10.57647/j.jrs.2025.1504.34

Degradation status and land productivity assessment in drylands using remote sensing and ground survey: Experiences from India and China

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  • Mahesh Kumar Gaur*1,
  • Haiying Feng2,
  • Victor Roy Squires3,
  1. ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Leh (The U.T. of Ladakh), India
  2. Qinzhou Development Research Institute, Bei Bu Gulf University, Guangxi, China
  3. Formerly, University of Adelaide, Australia

Received: 2024-09-19

Revised: 2024-11-14

Accepted: 2024-12-12

Published in Issue 2025-09-14

Copyright (c) 2025 Mahesh Kumar Gaur, Haiying Feng, Victor Roy Squires (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Kumar Gaur, M., Feng, H., & Roy Squires, V. (2025). Degradation status and land productivity assessment in drylands using remote sensing and ground survey: Experiences from India and China. Journal of Rangeland Science, 15(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.57647/j.jrs.2025.1504.34
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Abstract

The impact of Remote Sensing technologies (RS) on land classification and its potential for various land uses is often taken for granted. Without it, land managers would be unable to implement remedial measures to conserve and restore degraded land. We provide a ‘snapshot’ of how governance in China and India, using new monitoring technologies, can lead to better outcomes for the ecosystems and the people whose livelihoods depend on the flow of ecological goods and services from the vast areas of these two countries. The advent of new technology, including greater reliance on near-Earth platforms to provide extremely high-resolution imagery, augments the data obtained by orbiting land resource satellites. The development and refinement of the Geographic Information System (GIS) in conjunction with RS has allowed accurate differentiation and mapping of multi-attribute land capability. The challenge for government planners and land managers is to find tools that allow relevant data to be collected and analysed. Ideally, such tools should be able to give a rapid assessment, and not involve large teams of highly trained personnel or incur high costs. This paper reports on the development and trial of such tools on a broad scale (millions of km2) under harsh environmental conditions in both India and China. The paper has three main parts. First, we present a brief overview of the current and developing situation in China and India in response to the newly created infrastructure, population shifts and changes in governance and policy initiatives. Next, we build on insights from the literature and fieldwork in remote areas covering a broad spectrum of problems (salinity, mobile dunes, waterlogging, etc.). Here we developed an understanding of the need for tools to help planners and land managers in a range of unique challenging situations. Finally, we re-visit the nexus between monitoring land degradation and the use of remote sensing and allied technologies and offer some insights as to future directions in both data acquisition, analysis and interpretation.

Keywords

  • Satellite imagery,
  • Near-Earth platforms,
  • GIS,
  • Land capability,
  • Land degradation,
  • Assessment,
  • Governance
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