Monitoring desertification by remote sensing using the Tasselled Cap transform for long-term change detection

Anna Zanchetta (), Gabriele Bitelli and Arnon Karnieli
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Anna Zanchetta: Università di Bologna
Gabriele Bitelli: Università di Bologna
Arnon Karnieli: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2016, vol. 83, issue 1, No 14, 223-237

Abstract: Abstract Sensitive areas like oases are threatened by climatic variations and human activities that can catalyze desertification processes. Remote sensing the Earth surface from satellites is a good tool to monitor such types of change through several techniques. In this paper a remote sensing method that has been widely used for vegetated areas is adapted to study dry regions. The method consists of a combination of the Change Vector Analysis and the Tasselled Cap (TC) transform. To adapt it to dryland conditions a new set of parameters for the TC transform is hereby calculated for the Landsat 8 OLI system. The new TC parameters are tested in the analysis of the surface change in Azraq Oasis, Jordan, over a time span of 30 years (1984–2013) for Landsat satellites images. Azraq is considered a good testing site since in the early 1990s it has been subject to a complete drying up of the superficial springs, mainly due to over-exploitation of the groundwater basin. Results show that the chosen technique is able to detect the expected change on the surface, consistent with photo-interpretation and historical information available.

Keywords: Tasselled Cap transform; Change Vector Analysis; Desertification; Change detection; Azraq Oasis; Landsat 8 OLI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2342-9

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