The study of land cover type from landsat data in Thailand

Abstract

The survey of natural resources has been steadily advancing since the first Landsat was launched by NASA in 1972. Remote Sensing techniques have become an integral part of natural resource management. This is true in both developed and developing countries. This is primarily due to remote sensing techniques being extremely efficient in studying and analyzing the earth's resources. Examples of remote sensing application include, flooding, forest fire, deforestation and land use. The study of the present natural resource situation and the prediction of any possible future trend is a major component of resource management and policy making. In the past, data for this study has generally been collected by aerial photo interpretation. This data can now be collected using satellite imagery. The use of satellite imagery allows for greater coverage, smaller scale and more detail. Additionally the use of computer to analyze satellite imagery has greatly increase accuracy and efficiency when compared to manual interpretation. For this reason computer compatible tape is a major source for natural resource information. The study area for this project is located in Tambon Tan-Yong, Amphoe Muang, Narathiwat Province, the southern part of Thailand having a tropical humid climate. It is affected by both the NE monsoon (during the winter) and SW monsoon (in summer). As such the rainfall is extremely high. The Natural vegetation is moist evergreen especially in the mountainous area, the types of vegetation include mangrove swamp, swamp forest and rubber plantation.