International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation (Sep 2023)
Spatiotemporal dynamic impacts of Lake Victoria water volume variations on sustainable economic development
Abstract
Spatiotemporal changes in lake water resources critically affect the livelihoods and the sustainable development of the local social economy. Understanding the evolution of lake water resource and its influence on economic development is important for achieving sustainable development goals. Taking Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria, as the study area, a framework was developed to investigate long-term (2000–2019) water volume variations and their influence on local economic sustainable development. First, an estimation model of water volume variations was constructed based on an optimized joint process of multi-mission altimetry data and water surface area calculations of multispectral images. Furthermore, based on nighttime light remote sensing data, three factors (namely economic level, growth, and inequality) were calculated and applied to quantify the sustainability of local economic development. Finally, the influence mechanism was explored using the Pearson correlation coefficient and grey-value relationship analysis. The results reveal significant interannual and seasonal variations in water volume of the Lake Victoria. Spatially, the western part of Lake Victoria experienced more frequent changes than the east. From the three economic perspectives, the spatiotemporal evolution of water volume variations strongly affected the economic level, whereas economic growth is influenced the least. Additionally, different effects were observed in the surrounding countries. The water volume variations had the greatest impact on Uganda’s sustainable economic development from all three perspectives, with a significant lagged impact of three years on agricultural production. This study provides valuable insights into the dynamic influence of water resources on sustainable economic development, offering a viable alternative to mass field surveys, especially relevant for developing and underdeveloped regions.
