Seth Olweny Obiero has worked in the Built Environment and Geospatial industry in various capacities for seven years. He has an educational background of Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from Maseno University. He works currently works as a part-time training consultant at In-depth Research Institute developing tailored training materials for various professionals.
Away from the academic and professional life, he is a fitness, environmental protection and DIY enthusiast. When he is not taking on challenging outdoor terrains to test his fitness limits, he is busy planting some trees or unclogging drainages in the community. Sometimes you find him cracking his brains up on whether to use dowel joints for his latest furniture project. The good thing is he does come to a decision fast, thanks to his great research fortitude.
He is a member of YMCA Club Kisumu and The Kisumu Planners forum where he participates in social and professional activities. One of his most recent highlights is the UN Habitat World Towns’ Day celebration in Kisumu which doubled as Kenya Institute of Planners Western Chapter’s launch, in which he participated in organizing.
Research Supervisors: PROF. GALCANO C. MULAKU
F56/87188/2016
Thesis / Project Title:
APPLICATION OF GIS AND REMOTE SENSING METHODS IN LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGE DETECTION, A CASE STUDY OF KISUMU EAST.
Global population is on a steady rise. This is manifested in the rate of urban growth worldwide. The effect cannot be ignored as it results in unplanned development. To plan for a rapidly growing population, there’s need for timely and precise analysis of data to help in decision-making. This research has studied the application of GIS and remote sensing methods in land use and land cover change detection. The focus of the study was Kisumu East sub county in Kenya. The study is informed by inconsistency in data collection by planning authorities due to cost and accessibility factors. The objective of the study was to determine the Land Use and Land Cover changes that have occurred in Kisumu East between the year 2002 and 2022 in three epochs.
To achieve this, objective data collection was carried out. Satellite images for 2002,2013 and 2022 was obtained from the Regional Centre of Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), population data from KNBS and training site data was collected in a field survey in the area of study. The satellite images were classified for land use and land cover classes (croplands, built-up areas, bare lands, water bodies and vegetation) and post-classification comparison was done for change detection. An analysis was done relating built-up areas to population changes for the environmental implications of the changes in built-up areas.
In conclusion, there was a general increase in built-up areas, bare lands and vegetation. Agricultural lands and water bodies sizes had general decline for the entire study period. Concerning environmental sustainability, the study found that Kisumu East is has urban sprawl which isn’t environmentally sustainable. The study recommended other data sources to improve on frequency of such studies in future. The study also recommends shorter time period between epochs to improve observation.