Predicting socioeconomic conditions from satellite sensor data in rural developing countries: A case study using female literacy in Assam, India

Applied Geography

Volumn 44, Issue , 2013, Pages 192-200

  Watmough, Gary R ^a,b   Atkinson, Peter M ^b   Hutton, Craig W ^b  

^a Howard Hughes Medical Institute   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Assam; Generalised autoregressive error model; India; Population environment; Poverty; Regression; Remote sensing; Wealth

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING WORLD; ERROR ANALYSIS; POVERTY; PREDICTION; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; REMOTE SENSING; RURAL AREA; SATELLITE DATA; SATELLITE SENSOR; SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS;

ASSAM; INDIA;

EID: 84883444167     PISSN: 01436228     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.07.023     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Amoako Johnson F., Hutton C. Dependence on agriculture and ecosystem services for livelihood in Northeast India and Bhutan: vulnerability to climate change in the Tropical River Basins of the Upper Brahmaputra. Climatic Change 2012, 1-15.
2. Babulo B., Muys B., Nega F., Tollens E., Nyssen J., Deckers J., et al. The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Forest Policy and Economics 2009, 11:109-117.
3. Bagchi S. Disease outbreaks in wake of Southeast Asia floods. CMAJ 2007, 177(6):560.
4. Beyer H.L. Geospatial modeling environment. Spatial ecology 2010, Available at:, Last Accessed 06.11.11. http://www.spatialecology.com/gme/.
5. Bigman D., Srinivasan P.V. Geographical targeting of poverty alleviation programs: methodology and applications in rural India. Journal of Policy Modeling 2002, 24(3):237-255.
6. Bivand R.S., Pebesma E.J., Gomez-Rubio V. Applied spatial data analysis with R 2008, Springer, New York.
7. Chambers R., Conway G.R. Sustainable rural livelihoods: Practical concepts for the 21st century 1991, IDS, Discussion Paper 296.
8. Cleland J. The benefits of educating women. The Lancet 2010, 376:933-934.
9. de Janvry A., Sadoulet E. Agricultural growth and poverty reduction: additional evidence. The World Bank Research Observer 2010, 25(1):1-20.
10. Definiens eCognition Professional 5.5 2006, Definiens AG, München, Germany.
11. DiCicco-Bloom B., Crabtree B.F. The qualitative research interview. Medical Education 2006, 40(4):314-321.
12. Entwisle B., Walsh S.J., Rindfuss R., Chamratrithirong A. Land-use/land-cover and population dynamics, Nang Rong, Thailand. People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science 1998, 121-144. National Academy Press, Washington DC. D. Liverman, E.F. Moran, R. Rindfuss, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
13. Entwisle B., Walsh S.J., Rindfuss R.R., Vanwey L.K. Population and upland crop production in Nang Rong, Thailand. Population and Environment 2005, 26(6):449-470.
14. ESRI ArcMap Release 9.3 2010, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.
15. Godoy R., Overman H., Demmer J., Apaza L., Byron E., Huanca T., et al. Local financial benefits of rain forests: comparative evidence from Amerindian societies in Bolivia and Honduras. Ecological Economics 2002, 40(3):397-409.
16. Goswami U., Sarma J.N., Patgiri A.D. River channel changes in the Subansiri in Assam, India. Geomorphology 1999, 30:227-244.
17. Government of Assam Assam human development report 2003, Planning and Development Department, Dispur, Guwahati.
18. Hannum E., Buchmann C. Global educational expansion and socio-economic development: an assessment of findings from the social sciences. World Development 2005, 33:333-354.
19. Huang Q., Rozelle S., Lohmar B., Huang J., Wang J. Irrigation, agricultural performance and poverty reduction in China. Food Policy 2006, 31:30-52.
20. Hummel D., Adamo S., De Sherbinin A., Murphy L., Aggarwal R., Zulu L., et al. Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to population-environment research for sustainability aims: a review and appraisal. Population and Environment 2013, 34:481-509.
21. Hussain I. Poverty-reducing impacts of irrigation: evidence and lessons. Irrigation and Drainage 2007, 56(2-3):147-164.
22. Hutton C.W., Kienberger S., Amoako Johnson F., Allan A., Giannini V., Allen R. Vulnerability to climate change: people, place and exposure to hazard. Advances in Science and Research 2011, 7:37-45.
