ESTIMATING VEGETATION CHANGE IN OYO TOWNSHIP USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) AND REMOTE SENSING

Land use dynamics in Nigeria have been studied by several scholars but most of the methodology used are either conventional or in respect of areas of intense human impact. This study was based on application of remote sensing and GIS to detect and quantify forest cover changes in Oyo for the period 1978 to 2018 using remote sensing images taken in 1978, 1998 and 2018 by Landsat of type TM (Thematic Mapper), ETM+ and OLI. The images were processed using the ArcGIS 10.6 software version. Five land use classes were identified: forests, water bodies, agricuitural or cropland, built-up and bare land. The reswits indicated fhat the forest area in 1978 was 53.39 % of the total area wnder study. It decreased fo 26.62 % in 1998 and then sharply decreased to 4.94 % in 2018. The aret built up represented 2.39 % in 1978, increased to 12.65 % in 1998 and further incresed to 64.19 % in 2018. Agricultural land area was 29.16 % in 1978, decreased fo 28.73 % in 1998 and finally decreased to 26.30 % in 2018. Water bodies was continuously decreasing during the period 1978 to 1998 fo 2018 while bere land increased between 1978 and 1998 and later decreased greatly between 1998 and 2018. The study found out that there was continuous change in land use and that the change wws basically human induced. The reswits of the change determination performed on the image estimation in the area indicated that forests constitute the main class that witnessed major negative changes. It wus revenled that there exists significant vriation in land uses changes in the study area. The study indicated that application of remote sensing technology remain an efficient method to be applied for detection of forest cover and land use changes.