Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2021, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 291-297
Assessment of desertification area in the south of the European part of Russia in 2021
S.S. Shinkarenko
1, 2 , S.А. Bartalev
1 1 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
2 Federal Scientific Center of Agroecology, Complex Meliorations and Agroforestry RAS , Volgograd, Russia
Accepted: 23.07.2021
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2021-18-4-291-297
The report provides data on the desertified areas in the Chernye Zemli (southern part of Kalmykia and south-west of the Astrakhan Region), north of Dagestan and north-east of the Stavropol Region. In the autumn of 2020, a critical situation developed due to the drought and excessive pasture loads, which resulted in dust storms at the end of September and the first half of October. As a result, the area of land devoid of vegetation increased by 80 %, exceeding 1.4 million hectares. In the spring of 2021, due to the spring vegetation of ephemers and ephemeroids on the blown sands, the area of open sands and deflated lands decreased to 285.7 thousand hectares. This value is significantly higher than the value of the same indicator in May of the previous year, which was 171.8 thousand hectares. According to official statistics, the number of sheep in the areas under study decreased by more than 0.5 million animals due to unfavorable pasture conditions in 2020. Despite the resulting decrease in pasture loads, an intensification of aeolian processes should be expected after the death of the aboveground parts of ephemeral vegetation in summer. As compared to the previous year, May of 2021 was characterized by hotter and drier conditions. As a result, sand and dust plumes with a length of more than 150–200 km were observed between May 15–21 and June 18–22. Immediate measures should be taken to solidify sands, regulate pasture loads and develop a system for remote monitoring of desertification processes in southern Russia.
Keywords: south of Russia, MODIS, desertification, dust storms, arid zone, deflation
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