Land Cover Mapping in West Africa: A Collaborative Process
Foster Mensah,
Fatima Mushtaq,
Paul Bartel,
Jacob Abramowitz,
Emil Cherrington,
Mansour Mahamane,
Bako Mamane,
Amadou Moctar Dieye,
Patrice Sanou,
Glory Enaruvbe,
Ndeye Fatou Mar
Affiliations
Foster Mensah
Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Legon, Accra PMB L17, Ghana
Fatima Mushtaq
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
Paul Bartel
SERVIR West Africa, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Cantonments, Accra PMB CT 112, Ghana
Jacob Abramowitz
Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805, USA
Emil Cherrington
Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805, USA
Mansour Mahamane
CILSS/AGRHYMET Regional Center, 425 Boulevard de l’Université, Niamey BP 11011, Niger
Bako Mamane
CILSS/AGRHYMET Regional Center, 425 Boulevard de l’Université, Niamey BP 11011, Niger
Amadou Moctar Dieye
Centre de Suivie Ecologique, Rue Leon Gontran Damas, Fann Residence Dakar, Dakar BP 15532, Senegal
Patrice Sanou
Higher Institute of Space Studies and Telecommunications (ISESTEL), Parcelle 13, Secteur 21, Arrondissement 5-Dassasgho, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7021, Burkina Faso
Glory Enaruvbe
African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST), Off Road 1, Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, Ife Central, Ile Ife PMB 5545, Nigeria
Ndeye Fatou Mar
Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS), Boulevard du Leader Yasser Arafat BP 31 Tunis Carthage, Tunis 1080, Tunisia
The availability of current land cover and land use (LCLU) information for monitoring the status of land resources has considerable value in ensuring sustainable land use planning and development. Similarly, the need to provide updated information on the extent of LCLU change in West Africa has become apparent, given the increasing demand for land resources driven by rapid population growth. Over the past decade, multiple projects have been undertaken to produce regional and national land cover maps. However, using different classification systems and legends has made updating and sharing land cover information challenging. This has resulted in the inefficient use of human and financial resources. The development of the Land Cover Meta Language (LCML) based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards offers an opportunity to create a standardized classification system. This system would enable easier integration of regional and national data, efficient management of information, and better resource utilization in West Africa. This article emphasizes the process and the need for multistakeholder collaboration in developing a standardized land cover classification system for West Africa, which is currently nonexistent. It presents the survey data collected to evaluate historical, current, and future land cover mapping projects in the region and provides relevant use cases as examples for operationalizing a standardized land cover classification legend for West Africa.
