Remote sensing classification of western Sierra Leone using landsat TM and ETM +

The study examines the changes of land cover/use resources for the period under investigation.An unsupervised vegetation classification is being performed that provides five distinctive classes and thus assesses these changes in five broad land cover classes-high/moist forests,forest regrowth,mixed savanna,bare land/ grass and water.The remote sensing images used in this work are both images of TM and ETM+in different time periods(1986 to 2001)to determine land cover/use changes.A fairly accuracy report is recorded after performing the unsupervised classification,which shows vegetation has been depleted for over the years.Changes created are mostly human and to a lesser extent environment.Human activities are mainly encroachment thus altering the landscape through activities such as population growth,agriculture,settlements,etc.and environment due to some perceive climatic changes.This vegetation classification highlights the importance to acquire and publish information about the country’s partial vegetation cover and vegetation change including vegetation maps and other basic vegetation influencing factors,leading to an understanding of its evolution for a period.