Fatemeh Azariyan; Sara Valizadeh; Pouyan Dehghan; Hassan Khosravi
Abstract
Iran is mostly consisted of arid and semi-arid areas. Rudab region, Sabzevar, is indicative of an areaexposed to and affected by the risk of desertification. This study accordingly is aimed at assessingthe risk of desertification using ESAs model, through mapping the risk of desertification. Initially,work ...
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Iran is mostly consisted of arid and semi-arid areas. Rudab region, Sabzevar, is indicative of an areaexposed to and affected by the risk of desertification. This study accordingly is aimed at assessingthe risk of desertification using ESAs model, through mapping the risk of desertification. Initially,work units’ map was prepared based on which relevant indicators were valued. Then, relevantindices were prepared based on ESAs model using GIS. Finally, ESAI index was calculated foreach work unit. After mapping the risk of desertification, desertification damages were evaluated. Itwas found out that the risk of desertification in Rudab can be classified at three classes i.e. class I,II, and III; and subclass III1 covered the biggest surface of the study area i.e. 44.48%. Based ondesertification damage map, Rudab region is divided into five classes so that class III covering35.20 percent of the area is the biggest area. Active sandy dune faces are prone to the highest risk ofdesertification since they entail significant risk factors and need to be paid due attention for desertgreening programs.