ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN IMPACT ON PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES: A CASE STUDY OF TANA BELES AREA

ABSTRACT

Remote Sensing is a technique of data and information collection without physical contact to an object found to be relevant for the analysis and detection of changes which occur due to man-made and natural factors in a given physical environment. Tana-Beles area, in North Western Ethiopia, is selected for the change detection using both techniques of spatio-temporal information system analysis. Due to human influence on the physical environment, significant changes appeared in the area. The major cause for the physical changes is found to be the 1984 resettlement programme.

Through the problems identified, hypothesis and methodologies applied, the findings are directly related with human impact on the physical environment. The impacts here are two fold: positive and negative. Positive impacts include infrastructure development, road construction, dams and reservoir construction, industries and factories, plantation, social service establishments (health centers, schools, etc.), introduction of new techniques of farming etc. Negative impacts of the study area are related to deforestation, degradation of the soil, overgrazing, encroaching to the forest area, micro climatic changes, and change of the land use/cover type, wildlife migration or eradication and the likes. As a result, an overall ecological system of the study area is found to be badly affected. Because of both the above mentioned positive and negative impacts Tana-Beles area is found to be radically changed. The change is very significant, when multi temporal aerial photographs, satellite images and other remotely sensed data and related geo-information are compared.

Note: The report is available at the Central Technical Library of the ESTC.

(Report 1997)

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