Analyzing The Impact Of Land Use Land Cover Change On Climate Variability Using Geospatial Techniques. A Case Of Wolaita Zone, Southern Region Of Ethiopia

Abstract

Climate Variation Refers To Long-Term Shifts In Temperatures And Rainfall Patterns. Climate variation In Wolaita Zone Was Caused By Rapid Population Growth, Improper Traditional Farming Techniques And Deforestation Of Forests. Depending On These Causes Wolaita Zone Has Been Highly Impacted By Climate Variation. Some Studies Have Been Conducted In Woliata ZoneTo Mitigate The Problem Of Climate Variation From Several Angles. The Aim Of This Study Is Analyzing The Impact Of Lulc Change On Climate Variability Using Geospatial Techniques In Between 1993 To 2022. To Achieve The Objective, The Inverse Distance Weight Interpolation Method Was Used To Investigate The Spatial Pattern Of Precipitation And Temperature While The Coefficient Of Variation Was Used For Trend Analysis. Moreover, Maximum Likelihood Supervised Classification Techniques Were Used For Classifying Lulc. Finally, Linear Regression Was Used To Analyze The Correlation Between Lulc, Lst, Ndvi And Rainfall Data. The Long Time Recorded Climate Data, Mult-Temporal Landsat Image, Time Sires Mod13q1normalized Difference Vegetation Index And Survey Data Collected From Key Informative Persons Were Used For Analyzing The Climate Variability. The Result Of The Study Shown That The Mean Yearly Rainfall Of The Study Area Declined By 29.8mm From 1993 To 2022. Similarly, The Result Shows A Reducing Trend Of Rainfall At The Seasonal Level. Overall Amount, It Declined By18.1mm And 40.36 Mm In Kiremt And Belg Seasons Respectively. Furthermore, The Study Result Shows That The Average Annual Maximum And Minimum Temperature Increased By 0.52 0C And 1.29 0C Respectively Between 1993 And 2022. Consequently, The Lulc Change Result Reveals That Farm Land And Buildup Land Dramatically Increased While Forest Land And Bareland Declined During The Study Period. With This Regard, Mean Lst Shows An Increasing Rate Of Built-Up Land, Farmland, Bareland And Forest Land Respectively From 1993 To 2022. In Addition To This, The Time Series Mod13q1 Ndvi Result Indicates That The Forest Coverage Of The Study Area Declined From 2003 To 2022. This Means That The Ndvi Value Declined From 0.934 In 2003 To 0.794 In 2022. Finally, Linear Regression Analyses Result Shows That There Was A Strong Positive Correlation Between Ndvi And Rainfall While A Strong Negative Correlation With Average Annual Temperature With Ndvi. Moreover, There Is A Strong Positive Correlation Of Lst With Built-Up Land; Farm Land And Bare Land While A Strong Negative Correlation With Forest Land. Generally, The Study Concluded That The Decline In Rainfall And The Rise Of Temperature In The Study Area Was Caused By The Expansion Of Farmland, Built-Up Land And Reduction Of Forest Land. So, Concerned Body Must Take Remedial Measurements To Monitor The Changing Climate Condition Of The Study Area.