Using Satellite Remote Sensing In Detecting Anthropogenic Threats To Freshwater Wetlands In Transforming Landscapes; The Case Of Ngiri-Tumba-Mai Ndombe Wetlands; Of The Cuvette Centrale In The Congo River Basin.

Abstract

Abstract In the last decades efforts to curb wetland net-loss from anthropogenic factors in Congo basin has satisfied only zero wetland loss in acreage but may have not successfully mitigate the net-loss in wetland function. The ecological and environmental potentials of any wetland are a function of its configuration. Anthropogenic landscapes as new urban areas, transport systems, agricultural extension are on the increase in the Cuvette Central of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of an exponential growth in human population. This object of this research is to quantify the human footprint in the Cuvette Central of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Research ability to detect, characterize and monitor wetlands dynamics are often constrained by the limited in-situ data, the risk of perturbation susceptible species, fine-scale variation in landscape, hydrology, and vegetation cover. Technologies for analysing and monitoring wetland dynamics is shifting towards the usefulness of satellite remote sensing. This research put to test the feasibility of optical remote sensing in detecting and analysing the patterns in wetland landscape transformation in the Central Congo basin. The methodology will integrate radar imagery with topographic datasets and other complementary data in an object orientation framework.