GIS at CIPEC

CIPEC research is focused on observing forest cover change and the mechanisms behind that change. GIS tools provide a means to quantify and measure landcover change spatially and link these changes to other spatially referenced datasets to determine the causal factors behind deforesetation and forest cover regrowth.

Remotely sensed imagery (satellite imagery and aerial photography) can be classified into different landcover types. Given data from two time points, transition matrices can be constructed to determine the area in each landcover class which has changed to each other landcover class.

This is a particularly critical operation in areas where swidden cultivation is the primary agricultural production method. In these areas it is common for landcover changes to occur as a result of the fallow cycle of cultivation. In these areas, it is important to quantify the percentage of landcover in each landcover class because different areas are in a constant state of forest succession due to natural forest regrowth and forest clearing as areas are burned for subsequent cultivation.

GIS tools allow these changes to be quantified in space and time to show the spatial pattern and composition of landcover in a dynamic represenatation. These changes can be integrated with social and biophysical data to determine the factors behind the landcover change process. For example, household outmigration can affect the fallow cycle through the provision of labor and household subsistence requirements. These are data which are collected in social surveys and spatially linked to landcover change data.

 

 

 

 

 

408 North Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47408-3799
Phone: (812) 855-2230
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Last Updated: May 11, 2005
Comments: cipec@indiana.edu 
Copyright 2005, The Trustees of Indiana University.