TY - GEN A1 - Frimpong, Bernard Fosu A1 - Koranteng, Addo A1 - Opoku, Fosu Senior T1 - Analysis of urban expansion and its impact on temperature utilising remote sensing and GIS techniques in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana (1986 - 2022) T2 - SN Applied Sciences N2 - The Accra Metropolis of Ghana has experienced rapid urban expansion over the past decades. Agricultural and forestlands have been transformed into urban/built-up areas. This study analysed urban expansion and its relationship with the temperature of Accra from 1986 to 2022. Multi-source datasets such as Remote Sensing (RS) and other ancillary data were utilised. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps were produced employing the Random Forests classifier. Land Surface Temperature (LST) and selected Remote Sensing (RS) Indices were extracted. Regression techniques assessed the interplay between LST and remote sensing indices. The LULC maps revealed increasing trends in the urban/built-up areas at the expense of the other LULC types. The analysis from the LST and the RS indices revealed a direct relationship between temperature and urban/built-up areas and an inverse relationship between temperature and vegetation. Thus, spatial urban expansion has modified the urban temperature of Accra. The integrated utilisation of RS and GIS demonstrated to be an efficient approach for analysing and monitoring urban expansion and its relationship with temperature. KW - Urban expansion KW - Change detection KW - Land use land cover KW - Regression KW - Remote sensing KW - Temperature Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-023-05439-z SN - 2523-3971 VL - 5 IS - 8 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Frimpong, Bernard Fosu A1 - Molkenthin, Frank T1 - Tracking Urban Expansion Using Random Forests for theClassification of Landsat Imagery (1986–2015) and PredictingUrban/Built-Up Areas for 2025: A Study of the KumasiMetropolis, Ghana T2 - Land N2 - Kumasi is a nodal city and functions as the administrative and economic capital of the Ashanti region in Ghana. Rapid urbanization has been experienced inducing the transformation of various Land Use Land Cover (LULC) types into urban/built-up areas in Kumasi. This paper aims at tracking spatio-temporal LULC changes utilizing Landsat imagery from 1986, 2013 and 2015 of Kumasi. The unique contribution of this research is its focus on urban expansion analysis and the utilization of Random Forest (RF) Classifier for satellite image classification. Change detection, urban land modelling and urban expansion in the sub-metropolitan zones, buffers, density decay curve and correlation analysis were methodologies adopted for our study. The classifier yielded better accuracy compared to earlier works in Ghana. The evaluation of LULC changes indicated that urban/built-up areas are continually increasing at the expense of agricultural and forestlands. The urban/built-up areas occupied 4622.49 hectares (ha) (23.78%), 13,447.50 ha (69.18%) and 14,004.60 ha (72.05%) in 1986, 2013 and 2015, respectively of the 19,438 ha area of Kumasi. Projection indicated that urban/built-up areas will occupy 15,490 ha (79.70%) in 2025. The urban expansion was statistically significant. The results revealed the importance of spatial modeling for environmental management and city planning. KW - urban/built-up areas KW - land use land cover KW - Kumasi KW - random forest classifier KW - urban expansion analysis Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/1/44 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/land10010044 SN - 2073-445X VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 21 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Frimpong, Bernard Fosu A1 - Koranteng, Addo A1 - Molkenthin, Frank T1 - Analysis of temperature variability utilising Mann–Kendall and Sen's slope estimator tests in the Accra and Kumasi Metropolises in Ghana T2 - Environmental Systems Research N2 - Temperature variability may have direct and indirect impacts on the environments of the Accra and Kumasi Metropolises in Ghana. This study analysed temperature and trends in temperature in both cities using in-situ measurements from one meteorological station in both cities from 1986 to 2015. The temperature indices were computed using the RClimdex package from the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection Monitoring Indices (ETCCDMI). The temperature time series was pre-whitened before the Mann–Kendall trend and Sen’s slope estimator analysis were applied. Initial analysis revealed minimal variation in temperature in both cities. The results from the analysed temperature indices revealed an increase in warm days and a general rise in the minimum temperature compared to maximum temperatures. Mann Kendall and Sen’s slope revealed significant trends in the annual and seasonal (dry and wet seasons) in minimum temperature in both cities. These might lead to an increased rate of heat-stressed diseases and an overall rise in urban warming in both cities. The analysis of temperature, indices and trends provided comprehensive insights into the temperature of Accra and Kumasi. The results highlight the essence of evaluating temperature indices and trends in light of Climate Change concerns. It is recommended that urban green and blue spaces should be incorporated into land use plans as these policy directions can aid regulate the temperature in both cities. KW - Temperature KW - Urban warming KW - Climate Change Y1 - 2022 UR - https://environmentalsystemsresearch.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40068-022-00269-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-022-00269-1 SN - 2193-2697 VL - 11 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Damptey, Frederick Gyasi A1 - Frimpong, Bernard Fosu A1 - Kwame Debrah, Daniel A1 - Agro, Prince Pascal A1 - Debrah Wiafe, Edward T1 - Vegelation attributes drive the taxonomic richness and functional composition of beetles and spidersr In mountalnous urban green T2 - Energy, Ecology and Environment N2 - Urban green spaces (UGS) enhance the quality of life in urban environments and serve as habitat corridors or refuge for organisms, including beetles and spiders. The attributes of UGS allow them to harbour species that offer essential ecosystem services. However, the ability of UGS to provide services is limited by the extent to which they have been altered anthropogenically. We described the taxonomic richness and functional composition of arthropods in a mountainous urban ecosystem of Ghana by focussing on the activity of both beetles and spiders at the family level. Two main land-use types (woodlands and built-up areas) were identified and characterised based on the presence or absence of certain vegetation attributes. Sixteen plots in each land-use type with sizes 20 × 20 m were demarcated and fitted with four pitfall traps in each plot to sample continuously for eight weeks, the activity density of both beetles and spiders. Samples were sorted into families and functional groups (detritivores, fungivores, herbivores and predators). The taxonomic richness and activity density were both significantly higher in the woodlands than in the built-up areas. Similarly, all functional groups showed a higher affinity to the woodlands than the built-up areas. Habitat attributes defined by plant diversity and structural complexity were the underlying drivers explaining the differences in arthropod communities between the land-use types. Though the built-up areas seem degraded and open, the remaining small vegetation patches still support the activities of some taxa that should merit the protection of such remnant vegetation in urban ecosystems. KW - Activity density KW - Arthropod community composition KW - Functional composition KW - Land-use change KW - Taxonomic richness KW - Mountainous urban ecosystem Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-021-00236-z SN - 2363-7692 VL - 7 IS - 3 SP - 268 EP - 280 ER -