Land Use and Land Cover Change in the Vaal Dam Catchment, South Africa: A Study Based on Remote Sensing and Time Series Analysis

Understanding long-term land use/land cover (LULC) change patterns is vital to implementing policies for effective environmental management practices and sustainable use. This study assessed of in LULC the Vaal Dam Catchment area, one most critically important areas South Africa, since it contributes a vast portion water Reservoir. The reservoir has been used supply about 13 million inhabitants Gauteng province its surrounding areas. Multi-temporal Landsat imagery series were map changes between 1986 2021. classification was performed by applying random forest (RF) algorithm data. change-detection analysis showed grassland being dominant type (ranging from 52% 57% area) during entire period. second agricultural land, which included cleared fields, while cultivated covered around 41% area. Other use types covering small portions area settlements, mining activities, bodies woody vegetation. Time increasing decreasing all types, except settlement class, continuous increase owing population growth. From results, class increased considerably 1986–1993, 1993–2000, 2000–2007, 2007–2014 2014–2021 712.64 ha (0.02%), 10245.94 (0.26%), 3736.62 (0.1%), 1872.09 (0.05%) 3801.06 respectively. highlights importance using remote sensing techniques detecting this vitally catchment.