Kabir Uddin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Kabir Uddin
Floods are one of the most common hazards in the world, affect ing people's lives and liveli... more Floods are one of the most common hazards in the world, affect ing people's lives and livelihoods. Flood hazard mapping and flood shelters suitability analysis are v ital elements in appropriate land use planning for flood-prone areas. This paper describes application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Info rmation Systems (GIS) in identifying flood hazard zones and flood shelters and are therefore important tools for planners and decision makers. The purpose of this article is to describe a simp le and efficient methodology to accurately delineate flood inundated areas, flood-hazard areas, and suitable areas for flood shelter to min imize flood impacts. Possible extent of flooding and suitable location flood shelter sites were modeled and mapped for Sindh Province in Pakistan, using the software ArcGIS model builder. The output was validated using inundation maps based on flood events that took place in 2010 in Pakistan. These were mapped using object-based image analysis...
Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, ICIMOD undertook a series of research activities together ... more Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, ICIMOD undertook a series of research activities together with partners in the Eastern Himalayas from 2007 to 2008 to provide a preliminary assessment of the impacts and vulnerability of this region to climate change. Activities included rapid surveys at country level, thematic workshops, interaction with stakeholders at national and regional levels, and development of technical papers by individual experts in collaboration with institutions that synthesised the available information on the region. A summary of the findings of the rapid assessment was published in 2009. The present publication is one of six technical papers used in the assessment. The main synthesis report is being published separately.
Every year during the rainy season, water-induced soil erosion poses serious spatial-environ-ment... more Every year during the rainy season, water-induced soil erosion poses serious spatial-environ-mental problems, causing heavy damage to agricultural lands, sedimentation in reservoirs, and water quality problems in nearby surface water bodies, from the plains to the mountain areas in Nepal. The goal of this study is to identify potential areas for soil erosion in sub and macro wa-tershed in Mustang, Nepal using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. The study examines the possibility of advanced mapping of soil erosion-prone areas using a high spatial resolution image of QuickBird satellite and medium spatial resolution of Landsat satellite. The satellite image was classified using object-based image analysis (OBIA) tech-niques, taking into account spectral, spatial, and context information as well as hierarchical prop-erties. The resulting land cover classification was thereafter combined with additional data in ArcGIS, where the input layers were re...
Springer Geography, 2017
Nepal, a Himalayan country, is situated on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas and repre... more Nepal, a Himalayan country, is situated on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas and represents about one-third of its whole length. Nepal has a population of around 26.5 million and a large proportion of this rely upon land-based activities for their livelihoods. Its elevation ranges 60-8848 masl which constitutes 10 major ecoregions providing diverse ecosystem services crucial for its inhabitants as well as downstream populations. At the ecosystem level, changes in structure, function, patterns of disturbance, and potential impacts of climate change on species are notable concerns. Earth Observation (EO) technologies are being applied for the monitoring and assessment of Nepal on various scales. Since recently, EO supported assessments are also being linked to decision-making processes. In this chapter, we review the status of EO based assessment of key ecosystem components, including forests, rangelands, agro-ecosystems, and wetlands in Nepal. The chapter also looks at the current information gaps and potential use of upcoming satellite technology developments in the context of Nepal.
Land Use Policy, 2021
Abstract Ecosystem services (ES), or tangible and intangible goods and services from nature, are ... more Abstract Ecosystem services (ES), or tangible and intangible goods and services from nature, are an integral part of the rural economy in Nepal. However, there is limited recognition of their contribution to human wellbeing. To understand the linkages between local people and ES, an integrated assessment based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework was undertaken in Rautamai Rural Municipality of Udayapur District, Eastern Nepal. The study applied three broad approaches and multiple tools. This included a set of participatory tools (10 focus group discussions and 36 key informant interviews), followed by a household survey (439 households), and complemented by geospatial tools. The study identified three major ecosystems, namely forest ecosystems, agro-ecosystems, and freshwater ecosystems on which over 75% households were dependent for their livelihood. Collectively, these ecosystems provide 27 provisioning services, 14 regulating, 6 cultural, and 4 supporting services. Among the three ecosystems, the forest ecosystem provides the maximum number of services (40%). However, about 69% households depend on agro-ecosystems as their primary source of livelihoods. There have been subtle changes in land use over the last 18 years, which has had notable impacts on the flow of ecosystem services, and it reflected in people’s perceptions. The study highlights the importance of ecosystem services and the implications of land use change on the flow of these services and wellbeing of people in rural Nepal. The findings of this study will be instrumental for land use planning and incentive-based conservation being planned by Nepal aimed at building socio-ecological resilience.
Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region, 2021
The land cover across the HKH region is changing at an accelerated rate due to the rapid economic... more The land cover across the HKH region is changing at an accelerated rate due to the rapid economic growth and population pressures that are impacting the long-term sustainability of ecosystems.
Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region, 2021
In the HKH region, large areas in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Paki... more In the HKH region, large areas in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan get inundated by floodwater during every rainy season. Among them, Bangladesh has been experiencing record-high floods where four types prevail: flash flood, local rainfall flood, monsoon river flood, and storm-surge flood; and these occur almost every year due to Bangladesh’s unique geographical setting as the most downstream country in the HKH region.
Remote Sensing, 2020
Time series land cover data statistics often fluctuate abruptly due to seasonal impact and other ... more Time series land cover data statistics often fluctuate abruptly due to seasonal impact and other noise in the input image. Temporal smoothing techniques are used to reduce the noise in time series data used in land cover mapping. The effects of smoothing may vary based on the smoothing method and land cover category. In this study, we compared the performance of Fourier transformation smoothing, Whittaker smoother and Linear-Fit averaging smoother on Landsat 5, 7 and 8 based yearly composites to classify land cover in Province No. 1 of Nepal. The performance of each smoother was tested based on whether it was applied on image composites or on land cover primitives generated using the random forest machine learning method. The land cover data used in the study was from the years 2000 to 2018. Probability distribution was examined to check the quality of primitives and accuracy of the final land cover maps were accessed. The best results were found for the Whittaker smoothing for stab...
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2019
Land cover maps are a critical component to make informed policy, development, planning, and reso... more Land cover maps are a critical component to make informed policy, development, planning, and resource management decisions. However, technical, capacity, and institutional challenges inhibit the creation of consistent and relevant land cover maps for use in developing regions. Many developing regions lack coordinated capacity, infrastructure, and technologies to produce a robust land cover monitoring system that meets land management needs. Local capacity may be replaced by external consultants or methods which lack long-term sustainability. In this study, we characterize and respond to the key land cover mapping gaps and challenges encountered in the Lower Mekong (LMR) and Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region through a needs assessment exercise and a collaborative system design. Needs were assessed using multiple approaches, including focus groups, user engagement workshops, and online surveys. Efforts to understand existing limitations and stakeholder needs resulted in a co-developed and modular land cover monitoring system which utilizes state-of-the-art cloud computing and machine learning which leverages freely available Earth observations. This approach meets the needs of diverse actors and is a model for transnational cooperation.
Remote Sensing, 2019
During the last few decades, a large number of people have migrated to Kathmandu city from all pa... more During the last few decades, a large number of people have migrated to Kathmandu city from all parts of Nepal, resulting in rapid expansion of the city. The unplanned and accelerated growth is causing many environmental and population management issues. To manage urban growth efficiently, the city authorities need a means to be able to monitor urban expansion regularly. In this study, we introduced a novel approach to automatically detect urban expansion by leveraging state-of-the-art cloud computing technologies using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. We proposed a new index named Normalized Difference and Distance Built-up Index (NDDBI) for identifying built-up areas by combining the LandSat-derived vegetation index with distances from the nearest roads and buildings analysed from OpenStreetMap (OSM). We also focused on logical consistencies of land-cover change to remove unreasonable transitions supported by the repeat photography. Our analysis of the historical urban growt...
Remote Sensing, 2019
Bangladesh is one of the most flood-affected countries in the world. In the last few decades, flo... more Bangladesh is one of the most flood-affected countries in the world. In the last few decades, flood frequency, intensity, duration, and devastation have increased in Bangladesh. Identifying flood-damaged areas is highly essential for an effective flood response. This study aimed at developing an operational methodology for rapid flood inundation and potential flood damaged area mapping to support a quick and effective event response. Sentinel-1 images from March, April, June, and August 2017 were used to generate inundation extents of the corresponding months. The 2017 pre-flood land cover maps were prepared using Landsat-8 images to identify major land cover on the ground before flooding. The overall accuracy of flood inundation mapping was 96.44% and the accuracy of the land cover map was 87.51%. The total flood inundated area corresponded to 2.01%, 4.53%, and 7.01% for the months April, June, and August 2017, respectively. Based on the Landsat-8 derived land cover information, th...
Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes, 2019
Contemporary Social Sciences, 2018
Floods are among earth's most common and most destructive natural disasters, affecting people's l... more Floods are among earth's most common and most destructive natural disasters, affecting people's lives and livelihoods. In Bihar, no other kind of natural disaster has caused more death and destruction than floods. Flood hazard mapping and flood shelters suitability analysis are vital elements in appropriate land use planning for flood-prone areas. No doubt the application of GIS and Remote Sensing (RS) in developed countries has succeeded well in all the flood management stages, viz. pre-flood, during a flood and post-flood stages. Their application can also bring a new revolution in the developing world, including India. Thus, this method is robust enough to develop flood hazard zoning maps and map shelter sites for flood management. The paper describes the application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in identifying flood hazard zones and flood shelters in Bihar. Therefore, they are important tools for planners and decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to describe a simple and efficient methodology to accurately delineate flood inundated areas, flood-hazard areas, and suitable areas for flood shelter to minimize flood impacts. The paper also describes the potential techniques for mitigation developed by early warning system.
International Journal of Ecology, 2019
The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, ... more The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, and Myanmar, is one of the most intact and biologically rich landscapes in the Eastern Himalaya. Yet, the state of biodiversity and its significance are comparatively poorly known to conservationists and policy makers due to low priority in research, inaccessibility, and remoteness. We collated and reviewed 1032 articles relating to biodiversity of the FHL to understand research trends, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest priority research areas for future biodiversity conservation and management in the landscape. Our review showed that the Myanmar part of the landscape is the most studied, followed by the Indian and Chinese parts. The trend of publications in the landscape showed that the earliest publication on biodiversity in the FHL dates back to 1833, while the years from 2001 to 2017 account for almost 80% of the total publications. Most studies focused on species (73.6%), followe...
ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2014
The Convention on Biological Diversity advocates the use of landscape and ecosystem approaches fo... more The Convention on Biological Diversity advocates the use of landscape and ecosystem approaches for managing biodiversity, in recognition of the need for increased regional cooperation. In this context, ICIMOD and regional partners have evolved Transboundary Landscape concept to address the issues of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and systems (e.g., biodiversity, rangelands, farming systems, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, etc.). This concept defines the landscapes by ecosystems rather than political/administrative boundaries. The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is extremely heterogeneous, with complex inter linkages of biomes and habitats as well as strong upstream-downstream linkages related to the provisioning of ecosystem services. Seven such transboundary landscapes, identified across west to east extent of HKH, have been considered for programmatic cooperation, include: Wakhan, Karakoram-Pamir, Kailash, Everest, Kangchenjunga, Brahmaputra-Salween, an...
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 2017
Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world's ... more Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world's population; they host the world's principal biomes and supply a diverse array of ecosystem services. But they are also highly sensitive to both natural and human induced changes, which can affect service provision meant for one third of humanity. Systematic research on impacts of land cover change from mountains at the local scale are limited, especially in developing countries, which poses a barrier to informed planning for sustainable management. Bhutan being in the forefront as contributor towards global conservation goals, a case study following a systematic research framework considering quantitative, qualitative and geospatial tools was experimented. Outcome: Respondents identified and ranked 24 ecosystem services, among which the provisioning services were the most important, followed by cultural, regulating, and supporting services. Forest was the most important land cover type for services, followed by marsh, scrub, water bodies, and agriculture. The area of forest declined by 2% and marsh by 7% over the 32-year period, suggesting a potential decrease in ecosystem services, which was also observed by the local community. Discussion: It was observed that 80% of the local people are still directly dependent on the diverse ecosystems for services. Though subtle, the decrease in land cover has implications for livelihoods of the people and the rich biodiversity of the area. Aspiring communities for local development needs guidance for identifying trade-offs in land cover types in sustainable management. An integrated and holistic approach focusing on both conservation and community development should be used to manage and develop the valley and the region sustainably. Conclusion: We recommend diversifying the limited livelihood strategies (potato farming and livestock grazing) to reduce the potential vulnerability of the local community and reduce the pressure on forest and marsh. Proper land use planning in the valley would be beneficial to maintain and regulate land uses in an effective way and avoid possible conflicts between settlement, agriculture, forest, and marsh.
