas for potential environmental conservation. Landsat imagery, topography, soil, and climate data were used to perform these analyses. This study demonstrated how GIS approaches could be employed effectively to minimize the effects of urbanization on agricultural and forest lands, particularly in Cameroon, where the implementation of land use policies is hindered due to a number of historical and contemporary factors.

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