Modelling grass land carrying capacity from satellite remote sensing

Abstract

Developments in Remote Sensing (RS) satellite technology have made it possible to apply RS products for agricultural purposes, including modelling grassland carrying capacity (CC) of grazing land. However, determining the grazing land CC using pixel based approach is relatively new. This study modelled CC using pixel based approach and later compare it with the convetional method. Sentinel 2A MSI, in-situ Grass Above-ground Biomass (GAB) of 30 sample points and livestock data were used for the modelling CC of Daware grazing land northeast Nigeria. The result indicate that the available grass in the grazing land can only support 2,377,419 goats/sheep for 6 months or 4909 cattle for 1 month. This indicates that the grazing land was over grazed. The result of this study shows areas of grass available for rotational grazing throughout the season, thereby contributing to accurate modelling of grazing lands in Savannah and similar eco system.