Spatial Analysis of the Degraded Forest Areas in Idmine Forest-Morocco Using Geoscience Capabilities

Abstract

AbstractAim of study: The aim of the study is to present a diagnosis for the state of Argan forest degradation inMorocco through GIS and remote sensing utilizing Sentinel 2 satellite images of the year 2019 (dated28/08/2019).Area of study: The study was carried out in a forest commune in Idmine, South West Morocco, whichis located in semi-arid bioclimatic region.Material and methods: In the study, two methods were tested. These are; (i) the vegetation indices (VIs)[Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), SoilAdjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Brilliance Index (IB)] and their combination and (ii) the supervisedclassification and spectral analysis.Main results: Two methods have given the same results (Kappa coefficient=90%) to describe the stateof forest degradation. Consequently, three classes pertaining to forest degradation within the study areawere; low (34%), medium (44%) and critical degradation (22%).Highlights: This monitoring might help managers to create forest management plans and to evaluate thespeed of deforestation and degradation.