Remote sensing of deserts: the Indian experience

India has an arid zone, comprising both hot and cold deserts, covering approximately 390,000 km2. Indian scientists have been using satellite imagery to study the inhospitable and sometimes unapproachable areas for management and development of scarce natural resources, understanding desertification processes, evolution of deserts, etc. Major applications have been in mapping and monitoring of land use/land cover, degraded lands, natural vegetation, geological/geomorphological features, palaeodrainage, desertification, locust warning, in groundwater exploration, and assessment of environmental impact of Indira Gandhi Canal project, etc. The paper reviews the Indian experience in using remote sensing techniques in the arid zone.