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Remote Sensing of Informal Housing Settlements in Metropolitan Bangkok

Curtis N. Thomson Environmental Studies Program Natural and Mathematical Sciences Richard Stockton College Pomona, NJ 08240 thomsonc@stockton.edu Abstract In 1988 the National Housing Authority of Thailand estimated that about 10 percent of the population was living in 1300 slum or squatter settlements (officially designated as ‘congested communities) within the Bangkok metropolitan area. These settlements are located in a number of areas throughout the city, established on both public and private land and are consist of a variety of housing at very high densities (30 units per 1600 sq.m.). Due to the sometimes transient nature or these communities, or the speed with which they can develop, as well as the lack of information about the residents who occupy these locales, it is important to update and examine these neighborhoods on a regular basis. Determining the growth and extent of these communities, however, has been a timeconsuming task as it has been done only through aerial photograph interpretation. This study tests the application of Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper satellite imagery to identify, delineate, and assess the variability of land cover, associated biophysical characteristics, and distribution of Bangkok's ‘congested communities’. Unfortunately, digital image analysis of these sites produced spectral overlap with several other types of urban land use, which will result in imprecise identification and delineation. This appears to be the result of the resolution of the imagery and the low spectral variability of this type of ground cover, in any wavelength.