Assessment of land degradation and desertification due to migration of sand and sand dunes in Beluguppa Mandal of Anantapur district (AP, India), using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Land degradation and desertification by means of sand migration, is one of the major problems facing the world today. Degradation is the process of conversion of productive land into waste land or degraded to desertified land. Degradation is influenced by the natural and anthropological causes in arid and semi-arid regions. According to a report by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), 96 million hectors or 30 percent of India's agricultural land, is affected by the land degradation. The present study deals with identification, mapping and assessment of desertified areas in Beluguppa Mandal of Anantapur district, using geospatial techniques, aided by Landsat satellite images. The main reason for land degradation and desertification of this area is the migration of sand and sand dunes by aeolian process. Present study is focused to define the desertification in the study area during 18 years period beginning 2000 and onwards. Hence, temporal data of Landsat satellite image of past 18 years (i.e., 2000-2018), were collected and processed, to know how much of land is covered by migrated sand dunes and get desertified. By using geospatial technologies like satellite remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS), identification and mapping of desertified areas and progress of desertification were made in the present study. The results of the present study clearly reveal that 26 hectares of agriculture land is desertified in Srirangapuram village, and an area of 14 hectares of agriculture land is desertified in Narinjagundlapalle village in Beluguppa mandal of Anantapur district, A.P.