Study of Types and Intensity of Effective Factors in Desertification of the Sistan (Case Study: Niatak Region)

Desertification is a distractive process in arid and semi arid regions. This feature reduces land potential capability. In order to map desertification, several models are recommended. ICD model considers biome condition of Iran especially this region. It is a comprehensive and step by step model, and has four stages. Therefore, removing this phenomenon and identification of its effective factors is clear for reaching the goals. The purposes of the units of this region were determinated as the base plan for evaluating the considered factors and indexes. In addition, because of the similarities of the region in the point of view of geology and geomorphology, profiles were considered as the basis of unit determination. Therefore, by allocating values to desertification intensity and evaluating indexes and adding up of scores relevant to these units of work and base table, the intensity of land degradation was determinated for several usages. Finally, we used the ArcView 3.2 software, and plotted maps related to current and future positions of all unit works. Subsequently, results show that desertification intensities can be classified into moderate, high and very high in the region and the major factor of climatic change and exacerbation of desertification phenomenon are main influential environmental factors.