| Popis: |
[ABSTRACT] Satellite remote sensing offers an unparalleled technique to map land cover types at local, regional and global scales. Methods to map seasonal and yearly vegetational changes are critical to studying desert dynamics and providing the best techniques to combat desertification in arid environments. Such techniques facilitate the mapping of arable lands, areas threatened by desertification, as well as areas susceptible to erosion and subsequent generation of sand and dust storms. Selective principal component analysis applied to the AVHRR data of the Arabian Peninsula acquired in 1992 depicted the monthly vegetation dynamics of the Arabian Peninsula. For the majority of the areas that showed changes, the amount of vegetation increased substantially from November through April, a period coinciding with cooler temperatures and higher rainfall. On the contrary, vegetation either decreased or remained unchanged from June to August. Exceptions to the observed trends were found in the southwestern part of the Peninsula, along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and in the Mesopotamian Basin. |
