West Africa land use and land cover time series

Abstract

Séries Chronologiques de l'Utilisation et de l'Occupation des Terres en l'Afrique de l'Ouest Initié en 1999, le projet « Dynamique de l'Utilisation des Terres en Afrique de l'Ouest » vise à cartographier l'utilisation et l'occupation des terres, analyser les changements d'occupation des terres dans le temps et dans l'espace, et comprendre les conséquences de ces changements sur l'environnement de toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Appuyé par l'U.S. Agency for International Development/West Africa (USAID/West Africa), ce projet est le fruit d'une coopération entre le Centre Régional AGRHYMET basé à Niamey au Niger, leurs partenaires au sein des 17 pays participants, l'Institut du Sahel (INSAH) et l'U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (Comité permanent Inter-états de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel [CILSS], 2016). L'objectif principal des produits de ce projet-les « Séries Chronologiques de l'Utilisation et de l'Occupation des Terres en l'Afrique de l'Ouest » (Tappan et al., 2016)-est de sensibiliser et d'informer les décideurs nationaux et régionaux sur les changements qui s'opèrent au sein des paysages de la région ouest-africaine. La totalité des données, des produits et des analyses générés par le projet sont disponibles et téléchargeables gratuitement sur le site http://eros.usgs.gov/westafrica.

Vegetation Response to Recent Trends in Climate and Landuse Dynamics in a Typical Humid and Dry Tropical Region under Global Change

“…In this study, we analyzed the spatial and temporal responses of vegetation to climate and landuse factors from 2001 to [34,35]).…”

“…e years 1982-1983 and 1991-1992 have been termed especially as a period of nationwide drought conditions in the last century [18]. e dramatic rise in human population in this region in the past three decades implies a much greater pressure on forest and savanna conversion to cropland and urban use impacting negatively on vegetation, microclimate, and biodiversity in the region [34][35][36].…”

“…Dynamic landcover classification for the years 1975, 2000, and 2013 were obtained from [34,35]. e landcover maps were generated from Landsat images using the visual interpretation method and additional postprocessing that incorporates prior knowledge and ancillary information to further refine specific classes [34,35]. Land cover in the region mainly comprises agriculture (42.80%), grassland (31.20%), forest (7.99%), and waterbodies (3.63%).…”

“…Advances in Meteorology neighboring southern Niger by farmers who have adopted agroforestry practices that increase and maintain on-farm tree cover [34]. In more recent years, forced migration due the increased violent clashes between various groups of farmers, pastoralists, and religious extremists in northeastern Nigeria might have also been responsible for partial vegetation recovery in some areas in the northeastern part [49][50][51].…”

The landscapes of West Africa—40 years of change

“…This dataset includes land use and land cover types at a 2-kilometer resolution for three time periods (1975, 2000, and 2013) across the Sub-Saharan region of West Africa. The West Africa Land Use Land Cover Time Series dataset is based on visual interpretation of hundreds of satellite images and offers an accurate and unique basis for systematically characterizing and analyzing land change across the region (for more information on this dataset, see Cotillon, 2017).…”