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Evaluation of indicators for desertification risk assessment in part of Thar Desert Region of Rajasthan using geospatial techniques

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Abstract

Desertification has emerged as a major economic, social and environmental problem in the western part of India. The best way of dealing with desertification is to take appropriate measures to arrest land degradation, especially in areas prone to desertification. This requires an early warning system for desertification based on scientific inputs. Hence, in the present study, an attempt has been made to develop a comprehensive model for the assessment of desertification risk in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India, using 23 desertification indicators. Indicators including soil, climate, vegetation and socio-economic parameters were integrated into a GIS environment to get environmental sensitive areas (ESAs) to desertification. Desertification risk index (DRI) was calculated based on ESAs to desertification, the degree of land degradation and significant desertification indicators obtained from the stepwise multiple regression model. DRI was validated by using independent indicators such as soil organic matter content and cation exchange capacity. Multiple regression analysis shows that 16 indicators out of 23 were found to be significant for assessing desertification risk at a 99% confidence interval with \(R^{2}=0.83\). The proposed methodology provides a series of effective indicators that would help to identify where desertification is a current or potential problem, and what could be the actions to alleviate the problem over time.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to all the organisations and institutes that have provided different datasets used in the present study. We are also thankful to NRSC/ISRO, Department of Space, Hyderabad, for funding the above project. Our sincere thanks go to all other scientists and administrative staff of the RRSC-W, NRSC/ISRO, Jodhpur, for their moral support during the course of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Remote Sensing Centre – West, NRSC/ISRO, Jodhpur, India

    Sagar S Salunkhe, A K Bera & S S Rao

  2. National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Hyderabad, India

    V Raghu Venkataraman, Uday Raj & Y V N Krishna Murthy

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  1. Sagar S Salunkhe
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  2. A K Bera
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  3. S S Rao
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  4. V Raghu Venkataraman
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Correspondence to Sagar S Salunkhe.

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Salunkhe, S.S., Bera, A.K., Rao, S.S. et al. Evaluation of indicators for desertification risk assessment in part of Thar Desert Region of Rajasthan using geospatial techniques. J Earth Syst Sci 127, 116 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-018-1016-2

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