Desertification risk assessment in Yazd province with an emphasis on hydrology, climate, vegetation, and soil criteria using IMDPA model

Desertification risk assessment in Yazd province with an emphasis on hydrology, climate, vegetation, and soil criteria using IMDPA model Abstract : Desertification is one of the most obvious degradation processes of natural resources in the world, which impose more destructive effects in arid, semi-arid, and semi-humid than other regions. Over the past few decades, global efforts have been channeled to tackle and prevent this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to assess the status of desertification and generation of desertification maps in Yazd province using the IMDPA model. In order to use this model and perform desertification mapping in Yazd province, four criteria of climate, water, vegetation and soil were considered as key criteria. Using the above method, the scores of each index in the relevant criterion was determined. Each criterion is calculated as the geometric mean of its sub-indices, and then introduced to the GIS environment. By overlaying and integrating the raster layers of the above-mentioned criteria and calculating the corresponding geometric mean and data analysis, desertification intensity map was obtained using model IMDPA. The results show that among the defining criteria of desertification, the climate criterion with the average score of 2.77 and the groundwater level drop with the score of 3.45 have been respectively the most significant criterion and indices. According to the results, the area could be classified as moderately sensitive to desertification. Keywords: Yazd Province, desertification intensity, criterion, indices, IMDPA Received (Gelis):  08.11.2016 -  Revised (Duzeltme):  20.12.2016 - Accepted (Kabul):  21.12.2016 Cite (Atif):  Abad, J.S., Tavili, A., Alipour, A., Hashemi, M., 2017. Desertification risk assessment in Yazd province with an emphasis on hydrology, climate, vegetation, and soil criteria using IMDPA model.  Journal of the Faculty of Forestry Istanbul University  67(2): xxx-xxx. DOI: 10.17099/jffiu.xxxxx