Investigating the relationship between desertification criteria and land use change and providing operational monitoring methodology Using IMDPA

Desertification is one of the destructive phenomena in the human court that causes the destruction of natural resources. Since Iran is located on a dry and semi-arid belt, recognizing the phenomenon of desertification and the factors affecting its intensification in our country is very important. In this research, satellite image information was used to study the role of land use change on desertification phenomena in the study area in northern Khuzestan. In a 24-year statistical period, a desertification intensity map was prepared using the IMDPA model based on water, climate, vegetation and soil criteria. The land use map of the area was prepared for three periods of 1991, 2003 and 2015, including six landuses: agriculture, rang land, salt land, flaggy and river. The results of the desertification intensity map showed that the intensity of desertification was initially in the period from 1991 to 2003, so that in 1991, about 9.6% of the region was in the low desertification class and 90.4% of the region was in the middle deserification class. In addition, since 2003, severe desertification class has been observed, which includes 8.3% of the region, and low and medium classes have covered about 8.7% and 87.4% of the region, respectively. Moreover, in 2015, low, medium and severe classes include about 14.8, 85 and 0.1 percent of the total area, respectively. In addition, the numerical value of the intensity of desertification in each use and its comparison showed that the most effective effect was the use of pastures, agriculture and residential areas, respectively, and the least effect was the use of Nizar in desertification of the region. To better examine the relationship between desert risk indicators and land use change, different models were adapted to the obtained data, and among these models, the best model was used for each use and intensity of desertification. Among the various uses, according to the correlation coefficient, the best relationship between desertification intensity and land use change was the use of salt land with 0.29 = 96.