Estimation of Spatiotemporal Changes of Land Cover in Llapi River Catchment (Northeastern Part of Kosova)

Abstract

Aim of the studyIn recent decades, Kosova in general and the Llapi River catchment have experienced landscape transformation which resulted in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes, mainly in flat terrains where most of country’s population is concentrated. Other landscapes have experienced changes too, but on a small scale. The aim of the study was to identify landscape transformation and driving forces behind it.Material and methodsSpatiotemporal changes of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) were made using GIS techniques. Land Cover data from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) with spatial resolution 100 m for three different years: 2000, 2006 and 2018 were analyzed. DEM with 10 m spatial resolution was used to estimate slope steepness and catchments’ altitude. Population data for settlements inside the Llapi River catchment represented in features were downloaded from the Statistical Agency of Kosova, and those data include population numbers for official censuses between 1948 until 2011, while ArcMap 10.8 environment was used for analysis.Results and conclusionsWith GIS technique in analyzing Land Use and Land Cover data (LULC) and other open source data, we found that agricultural land have decreased in area by 9.53%, while the increase of artificial surface is 160.87%, or expressing by absolute values, total agricultural areas in 2000 were 37,827 ha, while in 2018 were 34,334 ha, meaning 0.3ha per capita, less than European level. In order to protect agricultural land, zoning and land use plans should be implemented.