Geospatial Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Selected Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract In recent decades, landscape transformations have intensified, making land use and land cover change a key concern for environmental monitoring. As the Earth’s experienced rapid expansion due to anthropogenic and climatic shifts, there is a need for its mapping. This study examined the LULC in Apa and Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria, with a temporal scope of 2005 and 2025. For this study, Landsat 7 ETM+ 30-meter resolution and Landsat 8 ETM+ 30-meter resolution were obtained from the United States Geological Service (USGS) and underwent preprocessing, processing, and classification in ArcGIS 10.8 Software for data analysis. The land cover data were classified into four namely (Water Body, Vegetation, Built-up, and Bare land). The result was presented in tables, figures, and maps. The study revealed that from the year 2005 –2015, there is an increased in the water body from 16% to 20%, decreased to 17% in the year 2015 – 2025, vegetation 45% (2005) to 20% (2025), built up increased from 26% (2005) to 54% (2025), and bare land decreased from 13% (2005) to 8% (2015), then slightly increased to 9% (2025), possibly due to land abandonment. The result also revealed the total land area change in the year 2005 was 179,876.69 Hectares (Ha), 2015 (+19% increase) 213,417.10 (Ha), and 2025 213,422.80 (Ha) stable respectively. The study recommends consistent assessment mapping in order to monitor the changes from time to time. Key words: Built up, GIS, Land use and Land cover, Landsat Imagery, Remote sensing