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Detection of land cover changes in Baluchistan (shared between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) using the MODIS Land Cover Product

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Abstract

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes have been one of the most important and persistent factors recently causing changes in the Earth’s land. The present study aimed to detect land use and land cover (LULC) changes in Baluchistan, in Southwestern Asia, which is shared by the three countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, using satellite remote-sensing products. To this end, the global land cover classification provided for a period of 13 years from 2001 to 2013 by the MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1) was used. The changes and dynamics of different land cover classes were investigated using net change analysis and cross-tabulating matrix analysis methods. The net change analysis showed that the most area of Baluchistan is covered by the barren or sparsely vegetated land cover (about 82%) and the shrubland (about 16%) classes. The dynamics analysis of different land cover classes also indicated that there were almost mutually inverse relationships between the different land cover classes in Baluchistan. Such mutual relationships were most common between the following pair classes: shrublands—bare and non-vegetated lands; grasslands—bare and non-vegetated land classes; croplands—bare and non-vegetated lands classes; and shrublands—grasslands. The most unstable land cover classes in this territory were forests, Savannas, and grassland classes. Also, the analysis of land cover changes in the period 2001–2013 provided no clear and accurate evidence of desertification and land degradation at this spatial scale in Baluchistan.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been carried out in the form of Program of Cooperation between Iran and Pakistan in the field of science and technology. We also are grateful for the freely available MODIS data at https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/.

Funding

The Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran provided financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geography and Environmental Planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

    Peyman Mahmoudi

  2. Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Safdar Ali Shirazi

  3. Department of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS), Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Fatemeh Firoozi

  4. Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

    Seyed Mahdi Amir Jahanshahi

  5. Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Nausheen Mazhar

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  1. Peyman Mahmoudi
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Correspondence to Peyman Mahmoudi.

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Mahmoudi, P., Shirazi, S.A., Firoozi, F. et al. Detection of land cover changes in Baluchistan (shared between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) using the MODIS Land Cover Product. Arab J Geosci 13, 1274 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06284-9

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