Evaluation and analysis of desertification change using change vector analysis method(Region of study: Ghalehgang County)

Desertification has been considered as a serious threat to arid, semi-arid and even semi-humid climate in recent decades and it is a major obstacle to sustainable global development, so monitoring its changes is urgent. Using remote sensing and GIS is one of the cost-effective, often free and accessible method to monitor changes in these areas. In this study, change vector analysis method was used for evaluation and analysis of desertification change in a part of Ghalehganj county in south of Kerman province. For this purpose, Landsat 8 image bands in two time periods of 2014 (first period) and 2020 period (second period) for March and April was used in Google Earth Engine. Image pre-processing were applied and averaging was done separately for both periods which was followed by calculation of EVI and BSI indices. For the next step, using these two indicators and the change vector analysis method in the GIS software, the magnitude and direction of desertification change trends were determined. The results of the present research indicated the dominance of the reclamation process in the region during the years studied and the overall results indicate that development of cultivated lands and land use change have the greatest impact on monitoring indicators and desertification trends in the region. Thus, degradation of lands around residential areas are witnessed and on the other hand, there is a significant relationship between agricultural activities and rehabilitation areas in the region.