The Potential of Remote Sensing Data in Mapping of Wind Erosion in Isfahan Province Using the IRIFR Model

Wind erosion and its control has always been one of the important topics in arid regions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the potential of remote sensing data in mapping this phenomenon based on the wind erosion indicators of IRIFR model in Isfahan province. For this purpose, different parameters including land topography, wind speed, desert pavement, vegetation cover, soil moisture, aeolian sediments, land use and land management were extracted from MODIS, Landsat and SRTM space shuttle, and combined using fuzzy logic. Then, the accuracy of produced map was assessed with 200 random points and error matrix against field-based wind erosion map which was obtained from IRIFR model. Results showed that wind erosion is more dominant in Naein, Aran and Bidgol, Ardestan and Isfahan counties. According to the produced wind erosion map, 26.3% of the study area was classified as low, 56.9% as moderate, 11.8% as high and 5% as very high. The overall accuracy of more than 73% between produced and field-based maps indicated the high performance of remote sensing data in mapping of wind erosion. Therefore, due to many advantages of these data, the presented method can be used to map and report wind erosion condition at different spatial and temporal scales.