Analysis of satellite images - Part 4


This exercise is divided into four parts and requires the use of LEOWorks.
 
You should now be familiar with the Kameng Sonitpur Elephant Reserve. By now you should also know how to overlay a shape file onto an image. The next exercise is about extracting data to analyse habitat loss. We will measure the amount of deforestation on the 2003 images and calculate the habitat loss from 1994 to 2003.

Open FCC_2003_b432, then go to GIS/GIS tools, select File>Open Theme, and select Forest_boundary_2003. Load the data in the viewer using the same projection parameters. On the same image, open the Forest_boundary_1994 file and give it another colour so that you can make a distinction between these two boundaries. Note the large scale deforestation along the boundary. Let's try to calculate the aggregated deforested area. After measuring this, we can eventually calculate the elephant habitat loss in terms of total forest cover loss.

Look for the areas where the difference between the two boundaries is higher, and those that are deforested areas. The areas inside the yellow rectangles are the highly deforested areas.
 
 
 
Measurement of the deforested area
 
Choose Image>Measure tool and select Units>Meters in the Measure tool window. Outline the deforested area by clicking along the perimeter of the area. When you are finished, right click. The perimeter and the area in square metres are shown in the Measure tool window. You can note the area and the perimeter. You can also save it as a '.txt file' (File>Save measures in Measurement tool window).

Repeat this process with the other deforested areas, and then add all the sums to get the total deforested area or habitat loss.

1. How large is the aggregated deforested area in square kilometres? How large is it in hectares?

 
 
 
Deforestation
 
 
 
 
Deforestation
 
2. You can finish this exercise by writing a report describing and analysing the human-elephant conflict based on the data and images that you have studied and analysed.

3. You can also make a poster with the satellite images studied by you and your classmates, and write a text describing the human-elephant conflict.

4. Is the conflict in this area unique, or can you think of similar problems in other parts of the world? Make a list.

5. Can you find similar conflicts in your own area? Can you describe the benefits of using satellite images for the study of such problems?


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Last update: 16 April 2013


Kameng-Sonitpur Elephant Reserve

 •  Introduction (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEM3DS0SAKF_0.html)
 •  Elephant Reserve (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEMHNS0SAKF_0.html)
 •  Asian elephant (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEMGRS0SAKF_0.html)
 •  Man vs elephant (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEMXSS0SAKF_0.html)

Exercises

 •  Worksheet introduction (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEM29T0SAKF_0_ov.html)
 •  Paper map creation and study of Kameng-Sonitpur Elephant Reserve (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEMUAT0SAKF_0.html)
 •  Analysis of satellite images (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEM0GT0SAKF_0.html)

Eduspace - Software

 •  LEOWorks 3 (http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/LEOWorks3.exe)
 •  ArcExplorer (http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/eduspace/ae2setup.zip)

Eduspace - Download

 •  ks_papermap.zip (http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/eduspace/ks_papermap.zip)
 •  ks_satelliteimg.zip (http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/eduspace/ks_satelliteimg.zip)

Resources

 •  Useful links (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eduspace_Global_EN/SEMRHV0SAKF_0.html)