Sustainability, 2018
Land cover change is a critical driver for enhancing the soil erosion risk in Nepal. Loss of the ... more Land cover change is a critical driver for enhancing the soil erosion risk in Nepal. Loss of the topsoil has a direct and indirect effect on human life and livelihoods. The present study provides an assessment of the decadal land use and land cover (LULC) change and consequent changes in the distribution of soil erosion risk for the years, 1990, 2000, and 2010, for the entire country of Nepal. The study attempted to understand how different land cover types change over the three decades and how it has changed the distribution of soil erosion risks in Nepal that would help in the development of soil conservation priority. The land cover maps were produced using geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) using Landsat images. Soil erosion patterns were assessed using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) with the land cover as the input. The study shows that the forest cover is the most dominant land cover in Nepal that comprises about 6,200,000 ha forest cover. The es...
AIMS Environmental Science, 2016
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region encompasses the largest mountain system in the world extendi... more The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region encompasses the largest mountain system in the world extending from Myanmar in the East to Afghanistan in the West and covering the whole or part of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The region plays a vital role in providing ecosystem services and is the basis of the livelihoods of over 200 million people. The water and other ecosystem services provided by the HKH forms lifeline for one third of humanity. In the past few decades, human activities and global warming have contributed to environmental degradation in significant portion of the region. Decreasing glacier area, growth in glacial lake size, unprecedented rainfall, changes in land use and land cover, forest degradation, floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), landslides, and shortfalls in agricultural crop production are among the many problems brought on by such change. These issues need timely monitoring and supervision if they are to lead to a better understanding of the state of the environment, and the scale of the damages that has already been done. Effective monitoring of the environment, and an improved understanding of the same requires valuable information and data that can be extracted through the application of geospatial technologies such as remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). This paper provides an overview of such research conducted in the HKH region. It shows how change assessment has been undertaken in thematic areas such as glacier, glacial lake, land use, land cover, and disaster events like floods, landslides and droughts and how sets of data collected over specific intervals of time are being used to identify and monitor the condition of the environment from the past to the present, and in the long run. Complete database sets and analyses pertaining to these areas are made available online to facilitate access to information. Data formulation and further research are necessary to reduce scientific uncertainty and understand the impacts induced by climate change in the HKH. Scientific analyse made during each individual study can be used by decision makers and planners in environmental protection planning and development.
Ecological Complexity, 2016
Protected areas, a corestone of biodiversity conservation, provide a vast array of ecosystem serv... more Protected areas, a corestone of biodiversity conservation, provide a vast array of ecosystem services to support livelihoods of people. However, protected areas, especially freshwater, are under threat with overexploitation of resources changing the land covers and degrading their capacity to supply services. Information on land cover changes and its implications on ecosystems, its services and people, especially in developing countries at a local scale, is largely absent. This study, therefore, seeks to understand people's dependency on ecosystem services and implications of land cover change on ecosystem services and people, with a case study in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve of Nepal. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, our findings show high dependency of the locals on a vast array of ecosystem services provided by the reserve. More than half of the sampled households were found to directly derive income from ecosystem services of the reserve. However, land cover changes especially declines in forest (16%), swamps/marshes (4%), rivers (14%) and other ecosystems over a period of 34-years impacted the provision of ecosystem services and people's dependency notably. The services from forests declined by about 94%, swamps services by 36% and services from river by 57% which were reported to be the high service suppliers. People's dependency, as perceived by the locals, was reduced by 67% over the last ten years. The study highlighting the supply, demand and implications on ecosystem services and people helped to better understand the complex interaction between humans and ecosystems. These results can be used to develop holistic approaches to restore, conserve and manage the ecosystems, and its services by balancing equal supply and demand of ecosystem services required for a self-sustaining humanenvironment system. It can also contribute to development of important environmental policies and programs in the area. 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Floods are one of the most common hazards in the world, affect ing people's lives and liveli... more Floods are one of the most common hazards in the world, affect ing people's lives and livelihoods. Flood hazard mapping and flood shelters suitability analysis are v ital elements in appropriate land use planning for flood-prone areas. This paper describes application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Info rmation Systems (GIS) in identifying flood hazard zones and flood shelters and are therefore important tools for planners and decision makers. The purpose of this article is to describe a simp le and efficient methodology to accurately delineate flood inundated areas, flood-hazard areas, and suitable areas for flood shelter to min imize flood impacts. Possible extent of flooding and suitable location flood shelter sites were modeled and mapped for Sindh Province in Pakistan, using the software ArcGIS model builder. The output was validated using inundation maps based on flood events that took place in 2010 in Pakistan. These were mapped using object-based image analysis...
Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, ICIMOD undertook a series of research activities together ... more Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, ICIMOD undertook a series of research activities together with partners in the Eastern Himalayas from 2007 to 2008 to provide a preliminary assessment of the impacts and vulnerability of this region to climate change. Activities included rapid surveys at country level, thematic workshops, interaction with stakeholders at national and regional levels, and development of technical papers by individual experts in collaboration with institutions that synthesised the available information on the region. A summary of the findings of the rapid assessment was published in 2009. The present publication is one of six technical papers used in the assessment. The main synthesis report is being published separately.
Every year during the rainy season, water-induced soil erosion poses serious spatial-environ-ment... more Every year during the rainy season, water-induced soil erosion poses serious spatial-environ-mental problems, causing heavy damage to agricultural lands, sedimentation in reservoirs, and water quality problems in nearby surface water bodies, from the plains to the mountain areas in Nepal. The goal of this study is to identify potential areas for soil erosion in sub and macro wa-tershed in Mustang, Nepal using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. The study examines the possibility of advanced mapping of soil erosion-prone areas using a high spatial resolution image of QuickBird satellite and medium spatial resolution of Landsat satellite. The satellite image was classified using object-based image analysis (OBIA) tech-niques, taking into account spectral, spatial, and context information as well as hierarchical prop-erties. The resulting land cover classification was thereafter combined with additional data in ArcGIS, where the input layers were re...
Springer Geography, 2017
Nepal, a Himalayan country, is situated on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas and repre... more Nepal, a Himalayan country, is situated on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas and represents about one-third of its whole length. Nepal has a population of around 26.5 million and a large proportion of this rely upon land-based activities for their livelihoods. Its elevation ranges 60-8848 masl which constitutes 10 major ecoregions providing diverse ecosystem services crucial for its inhabitants as well as downstream populations. At the ecosystem level, changes in structure, function, patterns of disturbance, and potential impacts of climate change on species are notable concerns. Earth Observation (EO) technologies are being applied for the monitoring and assessment of Nepal on various scales. Since recently, EO supported assessments are also being linked to decision-making processes. In this chapter, we review the status of EO based assessment of key ecosystem components, including forests, rangelands, agro-ecosystems, and wetlands in Nepal. The chapter also looks at the current information gaps and potential use of upcoming satellite technology developments in the context of Nepal.
Land Use Policy, 2021
Abstract Ecosystem services (ES), or tangible and intangible goods and services from nature, are ... more Abstract Ecosystem services (ES), or tangible and intangible goods and services from nature, are an integral part of the rural economy in Nepal. However, there is limited recognition of their contribution to human wellbeing. To understand the linkages between local people and ES, an integrated assessment based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework was undertaken in Rautamai Rural Municipality of Udayapur District, Eastern Nepal. The study applied three broad approaches and multiple tools. This included a set of participatory tools (10 focus group discussions and 36 key informant interviews), followed by a household survey (439 households), and complemented by geospatial tools. The study identified three major ecosystems, namely forest ecosystems, agro-ecosystems, and freshwater ecosystems on which over 75% households were dependent for their livelihood. Collectively, these ecosystems provide 27 provisioning services, 14 regulating, 6 cultural, and 4 supporting services. Among the three ecosystems, the forest ecosystem provides the maximum number of services (40%). However, about 69% households depend on agro-ecosystems as their primary source of livelihoods. There have been subtle changes in land use over the last 18 years, which has had notable impacts on the flow of ecosystem services, and it reflected in people’s perceptions. The study highlights the importance of ecosystem services and the implications of land use change on the flow of these services and wellbeing of people in rural Nepal. The findings of this study will be instrumental for land use planning and incentive-based conservation being planned by Nepal aimed at building socio-ecological resilience.
Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region, 2021
The land cover across the HKH region is changing at an accelerated rate due to the rapid economic... more The land cover across the HKH region is changing at an accelerated rate due to the rapid economic growth and population pressures that are impacting the long-term sustainability of ecosystems.
Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region, 2021
In the HKH region, large areas in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Paki... more In the HKH region, large areas in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan get inundated by floodwater during every rainy season. Among them, Bangladesh has been experiencing record-high floods where four types prevail: flash flood, local rainfall flood, monsoon river flood, and storm-surge flood; and these occur almost every year due to Bangladesh’s unique geographical setting as the most downstream country in the HKH region.
Remote Sensing, 2020
Time series land cover data statistics often fluctuate abruptly due to seasonal impact and other ... more Time series land cover data statistics often fluctuate abruptly due to seasonal impact and other noise in the input image. Temporal smoothing techniques are used to reduce the noise in time series data used in land cover mapping. The effects of smoothing may vary based on the smoothing method and land cover category. In this study, we compared the performance of Fourier transformation smoothing, Whittaker smoother and Linear-Fit averaging smoother on Landsat 5, 7 and 8 based yearly composites to classify land cover in Province No. 1 of Nepal. The performance of each smoother was tested based on whether it was applied on image composites or on land cover primitives generated using the random forest machine learning method. The land cover data used in the study was from the years 2000 to 2018. Probability distribution was examined to check the quality of primitives and accuracy of the final land cover maps were accessed. The best results were found for the Whittaker smoothing for stab...
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2019
Land cover maps are a critical component to make informed policy, development, planning, and reso... more Land cover maps are a critical component to make informed policy, development, planning, and resource management decisions. However, technical, capacity, and institutional challenges inhibit the creation of consistent and relevant land cover maps for use in developing regions. Many developing regions lack coordinated capacity, infrastructure, and technologies to produce a robust land cover monitoring system that meets land management needs. Local capacity may be replaced by external consultants or methods which lack long-term sustainability. In this study, we characterize and respond to the key land cover mapping gaps and challenges encountered in the Lower Mekong (LMR) and Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region through a needs assessment exercise and a collaborative system design. Needs were assessed using multiple approaches, including focus groups, user engagement workshops, and online surveys. Efforts to understand existing limitations and stakeholder needs resulted in a co-developed and modular land cover monitoring system which utilizes state-of-the-art cloud computing and machine learning which leverages freely available Earth observations. This approach meets the needs of diverse actors and is a model for transnational cooperation.
Remote Sensing, 2019
During the last few decades, a large number of people have migrated to Kathmandu city from all pa... more During the last few decades, a large number of people have migrated to Kathmandu city from all parts of Nepal, resulting in rapid expansion of the city. The unplanned and accelerated growth is causing many environmental and population management issues. To manage urban growth efficiently, the city authorities need a means to be able to monitor urban expansion regularly. In this study, we introduced a novel approach to automatically detect urban expansion by leveraging state-of-the-art cloud computing technologies using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. We proposed a new index named Normalized Difference and Distance Built-up Index (NDDBI) for identifying built-up areas by combining the LandSat-derived vegetation index with distances from the nearest roads and buildings analysed from OpenStreetMap (OSM). We also focused on logical consistencies of land-cover change to remove unreasonable transitions supported by the repeat photography. Our analysis of the historical urban growt...
Remote Sensing, 2019
Bangladesh is one of the most flood-affected countries in the world. In the last few decades, flo... more Bangladesh is one of the most flood-affected countries in the world. In the last few decades, flood frequency, intensity, duration, and devastation have increased in Bangladesh. Identifying flood-damaged areas is highly essential for an effective flood response. This study aimed at developing an operational methodology for rapid flood inundation and potential flood damaged area mapping to support a quick and effective event response. Sentinel-1 images from March, April, June, and August 2017 were used to generate inundation extents of the corresponding months. The 2017 pre-flood land cover maps were prepared using Landsat-8 images to identify major land cover on the ground before flooding. The overall accuracy of flood inundation mapping was 96.44% and the accuracy of the land cover map was 87.51%. The total flood inundated area corresponded to 2.01%, 4.53%, and 7.01% for the months April, June, and August 2017, respectively. Based on the Landsat-8 derived land cover information, th...
Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes, 2019
Contemporary Social Sciences, 2018
Floods are among earth's most common and most destructive natural disasters, affecting people's l... more Floods are among earth's most common and most destructive natural disasters, affecting people's lives and livelihoods. In Bihar, no other kind of natural disaster has caused more death and destruction than floods. Flood hazard mapping and flood shelters suitability analysis are vital elements in appropriate land use planning for flood-prone areas. No doubt the application of GIS and Remote Sensing (RS) in developed countries has succeeded well in all the flood management stages, viz. pre-flood, during a flood and post-flood stages. Their application can also bring a new revolution in the developing world, including India. Thus, this method is robust enough to develop flood hazard zoning maps and map shelter sites for flood management. The paper describes the application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in identifying flood hazard zones and flood shelters in Bihar. Therefore, they are important tools for planners and decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to describe a simple and efficient methodology to accurately delineate flood inundated areas, flood-hazard areas, and suitable areas for flood shelter to minimize flood impacts. The paper also describes the potential techniques for mitigation developed by early warning system.
International Journal of Ecology, 2019
The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, ... more The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, and Myanmar, is one of the most intact and biologically rich landscapes in the Eastern Himalaya. Yet, the state of biodiversity and its significance are comparatively poorly known to conservationists and policy makers due to low priority in research, inaccessibility, and remoteness. We collated and reviewed 1032 articles relating to biodiversity of the FHL to understand research trends, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest priority research areas for future biodiversity conservation and management in the landscape. Our review showed that the Myanmar part of the landscape is the most studied, followed by the Indian and Chinese parts. The trend of publications in the landscape showed that the earliest publication on biodiversity in the FHL dates back to 1833, while the years from 2001 to 2017 account for almost 80% of the total publications. Most studies focused on species (73.6%), followe...
ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2014
The Convention on Biological Diversity advocates the use of landscape and ecosystem approaches fo... more The Convention on Biological Diversity advocates the use of landscape and ecosystem approaches for managing biodiversity, in recognition of the need for increased regional cooperation. In this context, ICIMOD and regional partners have evolved Transboundary Landscape concept to address the issues of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and systems (e.g., biodiversity, rangelands, farming systems, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, etc.). This concept defines the landscapes by ecosystems rather than political/administrative boundaries. The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is extremely heterogeneous, with complex inter linkages of biomes and habitats as well as strong upstream-downstream linkages related to the provisioning of ecosystem services. Seven such transboundary landscapes, identified across west to east extent of HKH, have been considered for programmatic cooperation, include: Wakhan, Karakoram-Pamir, Kailash, Everest, Kangchenjunga, Brahmaputra-Salween, an...
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 2017
Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world's ... more Introduction: Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface and are home to 12% of the world's population; they host the world's principal biomes and supply a diverse array of ecosystem services. But they are also highly sensitive to both natural and human induced changes, which can affect service provision meant for one third of humanity. Systematic research on impacts of land cover change from mountains at the local scale are limited, especially in developing countries, which poses a barrier to informed planning for sustainable management. Bhutan being in the forefront as contributor towards global conservation goals, a case study following a systematic research framework considering quantitative, qualitative and geospatial tools was experimented. Outcome: Respondents identified and ranked 24 ecosystem services, among which the provisioning services were the most important, followed by cultural, regulating, and supporting services. Forest was the most important land cover type for services, followed by marsh, scrub, water bodies, and agriculture. The area of forest declined by 2% and marsh by 7% over the 32-year period, suggesting a potential decrease in ecosystem services, which was also observed by the local community. Discussion: It was observed that 80% of the local people are still directly dependent on the diverse ecosystems for services. Though subtle, the decrease in land cover has implications for livelihoods of the people and the rich biodiversity of the area. Aspiring communities for local development needs guidance for identifying trade-offs in land cover types in sustainable management. An integrated and holistic approach focusing on both conservation and community development should be used to manage and develop the valley and the region sustainably. Conclusion: We recommend diversifying the limited livelihood strategies (potato farming and livestock grazing) to reduce the potential vulnerability of the local community and reduce the pressure on forest and marsh. Proper land use planning in the valley would be beneficial to maintain and regulate land uses in an effective way and avoid possible conflicts between settlement, agriculture, forest, and marsh.
