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• Land use change detection along the Pravara River basin in Maharashtra, using remote sensing and GIS techniques

  71-86

  Veena Joshi

  Vikas Nagare

  Views:

  263

  In the past few decades there has been an increasing pressure of population all over the world, especially in India, resulting in the utilization of every available patch of available land from woodlands to badlands. The study area represents a basin which is economically growing fast by converting the fallow lands, badlands and woodlands to agricultural land for the past few decades. IRS (Indian Remote sensing Satellites) 1 C – LISS III and IRS 1 C PAN and IRS P6 – LISS III and IRS 1 D PAN Images were merged to generate imageries with resolution matching to the landscape processes operating in the area. The images of the year 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007 were analyzed to detect the changes in the landuse and landcover in the past ten years. The analysis reveals that there has been 20% increase in the agricultural area over the past ten years. Built up area also has increased from 1.35% to 6.36% of the area and dense vegetation also has marginally increased. The remarkable increase in the agricultural area occurs owing to the reclaim of the natural ravines and fallow lands. Presently the area looks promising, but it is necessary to understand the sedimentological and geomorphological characteristics of the area before massive invasion on any such landscapes because the benefit may be short lived.

• Is desertification a problem in Hungary?

  242-247

  Ádám Kertész

  Views:

  522

  The term of “desertification” refers to a land degradation processes of arid, semiarid and sub-humid areas. Although the concept originates from Sub-Saharan Africa, desertification threatens also the area of Hungary. The greatest desertification risk is in the central part of the country, in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve where drought has always been a huge problem for the local society. Aridification processes are mainly due to climate change. Temperature increase and precipitation decrease as well as the increase of the frequency and amplitude of extreme events contribute to the acceleration of desertification risk. Severe or moderate droughts occur in Hungary nearly every year. Drought frequency has increased, primarily in the last decades. Main findings of several research projects of MEDALUS II and III EU Framework projects (experiments on the effects of climate change on vegetation, soils and ground water level) are summarized in the paper.

• Addressing desertification in Algeria: Etiologies, National Policies, and Accomplishments

  63-84

  Ramzi Benhizia

  Feyrouz Ahlam Saidi

  Haithem Aib

  György Szabó

  Views:

  24

  Desertification, affects 36.62% of non-desert land in Algeria, stands as a critical environmental challenge demanding thorough analysis and strategic intervention. This study offered a nuanced exploration of the multifaceted dynamics of desertification, scrutinizing its varied causes, ecological repercussions, and governmental countermeasures. Drawing on extensive research, the article synthesizes insights from previously overlooked factors such as colonialism, wildfires, socio-economic shifts, and the evolving climate landscape. Since 1962, Algeria has committed to mitigate desertification through strategic programs into national development plans, intricately woven into the fabric of national development plans. Noteworthy among these initiatives is the vegetation barrier project, conceived to erect a formidable vegetation barrier against the relentless advance of encroaching deserts. The legal and institutional frameworks, coupled with meticulous planning under the National Spatial Development Plan (SNAT 2025), underscore Algeria’s proactive stance. Despite commendable achievements in afforestation, watershed protection, and socio-economic development, persistent challenges underscore the need for continued collaboration, adaptive strategies, and an unwavering commitment to mitigating the profound impacts of desertification on Algeria’s diverse ecosystems and communities.

• Assessment of spatio-temporal waterline changes of a reservoir: A case study of Ujjani wetland, Maharashtra, India

  1-13

  Pooja Ramanuj

  Shankar Laware

  Nitin Karmalkar

  Views:

  301

  The Ujjani reservoir is an artificial inland wetland and a potential Ramsar site in Maharashtra, India. The present study investigates the changes in the surface water area over time using remote sensing imageries (LANDSAT, LISS-III, Sentinel 2 series) for four decades (1981 to 2021) and the normalized difference water index (NDWI). The study reveals that the overall mean amount and rate of decrease in the surface water area are estimated at 20.50% (44.31 + 30.38 km²) and 0.75% year-1 (1.62 + 1.36 km²year-1), respectively. Furthermore, multiple correlation matrix analysis shows a strong positive correlation between surface water area and rainfall while a weak negative correlation with mean annual temperature (T_MAX). Thus, indicating rainfall as the principal factor in inducing changes to the surface water area of the Ujjani wetland. However, the study also finds that the impact of the dramatic rise in population growth and anthropogenic activities in the form of overexploitation and land encroachments for agriculture are gradual but significant cursors to wetland degradation. Hence, the study recommends periodic monitoring, management, and conservation of wetlands, by employing stringent policies and effective technological measures.

• Sentinel-2 satellite-based analysis of bark beetle damage in Sopron Mountains, Hungary

  33-40

  Tamás Molnár

  Géza Király

  Views:

  180

  Sopron mountains were affected by bark beetle (Ips typographus) damage between 2017 and 2020, which was surveyed on high-resolution ESA Sentinel-2 satellite images for the period 2017 and 2020 using Mosaic Hub, Anaconda, and Jupyter Notebook web-based computing environments. Biotic forest damage was detected based on vegetation (NDVI) and moisture (MSI, NDWI) indices derived from satellite images. The spatial and temporal change of damage was observed in the image series, resulting in information about the level of degradation and regeneration. In pursuance of GIS processing, 84 forest compartments were compared, which showed in most of the cases (97%) negative interannual change in the index mean values (MSI = - 0.14, NDWI = - 0.2, NDVI= - 0.19) when years compared to each other. The remote sensing-based survey was marked out and validated based on the forest database of the Hungarian Division of Forest of National Land Centre and forest protection damage reports of the Hungarian National Forest Damage Registration System.