Changes in hydrological cycle due to urbanization in the suburb of Tokyo Metropolitan area, Japan Original Research Article

The suburbs of Tokyo Metropolitan area has been experiencing heavy land use/cover changes followed by modernization of Japan. The stages of land surface alteration can be precisely monitored by satellite remote sensing data and available maps. Image processing system and Geographic Information System are used to draw land use/cover, and map the changes on the surface. After delineating the urbanization process, the changes in hydrological cycle should be assessed to understand what has been changed due to manʹs impact on the surface. In this paper, changes in areal evapotranspiration due to urbanization and the response of groundwater flow system for changing recharge are evaluated. As a result, decrease in evapotranspiration is assessed quantitatively, and it is clarified that the effect of decreasing recharge is large in local ground water system in upper stream.