TITLE:
Subsidence associated with land use changes in urban aquifers with intensive extraction
AUTHORS:
Briseida Lopez-Alvarez, José Alfredo Ramos-Leal, Germán Santacruz-De Leon, Janete Morán-Ramirez, Simón Eduardo Carranco-Lozada, Cristina Noyola-Medrano
KEYWORDS:
Land Use Change; Mining; Intensive Extraction; Subsidence; Aquifer urban; Arid Zone
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.5 No.2A,
February
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Land use change is a
major factor in alterations in natural processes and cycles. Remote sensing has
become an excellent tool to evaluate technological changes in land cover and
land use changes over large areas, such as those occurring in the Valley of San
Luis Potosi (VSLP). Here, such changes have impacted a system which is 95%
dependent on the aquifer. The methodology for the present study is based on the
use of satellite images for the years 1976, 1986, 1995 and 2000. To asses land
use change, a supervised classification process was used with a decision tree
technique and ENVI 4.3 software. The evolution of groundwater levels for the
years 1977, 1986, 1995, 1998 and 2007 was also analyzed, as well as problems of
subsidence and fissuring in the urban area of the valley in 2006. With the
support of remote sensing, it was possible to analyze the dynamic changes in
land use over large areas and highlight their impact on the environment.