Case study

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GREENFIELD consulting & development

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Mapping desertification using ASTER, MODIS, and ASAR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project justification

At the world level, 47 million km2 are affected by desertification. Desertification lead to soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, and increased soil salinity.

Desertification not only affects arid regions, but can also impact on sub-humid regions, due to inappropriate land use practice.

Vietnam is not designated as an arid or semi-arid country. However, some regions within the country are at risk. Of the 3.2 million hectares of coastal areas, 1.6 million are heavily affected by soil degradation and desertification.

Problems

Not enough attention is paid to understanding and monitoring the desertification outside of its traditional zone.

Mapping desertification in sub-humid regions is difficult due to cloud cover, data unavailability, and limited investment in mapping program.

Current desertification monitoring techniques are developed for arid regions and are inappropriate for sub-humid desertification, both in terms of scale and of ecosystem characterization

Aims

Develop a desertification mapping method specific to sub-humid regions and  transferable to other South East Asian regions.

Combine advantages of several types of readily available satellite imagery