Mapping Wind Erosion Susceptibility and Land Degradation Priority Areas Using GIS and Remote Sensing in Semi-Arid Northeastern Algeria

Abstract

Wind erosion is an important factor in land degradation in arid and semi-arid areas, especially in regions with high wind speed, weak soil cohesion, and limited vegetation cover. This research evaluated the susceptibility of wind erosion in the Nemamcha area (Southern part of the Province of Khenchela in northeastern Algeria) using a combination of remote sensing data, climate parameters, soil data, topographic factors, and human-induced factors in a GIS platform based on the weighted multi-attribute approach. Vegetation protection was considered using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index obtained from Landsat-8 satellite images, while soil and soil surface characteristics were accounted for using land cover types, soil type and classification, soil texture, grain size index, soil moisture index, geology, slope elevation, wind speed values, human pressure, and road network density. Lastly, the map of susceptibility was classified into five susceptibility levels (very low to very high). It was revealed that the high and very high levels of susceptibility cover approximately 58.29% and 24.62% of the area of interest, while the medium susceptibility level is around 11.12%, and the areas classified as low and very low only account for 5.97%. It was noted that the areas of high susceptibility generally correspond to sandy soils and sparse vegetation cover.