Stefan Dech

A Land Cover Change Synthesis Study for the GLOWA Volta Basin in West Africa using Time Trajectory Satellite Observations and Cellular Automata Models

Quantifying the regional effects of land cover change is imperative to improve future hydrological budget estimates within large river basins. In this study we aim to utilize binary logistic regressions models within a cellular automation (CA) modeling environment to find causalities for satellite remote sensing measured land cover change (LCC). We used 30-meter Landsat and 250-meter MODIS time-series observations to map LCC for different time trajectories in two large study areas in Burkina Faso and Ghana. We used the FAO land cover classification system (LCCS) legend to map LCC processes from the satellite trajectories. Socio-economic data on population density, distances to roads, and biophysical data sets were processed in the CA model. The neighborhood effect of the change predictors were accounted for by using an enrichment factor. The relationship between the satellite derived LCC and the major biophysical and socio-economic drivers showed that population density, and the increase of cropland areas are responsible for the conversion of forests and woodlands. This was observed for both study areas.

A Water Related Information System for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta: Experiences of the German-Vietnamese WISDOM Project

This chapter presents the evolvement of an environmental information system, built for the Mekong Delta, in the context of the German-Vietnamese research project WISDOM (Water related Information System for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta). The WISDOM project (2007–2014) belonged to a group of Integrated Water Resources Management, IWRM, projects, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science, BMBF, on the German side, and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology, MOST, on the Vietnamese side. Goal of the multi-disciplinary project has been to contribute to numerous knowledge gaps existing for the Mekong Delta. Applied research questions from the fields of hydrology, hydro-morphology, chemistry, geography, ecology, biology, socio-economy, as well as administration and law were addressed by a large group of PhD students and post-doctoral researchers active in the project. One goal and also one—but not the—central element of the project has been the design of a water related information system, which can serve as a planning aid for decision makers and stakeholders in the delta. At the same time the freely and online available, bilingual (English and Vietnamese) WISDOM Information System, serves as a central project hub, which ensures that the majority of project findings that come in the form of geodata, in situ measurement collections, maps, statistics, reports, or scientific publications is available to the public. In this paper, geographic background and challenges of the focus area, project set-up, Information System design, components realized, training measures undertaken, as well as general experiences when realizing large projects in emerging countries are elucidated and discussed.