Desertification

Desertification

Increasing drier conditions and human habitat changes lead to desertification and land degradation of fragile arid lands, affecting the base of human life. A condition to combat desertification is having an accurate knowledge on a current land degradation status and the magnitude and extent of the potential hazard. Our research goals are to develop advanced remote sensing desertification indicators using in particular the capabilities of hyperspectral imagery. We focus on deriving soil and vegetation specific properties linked to land degradation status, and related to soil conditions, water cycles, and plant productivity in drylands. Present activities focus on the North-Eastern Europe and Mediterranean areas. We are looking at extending our activities in South Africa (Inkaba ye Africa II), North Africa and Asia.

• Quantification of near-surface processes
• EU-Project DeSurvey: A Surveillance System for Assessment and Monitoring of Desertification
• Selection and characterisation of indicators of change in arid ecosystems
• Reading environmental changes in lake sediments
• SAND - A hyperspectral sensor for the analysis of dryland degradation