Thirty Years of Change in the Land Use and Land Cover of the Ziz Oases (Pre-Sahara of Morocco) Combining Remote Sensing, GIS, and Field Observations

Ahmed Karmaoui (), Adil Moumane, Samir El Jaafari, Aziza Menouni, Jamal Al Karkouri, Mohammed Yacoubi and Lhoussain Hajji
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Ahmed Karmaoui: Bioactives, Health & Environment Laboratory, Epigenetics, Faculty of Science and Techniques, Errachidia (UMI), Moroccan Center for Culture and Science, Moulay Ismail University, Meknes 50050, Morocco
Adil Moumane: Department of Geography, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra 14000, Morocco
Samir El Jaafari: Cluster of Competency on Health and Environment, Moulay Ismail University, Meknes 52000, Morocco
Aziza Menouni: Cluster of Competency on Health and Environment, Moulay Ismail University, Meknes 52000, Morocco
Jamal Al Karkouri: Department of Geography, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra 14000, Morocco
Mohammed Yacoubi: Laboratory of Water, Biodiversity and Climate Change, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech 40000, Morocco
Lhoussain Hajji: Bioactives, Health and Environmental Laboratory, Epigenetics, Moulay Ismail University, Meknes 50050, Morocco

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-25

Abstract: Remote sensing (RS) data and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were used to monitor the changes in the Oasis agroecosystem of the pre-Saharan province of Errachidia, southeastern Morocco. The land use and land cover (LULC) change of the agroecosystem of this province was processed using Landsat time series with 5-year intervals of the last thirty years. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) were categorized into five classes, including water bodies, cultivated land, bare land, built-up, and desertified land. The overall accuracy of the MLC maps was estimated to be higher than 90%. The finding showed a degradation trend represented by an increase in desertified lands, which tripled in the ten last years, passing from 20.62% in 2011 to 58.49% in 2022. The findings also depicted a decreasing trend in the cultivated area in this period passing from 174.2 km 2 in 1991 to 82.2 km 2 in 2022. Using NDWI, Landsat images from 1991 to 2021 depicted a strong association between the water reserve in Hassan Eddakhil dam in the upstream area and the LULC changes. The oases from the dam (upstream) to Er-Rissani (downstream) recorded high rates of decline with an increasing trend of desertification due to drought and overuse mainly of groundwater. The outputs of this research effort constitute a significant source of information that may be used to support further research and decision-makers to manage arid ecosystems and achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), precisely the SDGs 15 (Life on land).

Keywords: remote sensing; geographic information system; NDVI; oasis; desertification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:12:p:2127-:d:1292307

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