Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Applications of remote sensing and GIS to the assessment of riparian zones for environmental restoration in agricultural watersheds

  • Published:
Geo-spatial Information Science

Abstract

Geographical design of riparian buffers with long-term vegetation cover for environmental restoration in agricultural watersheds needs to assess how much farmland is located in the buffers of a concerned watershed. Traditionally, this assessment was done by field surveying and manual mapping, which was a time-consuming and costly process for a large region. In this paper, remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) as cost-effective techniques were used to develop a catchments-based approach for identifying critical sites of agricultural riparian buffer restoration. The method was explained through a case study of watershed with 11 catchments and results showed that only four of the catchments were eligible in terms of higher priority for riparian buffer restoration. This research has methodological contributions to the spatial assessment of farming intensities in catchments-based riparian buffers across a watershed and to the geographical designs of variable buffering scenarios within catchments. The former makes the catchments-based management strategy possible, and the latter provides alternative restoration scenarios to meet different management purposes, both of which have direct implementations to the environmental restoration of riparian buffers in the real world. This study, thus, highlights the great potential of RS and GIS applications to the planning and management of riparian buffer restoration in agricultural watersheds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Boyd R, Uri N (2001) A note on the use of conservation practices in U.S. agriculture [J]. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 72(2): 141–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Narumalani S, Zhou Y C, Jensen J R (1997) Application of remote sensing and geographic information systems to the delineation and analysis of riparian buffer zones [J]. Aquatic Botany, 58(3–4): 393–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Klemas V V (2001) Remote sensing of landscape-level coastal environmental indicators [J]. Environmental Management, 27(1): 47–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lunetta R S, Ediriwickrema J, Iiames J, et al. (2003) A quantitative assessment of a combined spectral and GIS rule-based land-cover classification in the Neuse River Basin of North Carolina [J]. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 69(3): 299–310

    Google Scholar 

  5. Goetz S J (2006) Remote sensing of riparian buffers: past progress and future prospects [J]. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 42(1): 133–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Makkeasorn A, Chang N B, Li J H (2009) Seasonal change detection of riparian zones with remote sensing images and genetic programming in a semi-arid watershed [J]. Journal of Environmental Management, 90(2): 1069–1080

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Xiang W N (1996) GIS-based riparian buffer analysis: injecting geographic information into landscape planning [J]. Landscape and Urban Planning, 34(1): 1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Russell G D, Hawkins C P, O’Neill M P (1997) The role of GIS in selecting sites for riparian restoration based on hydrology and land use [J]. Restoration Ecology, 5(4S): 56–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Shearer K S, Xiang W N (2007) The characteristics of riparian buffer studies [J]. Journal of Environmental Informatics, 9(11): 41–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Osborne L L, Kovacic D A (1993) Riparian vegetated buffer strips in water-quality restoration and stream management [J]. Freshwater Biology, 29(2): 243–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lin Y F, Lin C Y, Chou W C, et al. (2004) Modeling of riparian vegetated buffer strip width and placement [J]. Ecological Engineering, 23(4–5): 327–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wissmar R C, Beer W N, Timm R K (2004) Spatially explicit estimates of erosion-risk indices and variable riparian buffer widths in watersheds [J]. Aquatic Sciences, 66(4): 446–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Shandong University of Science and Technology, 579 QianWanGang Road, Economic & Technical Development Zone, Qingdao, 266510, China

    Fengxia Gu

  2. College of Surveying and Mapping, Shandong University of Science and Technology, 579 QianWanGang Road, Economic & Technical Development Zone, Qingdao, 266510, China

    Fengxia Gu & Wenbao Liu

Authors
  1. Fengxia Gu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wenbao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wenbao Liu.

Additional information

Supported by the “SUST Spring Bud” (No.2008AZZ110); the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (No.2006BAJ15B02).

GU Fengxia, Ph.D. candidate with research interest in the applications of GIS and remote sensing in urban and rural planning and environment protection.

About this article

Cite this article

Gu, F., Liu, W. Applications of remote sensing and GIS to the assessment of riparian zones for environmental restoration in agricultural watersheds. Geo-spat. Inf. Sci. 13, 263–268 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11806-010-0368-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11806-010-0368-9

Keywords

CLC number

Search

Navigation