1. Scope. Scope of the project encompasses conception and development of different satellite based indices for mapping and monitoring of land degradation as well as the driving factors of the degradation. The consequent socioeconomic impacts of soil degradation will also be studied.

2. Overall Objectives. Major objective of the project is to map the land degradation status of ISNET countries through Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) data and techniques.

3. Technical Description. Most of the ISNET member countries have arid climate, and are agriculture based economies. Soils are strongly degraded due to influence of anthropogenic, climate change and other natural factors. Therefore, investigation of degradation process by new technologies is essential for the formation of the land resource database to monitor and manage the resources sustainably. Workflow of the proposed work shall comprise following components:-

1. Acquisition of the satellite images covering appropriate period.
2. Building of spectral indices related to the degraded soils and comparison of salinization indices (SI, NDSI, VSSI, and BI) and vegetation indices (NDVI, SAVI, MSAVI).
3. Classification of satellite data for Land Use / Land Cover (LULC) and determining the dynamics of LULC changes in specific time interval.
4. Soil erosion mapping using remote sensing and modeling approaches.
5. Acquisition of available global open source datasets related to soil/environment and their tailoring according to national datasets as well as collection/creation of other related geospatial datasets.
6. Analysis of archive materials, providing geospatial link of land management and thematic maps.
7. Preparation of final reports and scientific papers.

1. Capacity building of the member countries in use of Remote Sensing and GIS for natural resources monitoring and use of modern data dissemination techniques.
2. Obtained results and the developed methodical approaches will be important in increasing monitoring efficiency in other socioeconomic areas and will serve food security.
3. The study and management of soil and ecological condition will save time and financial resources in efficient use. It will be useful in preparation of measures and government programs for the improving soil-ecological condition.
4. It will serve collection, easily usage, protection and transmission through the network of relevant knowledge in a single Database.