Desertification categorisation based on spatial analysis and remote sensing technology

Abstract

This paper illustrates techniques based on multi-criteria evaluation for categorising desertification in the north-west of Iraq. Desertification is recognised as not only one of the major dilemma threatening human communities but also reduces productivity such that the whole economy is affected. The aim of this paper is to produce a desertification map for the study area that identifies risk zones through modelling and mapping by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is one of the Multiple Criteria Decision Making, based GIS for the selection process. In order to produce a desertification categorisation for the study area, numbers of criteria were identified depending on the questionnaires provided by experts. The produced desertification hazard map shown in 'figure 3 indicates that 3.98% of the area is under very high sensitivity to desertification. The remaining area under high sensitivity is 7.25% and moderate sensitivity is 25.97%. The most hazardous areas are found in the middle and south parts of the study area. This paper including its methodology can be extrapolated to different desertification problems.