A Study on the Desertification of Kura Depression Landscapes

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Aruz Mikayilov, Aydin Aliyev, Sabina Jafarzadeh, Ulkar Gadiyeva, Adilaga Malikov , Elshan Amrahov

Abstract

The article comprehensively explores the emergence and development dynamics of the desertification process in the Kura valley depression, the largest natural region of Azerbaijan. The Kura depression region is currently the largest livestock and agricultural center of the country. Therefore, the natural landscapes of the region have undergone anthropogenic transformation for many years. Structural and functional features of anthropogenic landscapes are managed and regulated by humans. However, a number of environmental problems arise within them, among which the desertification process stands out. From this point of view, the areas of existing desertification centers in landscapes, the degree of desertification and desertification factors were determined and mapped based on the generalized analysis of recent spatial imagery data, large-scale topographic maps and field studies. In determining the accuracy of desertification rates in real space, semi-stationary observations at 17 observation points played a key role in the accuracy of the research. Of the 40366.4 km2 of landscape complexes surveyed, 17713.1 km2 (43.9%) were found to be subject to varying degrees of desertification. 22,653.3 km2 (56.1%) are conditionally non-desertified landscapes. Of the desertified landscapes, 9.1% are mildly desertified, 15.4% are moderately desertified and 19.4% are severely desertified. Desolate landscapes make up 20.5% of the territory of our republic.


In order to determine the dynamics of desertification in the landscapes in the study area, comparative analysis was carried out by creating risk maps based on NDVI decoding indicators of LANDSAT-5 (1993) and LANDSAT-8 (2017) satellite images based on ArcGis software.  It was determined that 69% of the landscapes in the region are at risk of desertification. At the same time, in the last 24 years, desertification risk has decreased by 4% in areas with almost no desertification risk, low desertification risk by 3%, medium desertification risk by 25% and high desertification risk by 26%. Observations show that the dynamics of areas in desertification risk categories is related to the increase and decrease in the degree of influence of desertification factors occurring in landscapes, the characteristics of landscape allocations and the implementation of reclamation measures.

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