Assessing the Drivers of Vegetal Cover Dynamics in the F.C.T, Nigeria using Remote Sensing/ GIS Techniques

Vegetation in Abuja has been discovered to be on the decrease and there is a dire need for proper monitoring using remote sensing and GIS technology since it has proven to be effective when examining spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation cover. This research was aimed at assessing the extent and intensity of development in the FCT using Geospatial Techniques as it affects vegetal cover. This was done by utilizing remotely sensed data such as Tamsat rainfall data, Landsat TM, ETM and L8 data, to examine the changes in vegetation and monitor vegetation health in the FCT using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which has long been used and widely accepted as an effective means of estimating changes in vegetation cover. The study showed that vegetation cover has depleted tremendously at alarming rate of about 34.8% within the period of three (3) decades (1987-2016) in the study area. It also showed NDVI and rainfall were found to be highly correlated (r=0.72) indicating that temporal variation of NDVI is linked to precipitation.