Sustainability, 2018
Land cover change is a critical driver for enhancing the soil erosion risk in Nepal. Loss of the ... more Land cover change is a critical driver for enhancing the soil erosion risk in Nepal. Loss of the topsoil has a direct and indirect effect on human life and livelihoods. The present study provides an assessment of the decadal land use and land cover (LULC) change and consequent changes in the distribution of soil erosion risk for the years, 1990, 2000, and 2010, for the entire country of Nepal. The study attempted to understand how different land cover types change over the three decades and how it has changed the distribution of soil erosion risks in Nepal that would help in the development of soil conservation priority. The land cover maps were produced using geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) using Landsat images. Soil erosion patterns were assessed using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) with the land cover as the input. The study shows that the forest cover is the most dominant land cover in Nepal that comprises about 6,200,000 ha forest cover. The es...
AIMS Environmental Science, 2016
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region encompasses the largest mountain system in the world extendi... more The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region encompasses the largest mountain system in the world extending from Myanmar in the East to Afghanistan in the West and covering the whole or part of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The region plays a vital role in providing ecosystem services and is the basis of the livelihoods of over 200 million people. The water and other ecosystem services provided by the HKH forms lifeline for one third of humanity. In the past few decades, human activities and global warming have contributed to environmental degradation in significant portion of the region. Decreasing glacier area, growth in glacial lake size, unprecedented rainfall, changes in land use and land cover, forest degradation, floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), landslides, and shortfalls in agricultural crop production are among the many problems brought on by such change. These issues need timely monitoring and supervision if they are to lead to a better understanding of the state of the environment, and the scale of the damages that has already been done. Effective monitoring of the environment, and an improved understanding of the same requires valuable information and data that can be extracted through the application of geospatial technologies such as remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). This paper provides an overview of such research conducted in the HKH region. It shows how change assessment has been undertaken in thematic areas such as glacier, glacial lake, land use, land cover, and disaster events like floods, landslides and droughts and how sets of data collected over specific intervals of time are being used to identify and monitor the condition of the environment from the past to the present, and in the long run. Complete database sets and analyses pertaining to these areas are made available online to facilitate access to information. Data formulation and further research are necessary to reduce scientific uncertainty and understand the impacts induced by climate change in the HKH. Scientific analyse made during each individual study can be used by decision makers and planners in environmental protection planning and development.
Ecological Complexity, 2016
Protected areas, a corestone of biodiversity conservation, provide a vast array of ecosystem serv... more Protected areas, a corestone of biodiversity conservation, provide a vast array of ecosystem services to support livelihoods of people. However, protected areas, especially freshwater, are under threat with overexploitation of resources changing the land covers and degrading their capacity to supply services. Information on land cover changes and its implications on ecosystems, its services and people, especially in developing countries at a local scale, is largely absent. This study, therefore, seeks to understand people's dependency on ecosystem services and implications of land cover change on ecosystem services and people, with a case study in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve of Nepal. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, our findings show high dependency of the locals on a vast array of ecosystem services provided by the reserve. More than half of the sampled households were found to directly derive income from ecosystem services of the reserve. However, land cover changes especially declines in forest (16%), swamps/marshes (4%), rivers (14%) and other ecosystems over a period of 34-years impacted the provision of ecosystem services and people's dependency notably. The services from forests declined by about 94%, swamps services by 36% and services from river by 57% which were reported to be the high service suppliers. People's dependency, as perceived by the locals, was reduced by 67% over the last ten years. The study highlighting the supply, demand and implications on ecosystem services and people helped to better understand the complex interaction between humans and ecosystems. These results can be used to develop holistic approaches to restore, conserve and manage the ecosystems, and its services by balancing equal supply and demand of ecosystem services required for a self-sustaining humanenvironment system. It can also contribute to development of important environmental policies and programs in the area. 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.