Evaluation of current desertification statues with emphasis on the climate and soil criteria using IMDPA model (Case study: Aminabad, Mibod, Yazd)

Desertification refers to land degradation phenomenon in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting from various factors including climate variation and human activities. For evaluation and mapping of desertification many research have been conducted leading to regional and local models. In this research, among different existing methods IMDPA was selected and desertification intensity was evaluated on the basis of 2 criteria and 8 indices including: soil (soil depth, Electrical Conductivity, texture and gravel percentage) and climate (precipitation, aridity index and drought index). Each criterion was assessed based on the selected indices which result in qualitative mapping of each criterion cased on geometric average of the indices. Finally, sensitive map of region was extracted using geometric average of all criteria. Thematic databases, with a 1:50000 scale resolution, were integrated and elaborated in a GIS based on ArcGIS. Analysis of desertification criteria in Aminabad region showed that among study criteria, climate criterion is a major problem in the study area with a geometric average of 2.3 which shows medium class while soil criterion with a weighted average of 1.28 stands in low class of desertification. Also 17.98 ha of area (14.5 %) was categorized in low class of desertification, 75.02ha (60.5%) and 6.2ha (5%) of the area have high and very high class of desertification, respectively.