Quantitative assessment of desertification in south of Iran using MEDALUS method

Abstract

The main aim of this study was the quantitative assessment of desertification process in the case study area of the Fidoye-Garmosht plain (Southern Iran). Based on the MEDALUS approach and the characteristics of study area a regional model developed using GIS. Six main factors or indicators of desertification including: soil, climate, erosion, plant cover, groundwater and management were considered for evaluation. Then several sub-indicators affecting the quality of each main indicator were identified. Based on the MEDALUS approach, each sub-indicator was quantified according to its quality and given a weighting of between 1.0 and 2.0. ArcGIS 9 was used to analyze and prepare the layers of quality maps using the geometric mean to integrate the individual sub-indicator maps. In turn the geometric mean of all six quality maps was used to generate a single desertification status map. Results showed that 12% of the area is classified as very severe, 81% as severe and 7% as moderately affected by desertification. In addition the plant cover and groundwater indicators were the most important factors affecting desertification process in the study area. The model developed may be used to assess desertification process and distinguish the areas sensitive to desertification in the study region and in regions with the similar characteristics.

Land Sensitivity Analysis of Degradation using MEDALUS model: Case Study of Deliblato Sands, Serbia

“…are uniform and do not call for separate analysis in terms of defi ning and categorizing them into classes in regard to the degree of protection from degradation/ desertifi cation. Classes and assigned weighting indices for selected parameters for soil quality assessment are given in Table 1, according to , Basso et al (2012), Sepehr et al (2007), Entezari et al (2013).…”

A hybrid approach of rough-fuzzy inference system for land degradation susceptibility mapping (case study: Khanmirza agricultural plain-Iran)

“…IWQI was generated with the associated parameters of electrical conductivity water (EC w ), chloride (Cl), and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) suggested by Sepehr et al 2007 and was also applied by Bakr et al 2012 in the assessment of land sensitivity to desertification. The IWQI formula that has been utilized for the three aforementioned parameters is:…”

“…Many studies for the assessment and determination of land degradation have been conducted by many researchers in different areas, especially the Mediterranean (d ' Angelo et al 2000;de Paz et al 2006;Ladisa et al 2011;Maerker et al 2008;Salvati et al 2013;Sepehr et al 2007;Vågen et al 2013). Land degradation is mostly studied via methods such as field visits and remote sensing or Environmentally Sensitive Area Indexing (ESAI).…”

Estimating the sensitivity to desertification of Italian forests

“…The ESA method has been extensively validated at several sites in southern Europe (Kosmas et al 1999, Basso et al 2010, Salvati et al 2013b, 2013c, in middle and far East (Sepher et al 2007, Honardoust et al 2011) and in Africa, also for climate change analysing ); a regional assessment (Lavado Contador et al 2009), based on heterogeneous geographical datasets with different reliability, indicates the ESAI as a proxy for land degradation processes and identifies correlations with a number of indicators of soil degradation. Ferrara et al (2012) evaluated the stability of the ESAI using statistical analysis and the sensitivity to changes in the composing indicators.…”