Spatio-temporal prediction of land use and land cover change in Bahi (Manyoni) Catchment, Tanzania, using multilayer perceptron neural network and cellular automata-Markov chain model

Evaluation of land use and land cover (LULC) change is among vital tools used for tracking environmental health and proper resource management. Remote sensing data was used to determine LULC change in Bahi (Manyoni) Catchment (BMC) in central Tanzania. Landsat satellite images from Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS were used, and support vector machine (SVM) algorithm was applied to classify the features of BMC. The obtained kappa values were 0.74, 0.83 and 0.84 for LULC maps of 1985, 2005 and 2021, respectively, which indicates the degree of accuracy from produced being substantial to almost perfect. Classified maps along with geospatial, socio-economic and climatic drivers with sufficient explanatory power were incorporated into MLP-NN to produce transition potential maps. Transition maps were subsequently used in cellular automata (CA)-Markov chain model to predict future LULC for BMC in immediate-future (2035), mid-future (2055) and far-future (2085). The findings indicate BMC is expected to experience significant expansion of agricultural lands and built land from 31.89 to 50.16% and 1.48 to 9.1% from 2021 to 2085 at the expense of open woodland, shrubland and savanna grassland. Low-yield crop production, water scarcity and population growth were major driving forces for rapid expansion of agricultural lands and overall LULC in BMC. The findings are essential for understanding the impact of LULC on hydrological processes and offer insights for the internal drainage basin (IDB) board to make necessary measures to lessen the expected dramatic changes in LULC in the future while sustaining harmonious balance with livelihood activities.