2004 UC Proceedings Abstract
 Socioeconomic and Biophysical Influences on Forest Cover Type In Alabama's Eight Counties: A Logistic Regression Analysis Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques Track: Census and Geodemographics Author(s): Buddhi Gyawali, Wubishet Tadesse, Yong Wang, Rory Fraser Land use and land cover study has recently become an important subject in understanding social and economic dynamics of the landscape. The availability of census data at the finer scale and development of spatial analysis tools for analyzing raster and vector data have made such study more practical and relevant. This study examined the relationship between land cover and socio-demographic and biophysical characteristics of Alabama's eight counties. The study analyzed U.S. census 2000 data and Landsat 2000 imagery, and data related to soil, elevation, road and streams using ERDAS, ArcView 3.2, and ARGIS. The classified raster image was converted to vector data and overlaid to a vector layer of census 2000 block groups and biophysical data. This information was utilized in the binary logistic regression model. The result suggested that biophysical variables have greater influence on forest cover than socio-demographic variables. Buddhi Gyawali Alabama A&M University Center for Forestry and Ecology P.O. Box 1208 Normal , AL 35762 US Phone: 256-372-4238 E-mail: buddhigyawali@hotmail.com Wubishet Tadesse Alabama A&M University Plant and Soil Science P.O. Box 1208 Normal, AL , AL 35762 US Phone: 256-372-4252 Fax: 256-372-4252 E-mail: wtadesse@aamu.edu Yong Wang Alabama A&M University Center for Forestry and Ecology P.O. Box 1208 Normal , AL 35762 US Phone: 2563724229 E-mail: ywang@aamu.edu Rory Fraser Alabama A&M University Center for Forestry and Ecology P.O. Box 1208 Normal , AL 35762 US Phone: 256-372-4217 Fax: 256-372-5429 E-mail: rfraser@aamu.edu |
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