Earth Observation for Settlement Mapping of Amazonian Indigenous Populations to Support SDG7

Javier Muro, Leo Zurita-Arthos, José Jara, Esteban Calderón, Richard Resl, Andreas Rienow and Valerie Graw
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Javier Muro: Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces (ZFL), University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Leo Zurita-Arthos: GEOcentro, University San Francisco de Quito, Quito 170901, Ecuador
José Jara: Tratural Cía. Ltda, Cuenca 010201, Ecuador
Esteban Calderón: Tratural Cía. Ltda, Cuenca 010201, Ecuador
Richard Resl: GEOcentro, University San Francisco de Quito, Quito 170901, Ecuador
Andreas Rienow: Department of Geography, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Valerie Graw: Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces (ZFL), University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Resources, 2020, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Indigenous communities in the Amazon suffer from lack of access to basic services, such as electricity. Due to their isolation and difficult access it is challenging to acquire data on their location, numbers and needs, which would enable adequate development plans. Earth observation (EO), in combination with participatory mapping can support the creation of settlement maps as a basis for creating spatially explicit models of needs of basic services. Combining Landsat time series with SkySat and PlanetScope imagery, we have mapped the location and size of these settlements and modelled the number and densities of their houses. Additionally, we have projected settlement growth by 2030 in order to assess a demand of services that will be valid in the near future. We conducted surveys in 49 communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon to acquire information on the peoples’ living conditions and needs, and validated our model based on the findings. The number of buildings per cleared land had a strong linear relationship with the communities surveyed (adjusted R 2 0.8). We used this linear relationship to model the number of buildings for the complete study area as well as for the 2030 settlement projection. Combining this information with data on the living conditions of indigenous communities, we can efficiently estimate the needs of basic services for larger territories and prompt development plans according to indigenous peoples’ needs and wishes.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; settlement mapping; Landsat; indigenous communities; Google Earth Engine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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