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An automated method for mapping physical soil and water conservation structures on cultivated land using GIS and remote sensing techniques

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Abstract

An efficient and reliable automated model that can map physical Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) structures on cultivated land was developed using very high spatial resolution imagery obtained from Google Earth and ArcGIS®, ERDAS IMAGINE®, and SDC Morphology Toolbox for MATLAB and statistical techniques. The model was developed using the following procedures: (1) a high-pass spatial filter algorithm was applied to detect linear features, (2) morphological processing was used to remove unwanted linear features, (3) the raster format was vectorized, (4) the vectorized linear features were split per hectare (ha) and each line was then classified according to its compass direction, and (5) the sum of all vector lengths per class of direction per ha was calculated. Finally, the direction class with the greatest length was selected from each ha to predict the physical SWC structures. The model was calibrated and validated on the Ethiopian Highlands. The model correctly mapped 80% of the existing structures. The developed model was then tested at different sites with different topography. The results show that the developed model is feasible for automated mapping of physical SWC structures. Therefore, the model is useful for predicting and mapping physical SWC structures areas across diverse areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Management Department, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Asnake Mekuriaw

  2. Geospatial Data and Technology Center, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Asnake Mekuriaw

  3. Center for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Andreas Heinimann, Hans Hurni & Kaspar Hurni

  4. Water and Land Resource Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Gete Zeleke

Authors
  1. Asnake Mekuriaw
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  2. Andreas Heinimann
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  3. Gete Zeleke
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  4. Hans Hurni
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  5. Kaspar Hurni
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Correspondence to Hans Hurni.

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Mekuriaw, A., Heinimann, A., Zeleke, G. et al. An automated method for mapping physical soil and water conservation structures on cultivated land using GIS and remote sensing techniques. J. Geogr. Sci. 27, 79–94 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-017-1365-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-017-1365-9

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