An Application of the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in Landuse Changes of Mae Wang Basin, Chiangmai Province.

Abstract

Landuse/Land cover study is a prerequisite when landuse planning is needed in a given areas. The use of the remote sensing and geographic information systems has been proven to be useful not only to assess the natural resources, but also to monitor their changes. A case study on landuse changes of Mae Wang Basin, Chiangmai province, using these techniques is reported in this paper.To cover the whole study area, two remotely sensed images (scale at 1:50,000) which are the Landsat 3-MSS (false colour composite;bands 1,2 and 4) acquired on 23rd December, 1982 and the Landsat 5-TM (false colour composite;bands 2, 3 and 4) acquired on 25Lh February, 1994 are used in this study.These two images with additional information via the on-site survey and a topographic map (scale at 1:50,000), are incorporated into the visual analysis for mapping. Using an overlaying method the study on the changes during 1982 to 1994 were carried out on SPANS-GIS. Results showed that thetendency of the transformation of the land has changed not only from forests (both evergreen and deciduous) to paddy field, but also to other activities such as orchard, urban, shift cultivation and deforestation areas. Thus, during the last 13 years (since 1982) the forest area is reduced whilst there is a growth in the area of paddy field. The percentage of area of evergreen and deciduous forests that has been changed to other activities are 26.81 and 29.28, respectively, whilst that of the paddy field is only 1.94