Application of remote sensing in desert geomorphology studies

Abstract

Deserts exist on every continent of the globe and cover more than 30% of the Earth's land surface. Although they typically do not have a large number of inhabitants, they are often the loci of economic and cultural activity. For example, the oil-producing nations of the Middle East are all found within a single arid region. At the same time, deserts tend to be fragile ecosystems, requiring little in the way of perturbations in order to cause tremendous changes in the landscape. The size, remoteness, and harsh nature of many of the world's deserts make it difficult and expensive to map or monitor these landscapes or to determine the effect of land use on them. Remote sensing is potentially a time- and cost effective way to fulfill these goals. In this research, we will discuss the uses and limitations of remote sensing in the world's deserts. The discussion will center on using remote sensing to detect and monitor landscape change and degradation in arid regions. Because vegetation is often linked to both the causes and consequences of arid land degradation, our discussion will further focus on the retrieval of vegetation parameters. In this paper, examples of successful applications of remote sensing to arid regions are given. Also, limitations and important considerations of remote sensing in arid regions are discussed. Ultimately, atmospheric remote sensing as it relates to land degradation in arid regions is discussed. And, a case study is presented in which various methods for estimation of vegetation cover are presented and compared.