Assessment of the impacts of climate change on drought in an arid area using drought indices and Landsat remote sensing data

Abstract

Located in the arid climatic zone of Algeria, the region of Ain Sefra is a victim of climatic change, which faces several geographical, ecological, economic and even social problems. The present study investigated the relationships between various drought indices and the evolution of land use elements in Ain Sefra from 1977 to 2017 using the Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index. It was revealed that there is a considerable growth of sands estimated at 286.61% of the area, moving toward the north and northeast of the study area during the last decades. The combination of drought indices and remote sensing seems to be most promising, whose results are valuable tools for guidance and decision support to local and regional authorities.