Investigating desertification process of Khash plain with emphasis on water and vegetation criteria

Due to incorrect policies in the water resources sector and excessive withdrawal of groundwater resources, water quality in most plains of the country has decreased. Therefore, the quality of water for drinking and agriculture is important in qualitative terms.With this aim in this study, the desertification changes in Khash plain were studied using two criteria of groundwater and vegetation. Shooler and Wilcox diagrams were drawn up for AquaChem software for the years of 2001, 2008 and 2015. Also, spatial variations were made on Arctic plain surface using Arc GIS software and vegetation changes trend were also done using MOD13A2 sensor images and remote sensing techniques. The results showed that the number of wells that have an unpredictable TDS in the years 2008 and 2015 compared to 2001 have been increased by comparing the Schuler diagram. However, the level of lands with good drinking status decreased during the years 1387 and 1394 compared to 1380 and was increased by the level of acceptable drinking water. According to Wilcox's diagram, the result is that most wells are salty to very salty and their use is harmful to agriculture or requires measures. The results of the vegetation change trend also indicated that the trend is to reduce vegetation and the average level of the NDVI index decreases with the passage of time.