@article{ZoungranaConradAmekudzietal.2015,
  author    = {Zoungrana, Benewinde Jean-Bosco and Conrad, Christopher and Amekudzi, Leonard K. and Thiel, Michael and Dapola Da, Evariste and Forkuor, Gerald and L{\"o}w, Fabian},
  title     = {Multi-Temporal Landsat Images and Ancillary Data for Land Use/Cover Change (LULCC) Detection in the Southwest of Burkina Faso, West Africa},
  series = {Remote Sensing},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Remote Sensing},
  number    = {9},
  doi       = {10.3390/rs70912076},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125866},
  pages     = {12076-12102},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Accurate quantification of land use/cover change (LULCC) is important for efficient environmental management, especially in regions that are extremely affected by climate variability and continuous population growth such as West Africa. In this context, accurate LULC classification and statistically sound change area estimates are essential for a better understanding of LULCC processes. This study aimed at comparing mono-temporal and multi-temporal LULC classifications as well as their combination with ancillary data and to determine LULCC across the heterogeneous landscape of southwest Burkina Faso using accurate classification results. Landsat data (1999, 2006 and 2011) and ancillary data served as input features for the random forest classifier algorithm. Five LULC classes were identified: woodland, mixed vegetation, bare surface, water and agricultural area. A reference database was established using different sources including high-resolution images, aerial photo and field data. LULCC and LULC classification accuracies, area and area uncertainty were computed based on the method of adjusted error matrices. The results revealed that multi-temporal classification significantly outperformed those solely based on mono-temporal data in the study area. However, combining mono-temporal imagery and ancillary data for LULC classification had the same accuracy level as multi-temporal classification which is an indication that this combination is an efficient alternative to multi-temporal classification in the study region, where cloud free images are rare. The LULCC map obtained had an overall accuracy of 92\%. Natural vegetation loss was estimated to be 17.9\% ± 2.5\% between 1999 and 2011. The study area experienced an increase in agricultural area and bare surface at the expense of woodland and mixed vegetation, which attests to the ongoing deforestation. These results can serve as means of regional and global land cover products validation, as they provide a new validated data set with uncertainty estimates in heterogeneous ecosystems prone to classification errors.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AsareKyeiForkuorVenus2015,
  author    = {Asare-Kyei, Daniel and Forkuor, Gerald and Venus, Valentijn},
  title     = {Modeling Flood Hazard Zones at the Sub-District Level with the Rational Model Integrated with GIS and Remote Sensing Approaches},
  series = {Water},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Water},
  doi       = {10.3390/w7073531},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151581},
  pages     = {3531 -- 3564},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Robust risk assessment requires accurate flood intensity area mapping to allow for the identification of populations and elements at risk. However, available flood maps in West Africa lack spatial variability while global datasets have resolutions too coarse to be relevant for local scale risk assessment. Consequently, local disaster managers are forced to use traditional methods such as watermarks on buildings and media reports to identify flood hazard areas. In this study, remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were combined with hydrological and statistical models to delineate the spatial limits of flood hazard zones in selected communities in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin. The approach involves estimating peak runoff concentrations at different elevations and then applying statistical methods to develop a Flood Hazard Index (FHI). Results show that about half of the study areas fall into high intensity flood zones. Empirical validation using statistical confusion matrix and the principles of Participatory GIS show that flood hazard areas could be mapped at an accuracy ranging from 77\% to 81\%. This was supported with local expert knowledge which accurately classified 79\% of communities deemed to be highly susceptible to flood hazard. The results will assist disaster managers to reduce the risk to flood disasters at the community level where risk outcomes are first materialized.},
  language  = {en}
}