Change Detection Analysis of Vegetation Cover in the Middle Modder River Catchment (South Africa): Implications for Climate Variability

Climate variability on natural processes such as rainfall patterns, surface water levels and vegetation cover can have devastating effects on the economies, livelihoods and health of people. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the vegetation cover in the Mockes dam area, and the area covered by surface water in the summer and winter seasons over a 3 year period (2017–2019). The Mockes dam is located along the middle of the Modder River catchment. The methodology involves the analysis of satellite images of the Mockes dam area obtained on the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS). The results from the study show that the surface area covered by water around the Mockes dam increased in the winter season whilst the vegetation cover in the winter season was extremely sparse. On the other hand, the water surface area in the Mockes dam area was very low in summer with moderate vegetation. It is important for environmentalists and water managers to critically monitor the variations and trends that the climate has on vegetation in relation to important water sources such as dams, lakes and rivers.