LAND
OCEAN
ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
SPACE
LAND DEGRADATION /
DESERTIFICATION ASSESSMENT
Land degradation leads to a persistent decline in biological and economic
productivity of the land resulting from various factors, including climatic
variations and human activities. Desertification is land degradation in
arid, semiarid and dry-sub humid regions. In India, 32% of total land area
is affected by land degradation, of which about 25% is under
desertification. Optical & active microwave satellite instruments are
extensively used to map land degradation categories (salt-affected area,
gully/sheet erosion, wind erosion, water-logged areas, deforestation and
deserted croplands).
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS
·
ISRO is the nodal agency to
report desertification status of
India to the United Nations
Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) and
has published “Desertification/
Land degradation Atlas of
India”
MAJOR BENEFITS
·
Land degradation/
desertification monitoring and
vulnerability assessment is
Major Projects:
helping to prioritise the
·
Desertification Status Mapping over India (1:500,000 scale) using IRS AWiFS
affected areas for
·
Land degradation mapping (1:50,000 scale) and vulnerability assessment
implementing appropriate
measures/ action plans for
combating desertification
Desertification Map
FUTURE PLAN
·
Develop and realise an early
warning system which can
identify vulnerable areas along
with their severity using
geoinformatics
www.isro.gov.in
Indian Space Research Organisation
LAND
OCEAN
ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
SPACE
LAND DEGRADATION /
DESERTIFICATION ASSESSMENT
OPERATIONAL PRODUCTS / SERVICES
·
Developed the methodology for digital mapping and
monitoring of salt-affected and water-logged areas
·
Technique development for land cover change &
long-term monitoring of desertification
·
Nation-wide mapping of desertification categories
at 1:500,000 scale
·
Mapping of land degradation (1:50,000 scale)
categories using IRS LISS-III imagery
·
Capacity building on land degradation and
desertification assessment
Desertification study by Linear spectral un-mixing
Bare soil
RESEARCH/FUTURE AREAS
·
High-resolution land degradation mapping
·
Quantification of soil erosion through GIS supported
erosion processes modeling
·
Addressing desertification vulnerability and
sustainability issues
·
New indicators of desertification processes from
long-term satellite and climate datasets
·
Climate change impact on soil erosion and
desertification processes
Water induced erosion
Vegetation cover
Frost shattering/heaving (part of Himalaya)
Water erosion in Jharkhand
Sheet erosion
Gullies/ravines
New tools for soil-water conservation planning
www.isro.gov.in
Indian Space Research Organisation