23. Jamir T., Gadgil A.S., De U.S. Recent floods related natural hazards overwest coast and Northeast India. Journal of Indian Geophysical Union 2008, 12:179-182.
24. Jensen R., Gatrell J.D., Boulton J., Harper B. Using remote sensing and geographic information systems to study urban quality of life and urban forest amenities. Ecology and Society 2004, 9(5).
25. Kauth, R. J., Thomas, G S. (1976). The tasselled cap. In A graphic description of the spectral-temporal development of agricultural crops as seen by Landsat LARS Symposia, Paper 159.
26. Lafary E.W., Gatrell J.D., Jensen R.R. People, pixels and weights in Vanderburgh County, Indiana: toward a new urban geography of human-environment interactions. Geocarto International 2008, 23:53-66.
27. Lambin E.F., Geist H.J., Lepers E. Dynamics of land-use and land-cover change in tropical regions. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 2003, 28:205-241.
28. Legendre P. Spatial autocorrelation: trouble or new paradigm?. Ecology 1993, 74:1659-1673.
29. Li G., Weng Q. Measuring the quality of life in city of Indianapolis by integration of remote sensing and census data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 2007, 28:249-267.
30. Lichstein J.W., Simons T.R., Shriner S.A., Franzreb K.E. Spatial autocorrelation and autoregressive models in ecology. Ecological Monographs 2002, 72:445-463.
31. Liverman D., Moran E.F., Rindfuss R.R., Stern P.C. People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science 1998, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
32. Lo C.P., Faber B.J. Integration of Landsat Thematic Mapper and census data for quality of life assessment. Remote Sensing of Environment 1997, 62:143-157.
33. Lokshin M., Yemstov R. Has rural infrastructure rehabilitation in Georgia helped the poor?. The World Bank Economic Review 2005, 19(2):311-333.
34. McTavish S., Moore S., Harper S., Lynch J. National female literacy, individual socio-economic status, and maternal health care use in sub-Saharan Africa. Social Science & Medicine 2010, 71:1958-1963.
35. Mamo G., Sjaastad E., Vedeld P. Economic dependence on forest resources: a case from Dendi District, Ethiopia. Forest Policy and Economics 2007, 9:916-927.
36. Mennis J. Socioeconomic-vegetation relationships in urban residential land: the case of Denver, Colorado. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 2006, 72:911-921.
37. Monela G.C., Kajembe G.C., Kaoneka A.R.S., Kowero G. Household livelihood strategies in the Miombo woodlands of Tanzania: emerging trends. Tanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation 2001, 73:17-33.
38. Moran E.F., Brondizio E. Land-use change after deforestation in Amazonia. People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science 1998, National Academy Press, Washington, DC. D. Liverman, E.F. Moran, R.R. Rindfuss, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
39. Moran E.F., Brondizio E.S., Vanwey L.K. Population and environment in Amazonia: landscape and household dynamics. Population, land use and environment: Research directions 2005, National Academies Press, Washington, DC. B. Entwisle, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
40. Murphy B.P., Paron P., Prior L.D., Boggs G.S., Franklin D.C., Bowman D.M.J.S. Using generalized autoregressive error models to understand fire-vegetation-soil feedbacks in a mulga-spinifex landscape mosaic. Journal of Biogeography 2010, 37:2169-2182.
41. Ogneva-Himmelberger Y., Pearsall H., Rakshit R. Concrete evidence and geographically weighted regression: a regional analysis of wealth and the land cover in Massachusetts. Applied Geography 2009, 29:478-487.
42. Osili U.O., Long B.T. Does female schooling reduce fertility? Evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Development Economics 2008, 87(1):57-75.
43. Pearsall H., Christman Z. Tree-lined lanes or vacant lots? Evaluating non-stationarity between urban greenness and socio-economic conditions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA at multiple scales. Applied Geography 2012, 35:257-264.
44. Perz S.G., Skole D.L. Secondary forest expansion in the Brazilian Amazon and the refinement of forest transition theory. Society and Natural Resources 2003, 16:277-294.
