Page 116 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Development of Desertification Maps and Vulnerability Model, Türkiye

2.2. Desertification in the World

2.2.1. The Studies Conducted on Desertification in the World
In particular, the potential and advantages of remote sensing for studying
arid regions are highlighted, with remote sensing technology becoming an
important tool for monitoring environmental problems such as desertification,
thanks to easier access to satellite data (Rivera-Marin et al., 2022). The
World Atlas of Desertification was published by UNEP in 1992 as a result of
collaboration between UNEP’s Desertification Control Programme Activity
Centre (DC/PAC), the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) and
the Global Resource Information Database (GRID) (WAD, 2019).
Han et al. (2021) presented the desertification status in the Qaidam Basin of
China with a geographical detector model by conducting an 18-year analysis. In
this model, the remote sensing method was used with the fractional vegetation
cover (FVC) indicator. Moreover, meteorological, environmental, human factors
and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), i.e. satellite imagery, were
also included in the model, and the study was constructed with the geographic
detector model, which is based on a set of statistical methods to detect spatial
differentiation and reveal its driving factors (Wang et al, 2010; Hu et al., 2011; Li
et al., 2013; Han et al., 2021), and its basic assumption is to analyze according
to the principle that if an independent variable has a considerable impact on a
dependent variable, these variables are similar in terms of spatial distribution
(Wang et al., 2010; Wang and Hu, 2012; Han et al., 2021).
Albalawi and Kumar (2013) concluded that remote sensing techniques were
useful in assessing and monitoring desertification. Although desertification
is a natural process, human activities, especially urbanization and agriculture,
accelerate this process. Human impacts such as improper irrigation methods
in agriculture, deforestation and overgrazing lead to the loss of soil fertility and
the progression of desertification (Albalawi and Kumar, 2013). Conventional
methods of monitoring desertification necessitate much more resources, both
human and economic. In this context, the lack of a scientific method and a unified
evaluation system leads to very different research results (Ding et al., 2021). In
this study, the analysis was performed according to remote sensing methods,
NDVI and vegetation cover, and the desertification status was detected.
In the light of the developments in the scientific field in recent years, new
developments have emerged especially in the field of Geographical Information
Systems (GIS). Accordingly, monitoring systems related to desertification have
started to be established using remote sensing and GIS methods across the
world. The Türkiye Desertification Model and Sensitivity Map was produced
using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, which is considered an
important step with the scientific and technological possibilities of that period.

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Special Issue / 2024