Assessment of Environmentally Sensitive Area and Desertification Severity using GIS for an Indian Region - Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Desertification is one of the fundamental hazards threatening the arid and semi-arid regions on ecological as well as economic perspective. Mapping and quantifying the land degradation have become urgent tasks in order to avoid the depletion or deterioration of the resources we need to know the causes for the depletion. In this study, the desertification status and the severity of desertification were studied using remote sensing and field data at Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu region, in south India. Modified Medalus method was used to identify the ecological sensitive areas (ESA) with landuse, climatic controls, soil quality, ground water quality and demographic factors. A number of indexes were prepared from the above parameters and the severity was identified by Environmental Sensitivity Area Index (ESAI). The desertification severity was classified into three classes such as low, moderate and high. The desertification severity from 2003 to 2012 was increased from moderate (1.34) to severe (1.42) at Sivakasi and Srivilliputhur taluk, which is located in the western side of the study area. Results showed that climate and demographic pressure were the most important indicators for describing desertification process in the study area.