Identification of Impacts in the Town of San Pablo de Amalí, Ecuador, by Hidrotambo S.A.’s San José del Tambo Hydroelectric Power Plant by Means of a Multitemporal Analysis of Landscape Units for the Detection of Land Use Change Over 20 Years

Abstract This study identifies the effects of land use change in the area of direct influence of the Dulcepamba River for hydroelectric production in relation to vegetation, river course, and damage to the population, among others, through multi-temporal analysis of satellite images 20- years old, this study presents conclusive results based on a methodology for detecting land use change through multitemporal analysis, which was contrasted and verified with topographic and visual field identification, in the evaluation of the 4 time periods analyzed, exists change in the river and closed areas affected with changes influence of the riverbed, which affects the area where the local population lives and carries out their economic activities. The cause-effect relationship of the anthropic interventions in the river and the impacts on the area of the "village" and the "populated area" is also evidenced by comparing the representative images of each period in which there were significant changes, from October 2001 to December 2019