Application of Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Land Degradation Monitoring at Pilot Scale in the Syrian Coastal Areas

The paper is part of a project which describes the development in Syria of MAP-UNEP Erosion Mapping and Management Program of the pilot project "Improving Coastal Land Degradation Monitoring in Lebanon and Syria". The project (2002-2004) has been funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Italian ERS/RAC
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, and implemented in partnership with the Croatian PAP/RAC
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, Syrian GORS
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and Lebanese NCRS
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. The Syrian coastal area has an excellent agricultural conditions. However, as a result of agricultural development, urban expansion, deforestation, inappropriate agricultural practices, and forest fire soil erosion by water is becoming a major problem in several areas. Furthermore, large areas of the rolling hills and gentle mountain slops have been turned into waste fields. If soils are not properly managed, soil erosion leads to a decrease in soil productivity in the short term and to complete soil degradation in the long term. Therefore, an accurate prediction technology, Geomatics technology, is needed to solve these problems and assess the extent and severity of erosion as well as to effectively develop and apply modern techniques for preserving farmland and forestland. Erosion mapping is a very essential tool for the assessment of the distribution and geographic extent of the phenomena, as well as for its qualitative characterization. This paper describes the procedures employed to integrate the Geomatic techniques in an effort to characterize the spatial distribution of the risk of soil erosion by water at the reconnaissance scale (predictive approach) on Latakia and Tartous districts, Syria.