ESA Satellites Will Monitor Desertification In Southern Europe

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"The severe droughts and forest fires of recent years underline Mediterranean Europe's continuing vulnerability to desertification – 300 000 square kilometres of territory are currently affected, threatening the livelihoods of 16.5 million Europeans. A new satellite-based service is set to provide a continuous monitoring of regions most at risk. ESA's DesertWatch project involves the development of a desertification monitoring system for the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in support of responsible regional and national authorities.

"Desertification is a common problem across Mediterranean nations, because of circumstances in common: similar historical backgrounds, climatic conditions, land use patterns, cultural characteristics and vegetation types," explained Dr. Mevlut Duzgun of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, a DesertWatch partner user. "What we hope to get out of this project is the development of a common, harmonised information system available to all Mediterranean countries affected by desertification processes, making it possible to permanently access the data needed to monitor changes as they occur."

The term 'desertification' refers not to the spread of existing deserts, but the creation of new ones through the degradation of susceptible arid or dryland ecosystems, which extend over a third of the Earth's land surface.Degradation is mainly due to human activities such as overfarming or land clearance, although drought also degrades the quality and productivity of soil and vegetation, and the impact of climate change remains an open question. Mismanagement of land strips nutrients from soil and diminishes vegetation cover. And without plants or trees to bind the soil together, topsoil that has taken centuries to accumulate is blown or washed away, further reducing the biological productivity of the land until finally it becomes useless.

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As a densely populated dryland zone, Mediterranean Europe would be vulnerable to desertification anyway, although regular forest fires make its situation worse. Between 600 000 and 800 000 hectares of Mediterranean forest is burnt annually – leaving an area approaching the size of Corsica stripped of vegetation. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 95% of these fires are caused either by negligence or deliberate arson. The good news is that dryland desertification can be remedied or even reversed, using appropriate land management techniques. Forecasting is needed of areas most at risk, and this is what satellites can provide."

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http://www.spacedaily.com/news/eo-04zzzzzy.html