Drought risk assessment in pasture arid Morocco through remote sensing

Published Date
December 31, 2010
Type
Journal Article
Drought risk assessment in pasture arid Morocco through remote sensing
Authors:
Hamid Mahyou
Mohammed Karrou, Jamal Mimouni, Rachid Mrabet, Mohamad El Mourid

During the last three decades, Morocco has experienced several stern and extended episodes of drought that severely affected pasture production. To cope with this phenomenon, the policy makers have put emphasis on a reactive short term management approach rather than on pro-active risk-based management measures. The purpose of this study is the assessment of drought by remote sensing, which is an important step in the design and implementation of drought management plan. To reach this objective we used bi-weekly TERRA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS 250 m) data in arid pasture of Morocco. A preliminary mapping using Landsat TM5 of major land cover types was carried out to extract the pasture area. A comparison of annual and seasonal Normalised Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and rainfall during the time period of 2000 - 2008 were carried out. Results showed that stronger relationship of NDVI with previous seasonal rainfall as compared to VCI indicating that NDVI variation is a good indicator of vegetation changes and
consequently can give a better idea on drought conditions in the study area.

Citation:
Hamid Mahyou, Mohammed Karrou, Jamal Mimouni, Rachid Mrabet, Mohamad El Mourid. (31/12/2010). Drought risk assessment in pasture arid Morocco through remote sensing. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4 (12), pp. 845-852.
Keywords:
drought monitoring
pasture area
vegetation indices