Mapping of Land Degradation Vulnerability in the Semi-Arid Watershed of Rajasthan, India

Global soils are under extreme pressure from various threats due to population expansion, economic development, and climate change. Mapping of land degradation vulnerability (LDV) using geospatial techniques play a significant role has great importance, especially in semi-arid climates for the management natural resources sustainable manner. The present study was conducted assess spatial distribution hotspots based on some important parameters such as use/land cover (LULC), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), terrain characteristics (Topographic Wetness Multi-Resolution Valley Bottom Flatness), climatic (land surface temperature mean annual rainfall), pedological attributes (soil texture soil organic carbon) by Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) GIS region Bundi district, Rajasthan, India. Land (LST) NDVI products were derived time-series Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets, rainfall data Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), LULC Landsat 9, variables legacy datasets. Weights thematic layers AHP studied area follows: (0.38) > (0.23) ST (0.15) LST (0.08) TWI (0.06) MAR (0.05) SOC (0.03) MRVBF (0.02). consistency ratio (CR) all <0.10, indicating high accuracy AHP. results show that about 20.52% 23.54% moderate very degradation, respectively. Validation LDV zones help ultra-high-resolution Google Earth imageries indicates good agreement model outputs. research aids better understanding influence long-term development at watershed level.