Evaluation of shoreline fluctuation of lake Victoria using optical remote sensing and Geospatial Tools

Abstract

Buvuma Island is the biggest island in the Buvuma district in Uganda. People living around Buvuma Island mostly at the fish landing sites have been displaced, facilities submerged, transportation limited due to the bursting of the Lake Victoria shoreline hence affecting social and environmental frameworks. The aquatic ecosystem has disastrously changed due to shoreline variation caused by natural and anthropological factors, sedimentation and accretion hence limited fish production - Shoreline is the interface between land and water and its dynamic in nature. From the literature, shoreline delineation and its rate of change can be assessed with the application of remote sensing and geographical information system. In this study, Shoreline delineation and its rates of change were evaluated with the application of GIS and Remote Sensing. Multispectral Landsat image scenes acquired from 1995 to 2020 were utilized to demarcate the rate of shoreline dynamics using GIS- DSAS which is an extension of ArcGIS software. the study area was divided into zones i.e., North, East and West. The succeeding short- and long-term shoreline dynamics, shoreline erosion, and accretion rates have been calculated for the period 1995-2020. The statistical analysis EPR, LLR and WLR and were determined from the shoreline layers. The study shows that, in various zones, Shoreline Changes occurred at different rates i.e., Northern segment – erosion 63.38%, accretion 36.62% -0.16m/yr. Eastern segment – erosion 63.09%, accretion 36.91% -0.39m/yr. Western segment- erosion 89.57%, accretion 10.43% -0.98m/yr. Therefore, these results can enable the decision-makers to identify the susceptible zones and find better solutions to the existing natural problems in these locations. In flood-prone areas, the government can employ coping techniques such as building flood defenses and shoreline structures and afforestation to protect the mainland from the high rate of shoreline erosion.