ABSTRACT
Desertification is a major threatening geo-hazard of the world caused by human-induced effects and various environmental changes. Climate-induced desertification is unavoidable and hard to forestall, yet it is conceivable to diminish human-induced desertification. In this study, Mann Kendall (MK) trend analysis and Sen’s slope estimator have been adopted to identify the areas of Himachal Pradesh (India) that are vulnerable to human-induced desertification or vegetation degradation. The response of vegetation to interannual rainfall variations in Himachal Pradesh was studied. The state comes under the northwestern Himalayan region, which is a cold desertified area; vegetation variability usually had an association with precipitation over the majority of the area. Hence, human-initiated land degradation can be recognized if its effects on vegetation can be distinguished from the impacts of rainfall. Two methods were employed. (i) Rain-Use Efficiency (RUE) the ratio of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to rainfall, can normalize the between-year variability in NDVI brought about by rainfall changeability and therefore give a record of degradation that is independent of the impacts of rainfall. RUE has been planned as a local indicator of profitability and land degradation, since it tends to be obtained through remote sensing (e.g., NDVI and rainfall). (ii) Residual Trends (RESTREND) is a helpful tool for controlling the impacts of rainfall in order to distinguish human-induced land degradation.
