Landsat Satellite Multi-Spectral Classification of Land Cover Change for GIS-Based Urbanization Analysis in Irrigation Districts: Evaluation in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

This report summarizes our evaluation of the potential of Landsat satellite multi-spectral land cover imagery for GIS-based urbanization analysis in irrigation districts. Three image scenes of ETM+ (2003) and TM (1993) multi-spectral image data were purchased from USGS through TexasView Remote Sensing Consortium. The three scenes cover the Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy Counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The images were classified in terms of land cover categories, and the classified data were overlaid on GIS layout to visualize urbanization in irrigation districts.A portion of this study was funded by the Texas Cooperative Extension through the Rio Grande Basin Initiative administered by the Texas Water Resources Institute of the Texas A&M University System with funds provided through a grant from Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2001-001-45049-0114