Source
This study was conducted as part of my preliminary analyses of Mount Elgon ecosystem (before developing my dissertation question).
Introduction
This was a preliminary analysis in which I sought to find any land use and land cover (LULC) change in the Mount Elgon (ME) area for the period between 2001 and 2016.
I used MODIS Land Cover Dynamics (MCD12Q2) and historical diurnal precipitation data from Climate Engine (https://clim-engine-development.appspot.com/) and SERVIR ClimateSERV (https://climateserv.servirglobal.net/aboutclimateserv.html). Only some of the results are shown here.
Results
In 2010-16, twice as much grassland was converted to cropland as compared to 2005-10 (approximately 12% and 6%, respectively). However, relatively less cropland was converted to grassland during that period. More cropland was converted to grassland within 2005-10 as compared to 2010-16 (about 7% and 2%, respectively).
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| Land use and land cover classes in 2005. Notice the dominant croplands, savanna and grassland vegetation. |
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| Land use and land cover classes in 2016. |
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| LULC change among croplands, savanna and grassland in the Mount Elgon ecosystem. |
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| Monthly rainfall time series in the ME. |
Apart from 2016 having a higher maximum rainfall, there seems to be no significant variation in the area precipitation over these years. The general bimodal rainfall patterns can easily be observed for most years. However, while comparing our target years, one may notice that, in 2001, the area was wettest in the second rainy season rather in the first.