Assessing the progress of desertification of the southern edge of Chihuahuan Desert： A case study of San Luis Potosi Plateau

The aim of this study is to establish if the San Luis Potosi Plateau （SLPP）, which is part of the southern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, is generating desertification processes, indicating a progression of the desert toward the central part of Mexico. Therefore, we analyzed the temporal evolution o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of geographical sciences 2017-04, Vol.27 (4), p.420-438
Main Author: NOYOLA-MEDRANO Cristina MARTiNEZ-SiAS Valeria Abigail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Desertification
Deserts
Earth and Environmental Science
Environmental indicators
Geographical Information Systems/Cartography
Geography
Iron oxides
Landsat
Nature Conservation
NDVI
Physical Geography
Precipitation
Remote sensing
Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry
Surface temperature
Vegetation
南缘
归一化植被指数
沙漠化程度
荒漠化过程
评估
高原
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Summary:The aim of this study is to establish if the San Luis Potosi Plateau （SLPP）, which is part of the southern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, is generating desertification processes, indicating a progression of the desert toward the central part of Mexico. Therefore, we analyzed the temporal evolution of four environmental indicators of desertification： Normalized Difference Vegetation Index （NDVI）, Normalized Difference Water Index （NDWI）, Iron Oxides Index （IO） and Surface Temperature （ST）. Landsat TM images are used to cover a period from 1990 to 2011. A new equation of total balance is proposed to generate an image of the overall evolution of each factor which is applied to get a probability map of desertification. The evolution of NDVI, NDWI and IO shows a behavior almost stable over the time. In contrast, the ST shows a slight increase. The outcomes of this study confirm periods of vegetation re-greening and 8.80% of the SLPP has the highest probability to develop desertification. The most affected area is the portion west of the region, and the east and south are the least affected areas. The results suggest a slight advance of the desert, although most of the area doesn＇t have the necessary conditions to develop desertification.
ISSN:1009-637X
1861-9568
DOI:10.1007/s11442-017-1385-5