Estimating Desertification Intensity by Land Subsidence and Groundwater Criteria (Case Study: Namak Lake Watershed)
Subject Areas : Water resources managementSamira Zandifar 1 , Adel Jalili 2 , Maryam Naeimi 3 , Sakineh Lotfinasabasl 4
1 - Assistant Prof., Desert Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangeland, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.
2 - Prof., Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.
3 - Agricultural Research and Development Organization, Tehran, Iran
4 - . Assistant Prof., Desert Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangeland, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Ira
Keywords: land degradation, groundwater loss, sodium absorption ratio, electrical conductivity, IMDPA,
Abstract :
Introduction: Subsidence as a phenomenon of land degradation and desertification is caused by human driving forces and negative water balance. Desertification is a serious and dangerous threat to natural ecosystems. Therefore, it is very important to know about the processes of land destruction and desertification that have involved a large area of the country in recent years. According to the existing subsidence map for the Namak Lake watershed, the subsidence rate in the areas with information is very intense, so that in these areas the subsidence is more than 6 cm per year. Using the IMDPA desertification evaluation model based on two criteria of underground water and land subsidence to evaluate and monitor the important indicators of desertification is the general goal of this research.
Method: For this purpose, information layers of qualitative parameters (electrical conductivity, sodium absorption ratio) and quantitative groundwater (drop in groundwater level) and subsidence rate were prepared. The used subsidence map is related to the water year 2014-2016, which is available in Golpayegan, Arak, Qom-Kahk, Kashan, Saveh, Kamijan, Nubran, Varamin, Tehran-Karaj, Hashtgerd, Qazvin, Auj, Kabudar Ahang, Kedar, and Rezen areas. . In the next step, each index was given a weight between 1 and 4 based on its impact on desertification. The weighting is linear and the ratio is equal, so that the value 1 is the best and the value 4 is the worst. In order to investigate the effect of subsidence rate on desertification, desertification intensity was calculated in two ways. In the first case, taking into account the subsidence criterion and the underground water criterion, and in the second case, without considering the subsidence criterion, it was evaluated only based on the groundwater criterion. The final state of desertification intensity according to the IMDPA model was obtained based on the geometric mean of the criteria.
Results: The results of combining the quantitative and qualitative parameters of groundwater based on the IMDPA model showed that 60% of the basin surface has moderate desertification intensity and almost 36% has a poor condition. The assessment of the intensity of desertification based on the criterion of underground water in the Namak Lake watershed showed that the eastern part of the basin has a higher intensity of desertification compared to the western part of the basin due to the dominance of the electrical conductivity parameter and the drop in the level of the groundwater level. Finally, the results obtained from the integration of the map obtained from the IMDPA model groundwater criteria and subsidence using the geometric mean in the Namak Lake watershed showed that the northern part of the watershed, which includes most of Qazvin, Kabudarahang, Rezen-Qahavand, Kedar, Nubran, is the intensity of desertification is higher. While in the eastern part, i.e. Tehran-Karaj range and part of Varamin range, desertification is less intense according to the two criteria of underground water and subsidence. In general, the intensity of desertification in the case of subsidence and without subsidence, the highest level is in the middle class
Conclusion: The study of the desertification situation based on the two criteria of underground water and subsidence indicates the intensity of desertification in the whole basin in three categories: low, medium and severe, the highest level corresponding to the moderate intensity with an area of 65.57% and then the severe category with an area of 23.83%. It is a percentage. Among the study areas, desertification in Qazvin, Kobodar Ahang and Nobran has a higher intensity than other areas, which is due to the influence of the underground water standard. In general, the results of the assessment of desertification intensity in the Namak Lake watershed showed that the most important factor in creating the conditions of desertification and destruction of the land is the saltiness of the underground water and the drop in the level of the underground water. In line with the results of the present research and making more use of the existing findings, it is recommended to check all the parameters of the IMDPA model to evaluate the state of desertification, and even if possible, the parameters of the soil criterion should be checked along with the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the water criterion.
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