Subsidence associated with land use changes in urban aquifers with intensive extraction

Abstract

Land use change is a major factor in alterations in natural processes and cycles. Remote sensing has become an excellent tool to evaluate technological changes in land cover and land use changes over large areas, such as those occurring in the Valley of San Luis Potosi (VSLP). Here, such changes have impacted a system which is 95% dependent on the aquifer. The methodology for the present study is based on the use of satellite images for the years 1976, 1986, 1995 and 2000. To asses land use change, a supervised classification process was used with a decision tree technique and ENVI 4.3 software. The evolution of groundwater levels for the years 1977, 1986, 1995, 1998 and 2007 was also analyzed, as well as problems of subsidence and fissuring in the urban area of the valley in 2006. With the support of remote sensing, it was possible to analyze the dynamic changes in land use over large areas and highlight their impact on the environment.