45. R Core Team R: A language and environment for statistical computing 2013, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/.
46. Registrar General and Census Commissioner Census data 2001-Metadata government of India 2011, Available at:, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, India, Last Accessed 03.09.11. http://censusindia.gov.in/Metadata/Metada.htm.
47. Richter R. Atmospheric/topographic correction for satellite imagery, ATCOR-2/3 user guide, Version 6.3 2007, DLR- German Aerospace Centre, Wessling, Germany.
48. Rindfuss R.R., Stern P.C. Linking remote sensing and social science: the need and the challenges. People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science 1998, National Academy Press, Washington, DC. D. Liverman, E.F. Moran, R.R. Rindfuss, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
49. Rindfuss R., Prasartkul P., Walsh S.J., Entwisle B., Sawangdee Y., Vogler J.B. Household parcel linkages in Nang Rong, Thailand: challenges of large samples. People and the environment: Approaches for linking household and community surveys to remote sensing and GIS 2003, 131-172. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. J. Fox, R. Rindfuss, S.J. Walsh, V. Mishra (Eds.).
50. Sarma J.N. Fluvial process and morphology of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India. Geomorphology 2005, 70(3-4):226-256.
51. Sen B. Drivers of escape and descent: changing household fortunes in rural Bangladesh. World Development 2003, 31(3):513-534.
52. Shearmur R. Editorial - A world without data? The unintended consequences of fashion in Geography. Urban Geography 2010, 31:1009-1017.
53. de Sherbinin A., Carr D., Cassels S., Jiang L. Population and environment. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 2007, 32:345-373.
54. Tooke T.R., Klinkenber B., Coops N.C. A geographical approach to identifying vegetation-related environmental equity in Canadian cities. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2010, 37:1040-1056.
55. UNFPA Sudan Fifth population census of Sudan 2007, United Nations Population Fund, Available at:, Last Accessed 25.02.09. http://sudan.unfpa.org/census/background.htm.
56. UNSD Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses revision 2 2008, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Statistics Division, New York.
57. Valentine G. Tell me about . . .: using interviews as a research methodology. Methods in human geography: A guide for students doing a research project 1997, 110-126. Prentice Hall, Harlow, England. R. Flowerdew, D. Martin (Eds.).
58. Walsh S.J., Crawford T.W., Welsh W.F., Crews-Meyer K.A. Amultiscale analysis of LULC and NDVI variation in Nang Rong district, northeast Thailand. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 2001, 85:47-64.
59. Walsh S.J., Rindfuss R.R., Prasartkul P., Entwisle B., Chamratrithirong A. Population change and landscape dynamics: the Nang Rong, Thailand, Studies. Population, land use and environment: Research directions 2005, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC. B. Entwisle, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
60. Watmough G.R., Atkinson P.M., Hutton C.W. Acombined spectral and object-based approach to transparent cloud removal in an operational setting for Landsat ETM+. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2011, 13:220-227.
61. Wood S., Bowman D.J.S. Alternative stable states and the role of fire-vegetation-soil feedbacks in the temperate wilderness of southwest Tasmania. Landscape Ecology 2012, 27:13-28.
62. Wood C., Skole D. Linking satellite, census and survey data to study deforestation. People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science 1998, National Academy Press, Washington, DC. D. Liverman, E.F. Moran, R.R. Rindfuss, P.C. Stern (Eds.).
63. World Bank Sustaining forests: A development strategy 2004, The World Bank, Washington.
64. World Bank Development and growth in Northeast India: The natural resources, water and environment nexus, Sustainable development department environment and water resource management unit 2007, The World Bank Group, Washington, DC.
65. World Bank India: Priorities for agriculture and rural development 2011, [Online]. Available:, Accessed 08.08.11. http://go.worldbank.org/8EFXZBL3Y0.