Monitoring land degradation with long-term satellite data in South Africa.

Abstract

Desertification is defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as ‘land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas (dry-lands) resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.’ Degradation includes diverse processes from changes in plant species composition to soil erosion that result in reduced biological or economic productivity of the land. Land degradation affects food security, national economic development and natural resource conservation strategies. Desertification refers specifically to degradation in dry-lands and it is widely considered to be one of the most destructive environmental processes of our time affecting an estimated 250 million people.