The Application of Remote-Sensing Data to Monitoring and Modeling of Land Degradation

This paper presents a brief synthesis of the information obtainable from remote sensing data and how they can be used to design the land degradation assessment model. The use of the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI), Soil Wetness Index (SWI) and Land use derived from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) were derived for detection and assessment of land degradation in Guyuan County, Hebei province. Degraded/unstable landscapes exhibit higher MSAVI values and lower SWI than their undisturbed/stable counterparts. Different land use types have different influences to land degradation. This study indicates that MSAVI, SWI and Land use can be used as appropriate factors for land degradation fast assessment in Guyuan County.