Desertification is a land degradation problem of major importance in the arid regions of the world. Deterioration in soil and plant cover has adversely affected nearly 70 percent of the drylands which is the result of human mismanagement of cultivation and range lands. Overgrazing, woodcutting, cultivation practices inducing accelerated water and wind erosion, improper water management leading to salinisation, are all causes of land degradation. In addition to vegetation deterioration, erosion, and salinisation, desertification effects can be seen in loss of soil fertility, soil compaction, and soil crusting. Combating desertification involves having an accurate knowledge on a current land degradation status and the magnitude of the potential hazard.

Quantitative, high-spectral resolution satellite remote sensing can dramatically increase the accuracy of dryland monitoring. Hyperspectral imagery incorporated with field and laboratory data for analysis can be used to derive more quantitative and specific soil properties directly linked to soil degradation status, such as soil chemical properties, organic matter, mineralogical content, infiltration capacity, aggregation capacity, and runoff coefficient.

Desertification – Yemen

Landsat Image

Satellite imagery data can be used at different spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions for assessment and monitoring of change detection, environmental analysis, landscape mapping and soils analysis. Images can show variations in organic matter and drainage patterns. Soils higher in organic matter can be differentiated from lighter sandier soil that has a lower organic matter content. This Geospatial information is valuable when used in conjunction with ancillary data to define desertification problems. Once data has been collected it can be implemented into a mapping environment such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for management and control to make the necessary changes .

This entry was posted by Monique Romeijn on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 10:56 am and is filed under Remote Sensing and Image Processing, Satellite Image Data, Satellite Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.