A Remote-Sensing Based Assessment of Seasonal Variation in Vegetation Quality and Productivity in Nimbia Forest

Abstract

Agriculture plays a vital role in the growth and sustainability of developing countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, there is a need to monitor and assess the changes taking place in vegetation quality and productivity. The conventional ground survey method has proved to be highly tedious, laborious, and grossly limited, especially when large and densely forested regions are concerned. This paper presents a remote sensing-based approach as a real-time technology to determine the effect and extent of water loss caused by seasons on vegetation quality in Nimbia forest, Kaduna State. ENVI 4.7, ArcGIS 10.0, and Global Mapper Software were used, and a discrepancy of about 45% in the quality of vegetation has been observed between seasons in the region under study.