Land use and land cover data changes in Indian Ocean Islands: Case study of Unguja in Zanzibar Island

Sizah Mwalusepo; Eliud Muli; Asha Faki; Suresh Raina

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2017.01.010

Land use and land cover data changes in Indian Ocean Islands: Case study of Unguja in Zanzibar Island

Data Brief. 2017 Jan 17:11:117-121. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2017.01.010. eCollection 2017 Apr.

Authors

Sizah Mwalusepo¹, Eliud Muli², Asha Faki³, Suresh Raina⁴

Affiliations

¹ icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health, P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya; Department of General Studies, Dares Salaam Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 2958, Dares Salaam, Tanzania.
² icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health, P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya; South Eastern Kenya University, P.O. BOX 170-90200, Kitui, Kenya.
³ Agricultural Sector Development Programme, P.O. Box 159, Zanzibar.
⁴ icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health, P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Land use and land cover changes will continue to affect resilient human communities and ecosystems as a result of climate change. However, an assessment of land use and land cover changes over time in Indian Ocean Islands is less documented. The land use/cover data changes over 10 years at smaller geographical scale across Unguja Island in Zanzibar were analyzed. Downscaling of the data was obtained from SERVIR through partnership with Kenya-based Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) database (http://www.servirglobal.net), and clipped down in ArcMap (Version 10.1) to Unguja Island. SERVIR and RCMRD Land Cover Dataset are mainly 30 m multispectral images include Landsat TM and ETM+Multispectral Images. Landscape ecology Statistics tool (LecoS) was used to analysis the land use and land cover changes. The data provide information on the status of the land use and land cover changes along the Unguja Island in Zanzibar. The data is of great significance to the future research on global change.

Keywords: Geographical Information Systems tool; Land use/cover; Landscape ecology; Unguja Island.