Using Remote Sensing to Detect Major Land Use Transitions and Urbanization Trends in Metro Atlanta from 2013 to 2022
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Author(s)
Lin, Meng-Hsuan
Advisor(s)
Sivakumar, Ramachandra
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Abstract
Global trends of accelerating anthropogenic emissions largely contributed by land use and land cover change (LULCC) calls for frequent land use monitoring. The accelerating growth of population drives urban expansion at the expense of forests and agriculture, seriously diminishing the established carbon sinks and food sources. Urban expansion trends seen in the Southeastern U.S. show consistent patterns on the global scale, with continuous unsustainable growth and increasing sprawl that indicate poor land use efficiency. To better monitor land use across time, GIS is used as a tool to support analysis. Using the advantages of GIS, LULCC detection becomes easier as GIS supports analysis on a larger scale and enables users to produce more frequent and up-to-date results. Multiple classification methods, such as supervised classification and neural networks, and indices, such as NDVI, established from an amalgam of LULCC research have helped improve the classification accuracy through time. Acknowledging the significance of LULCC detection in the field of environmental research, the research objective seeks to provide spatial and temporal patterns of LULCC. The two main research questions of the study are – what are the major land use transitions and what are the urban expansion and sprawl patterns across the Atlanta MSA from 2013 to 2022? From the decadal analysis, the research discovers overall trends of increasing Urban Land Cover Percentage (ULC %), positive values of Rate of Urban Expansion (RUE), decreasing Land Consumption Rate (LCR), and increasing urban population density across the entire MSA. Within the entire MSA, there are intercounty differences that should be noted. DeKalb County has the highest ULC % and has the highest urban population density (low LCR). Spatially, the periphery of the MSA has low ULC % coupled with high LCR, indicating trends of urban sprawl occurring more often as distance away from the center of the MSA increases. The sources of land classes that contribute to urban growth and the general urban trends seen in Atlanta MSA both are consistent with the patterns seen in the Southeastern U.S. and the global scale, further verifying the results provided in the research. The findings of the research are a great foundation for further discourse on issues such as better land use management and urban heat island problems related to environmental justice and smart growth. The persistent trends of urban growth and sprawl also call for more sustainable urban growth and land use efficiency.
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2024-07
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