Abstract

GARCIA NIETO, Hilario; GARCIA DAGUER, Rolando R.; MORENO SANCHEZ, Rafael  and  GONZALEZ RAMOS, Alfredo. Use of remote sensing and GIS to delimit changes in agricultural soil from 1970 to 1997 in the state of Guanajuato. Invest. Geog [online]. 2002, n.47, pp.92-112. ISSN 2448-7279.

In order to analyze land-use changes during 1970-1997, four current land-use classes were identified in the state of Guanajuato, and these were related to their previous agricultural land use. Landsat TM images for 1996 and 1997 were visually classified on the computer screen with the ArcView system, supported by information from topographic maps (1998 edition), digital orthophotos (1993) and fieldwork using a GPS device. The comparison of statistical data from previous and updated maps allowed to quantify the general changes in land use, and map superposition for the two years allowed to spatially locate those changes. A reduction of 57 051 hectares (4%) in total cultivated land in Guanajuato was observed for a period of 27 years approximately. However, in the Rural Development District-004 the opposite trend was observed, with a growth of 22 642 ha (9.6%). Despite the general trend towards a decrease In agricultural land, the location of changes indicates abandonment of some previously cultivated areas, incorporation of cattle-raising or forest land to agriculture and proliferation of urban and industrial areas at the expense of cultivated land. The delimitation of the major changes in land use and their relationship with adequateness for agriculture will allow to generate new elements of judgments that may be of utility to maintain production alternatives within the land use planning proposals.

Keywords : current land use; previous land use; changes in land use; Remote Sensing; Geographic Information Systems; Guanajuato.