Ulf Hellden

The possibilities of using LANDSAT-1 images for environmental studies, with special references to water quality studies, were investigated by selecting test areas in southern Scandinavia. The MSS images of different bands are compared under the magnification of an Interpretoscope and densitometric analyses are performed in a Schnell-photometer. The possibility of tracing pollution plumes is studied in the Oresund outside Copenhagen. The effect of different sewers and the circulation of the polluted water is analyzed in various situations. The variation in reflectivity of a great number of lakes in South and Middle Sweden is studied by means of densitometric analyses and significant regional differences are found. The correlation with in situ measurements of water quality (turbidity and secchi disc transparency) of the sampled lakes (made by the National Swedish Environment Protection Board) is fairly good.

Drylands comprise one-third of the Earth’s land area. They pose research, management, and policy challenges impacting the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people. Desertification is said to affect some 10-20% of the drylands and is assumed to expand with climate change and population growth. Recent paradigms stress the importance of understanding linkages between human-ecological (H-E) systems in order to achieve sustainable management policies. Understanding coupled H-E systems is difficult at local levels. It represents an even greater challenge at regional scales to guide priorities and policy decisions at national and international levels. System dynamic modelling may help facilitating the probblem. Desertification and land degradation are often modelled and mathematically defined in terms of soil erosion. The soil erosion process is usually described as a function of vegetation ground cover, rainfall characteristics, topography, soil characteristics and land management. On-going rese...

The word "desertification" was introduced in 1949 b y the French scientist Aubreville in his report "Climats, forêts et désertification de lAfrique tropicale". The concept, however, was discussed earlier by European and American scientists in terms of increased sand movements, desiccation, desert and S ahara encroachment and man made deserts. Desertification, at the beginning of last century, meant the spreading (expansion) of deserts or desert-like (non productive or very low productive) conditions from existing deserts into non-desert areas close to the desert m argins. The symptoms of the phenomena were often related to sand movement and encroachment into oasis and desert margins. Aubreville also stated in 1949 that there are real deserts being born, under our very eyes, in the 700-1500 mm annual rainfall areas . At that time, one school favored the idea of a post glacial long term climate change (desiccation) as a major driving force causing dese rtification....

The possible use of LANDSAT imagery and digital data for monitoring desertification indicators in Tunisia was studied. Field data were sampled in Tunisia for estimation of mapping accuracy in maps generated through interpretation of LANDSAT false color composites and processing of LANDSAT computer compatible tapes respectively. Temporal change studies were carried out through geometric registration of computer classified windows from 1972 to classified data from 1979. Indications on land degradation were noted in some areas. No important differences, concerning results, between the interpretation approach and the computer processing approach were found.

ABSTRACT Woody biomass production is a critical indicator in evaluation of land use management and the dynamics of the global carbon cycle (sequestration/emission) in terrestrial ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to develop, through a case study in Sudan, an operational multiscale remote-sensing-based methodology for large-scale estimation of woody biomass in tropical savannahs. Woody biomass estimation models obtained by different authors from destructive field measurements in different tropical savannah ecosystems were expressed as functions of tree canopy cover (CC).The field-measured CC data were used for developing regression equations with atmospherically corrected and reflectance-based vegetation indices derived from Landsat ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) imagery. Among a set of vegetation indices, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) provided the best correlation with CC (R2 = 0.91) and was hence selected for woodland woody biomass estimation. After validation of the CC-NDVI model and its applicability to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, time-series MODIS NDVI data (MOD13Q1) were used to partition the woody component from the herbaceous component for sparse woodlands, woodlands and forests defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Land Cover Map. Following the weighting of the estimation models based on the dominant woody species in each vegetation community, NDVI-based woody biomass models were applied according to their weighted ratios to the decomposed summer and autumn woody NDVI images in all vegetation communities in the whole of Sudan taking the year 2007, for example. The results were found to be in good agreement with those from other authors obtained by either field measurements or other remote sensing methods using MODIS and lidar data. It is concluded that the proposed approach is operational and can be applied for a reliable large-scale assessment of woody biomass at a ground resolution of 250 m in tropical savannah woodlands of any month or season.

... The Sahel of Africa is the most stricken re-gion of the world (author's italics). ... desert creeps into steppe, and while steppe loses ground to the desert it creeps into the neighbouring savanna which, in turn, creeps into the forest (14, P-9). Overcultivation has been ...