Application of Remote Sensing for Rangeland Resources Assessment in ElBaja area- White Nile State- Sudan

Abstract

This study was conducted in ElBaja area in the White Nile state. The aim of study was to assess the current rangeland situation in El Baja area using ground survey, remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems techniques. The ground survey has been carried out to collect basic data about the rangeland resources and verifying the remote sensing data with the help of a handheld GPS. A transects of 100m length, quadrate size of 1×1 m and Parker loop (¾) were used to determine the vegetation attributes. Then a Landsat 8 satellite data for the same area has been downloaded, processed and classified. Moreover, an NDVI maps were also been produced from the satellite data. The result showed that rangeland ground cover was poor and dominated by Schoenefoldia gracilis with 50 plant/m² and high species composition in the area. From remotely-sensed data, for the same area the NDVI value of the grassland class showed a low value of 0.17. The study concluded that both ground survey and remote sensing data were useful in assessment of the rangeland status in the area. In addition to that, domination of the rangeland cover in the study area with Schoenefoldia gracilis species is an indicator for poor rangeland.