IPBES (2018) The IPBES assessment report on land degradation and
restoration. In: Montanarella L, Scholes R, Brainich A (eds).
Secretariat of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on
biodiversity and ecosystem services, Bonn, Germany
IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001. In: Impacts, adaptation, and
vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the third
assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate
change. Cambridge University Press, New York
IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007. In: IPCC fourth assessment report
working group I report “The Physical Science Basis”. Cambridge
University Press, New York
Lambin EF (2001) The causes of land-use and land-cover change:
moving beyond the myths. Global Environ Change 11:261–269
MacDonal AM, Bonsor HC, Dochartaigh BEO, Taylor RG (2012)
Quantitative maps of groundwater resources in Africa. Environ Res
Lett 7024009
Mansour A, Shariff NM, Gairola S (2011) Nature and causes of land
degradation and desertification in Libya: need for sustainable land
management. Afr J Biotechnol 10(63):13680–13687
MEA (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: desertification
synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C. pp. 2
NAP (2002) National action plan for combating desertification.
National Committee to Combat Desertification, Ministry of Agriculture, Libya
Nwer B (2005) The application of land evaluation technique in the
north-east of Libya. Doctoral thesis. Cranfield University. UK
Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (2002) Do humans cause deserts? In:
Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (eds) Global desertification: do
humans cause deserts? Berlin, Dahlem University Press, pp. 1–21
Saunders I, Young A (1983) Rates of surface process on slopes, slope
retreat and denudation. Earth Surf Process Landf 8:473–501
Sevink J, Imeson AC, Verstraten JM Humus form development, and
hillslope runoff, and the effects of fire and management, under
Mediterranean forest in NE-Spain. CATENA 16(4–5):461–475
Thomas DSG (1997) Science and the desertification debate. J Arid
Environ 37(4):599–608
UNCCD (2007) United nations convention to combat desertification.
Official website of the united nations convention to combat
desertification. http://www.unccd.int/
UNCED (1992) Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought (Agenda 21, Chapter 12). United Nations
UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme (1997) The World
Atlas of Desertification (eds) Middleton and Thomas D, Arnold,
Great Britain. ISBN: 0340691662
World Bank (1998) World development report 1998/1999: knowledge
for development. New York : Oxford University Press. World Bank
Yang J, Prince SD (2000) Remote sensing of savanna vegetation changes
in eastern Zambia 1972–1989. Int J Remote Sens 21:301–332
Zurqani H, Mikhailova E, Post C, Schlautman M, Sharp J (2018)
Predicting the classes and distribution of salt-affected soils in
north-west Libya. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 49(6):689–700
Zurqani HA, Mikhailova EA, Post CJ, Schlautman MA, Elhawej AR
(2019) A review of Libyan soil databases for use within an
ecosystem services framework. Land 8(5):82
Dr. Bashir A. Nwer was born in Libya in 1971. He is a Ph.D. graduate
from Cranfield University, UK, 2006, in the field of land evaluation using
geographic information System (GIS). Dr. Nwer has great interest in the
field of land degradation and combating desertification. He was Chairman of
the National Committee to Combat Desertification in Libya. He was
vice-chairman of the committee of the review of the implementation of
UNCCD and a rapporteur of the Ninth and Tenth Session of CRIC,
UNCCD. Dr. Nwer has attended UNCCD, COP5-COP11, and most of the
regional meetings of UNCCD. Dr. Nwer has published a number of papers
in the use of GIS and RS in land evaluation and degradation.
Dr. Hamdi A. Zurqani is one of the faculty members at the Department of
Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Zurqani is a recognized expert as a result of his internationally acclaimed work in the areas of environmental information science, remote sensing, land evaluation, sustainability, pedology, and soil
science education. He has conducted research across the world, including
the United States of America and Africa. Dr. Zurqani is a distinguished soil
scientist with a wide range of scientific and working experiences in Libya
and abroad. He received his M.Sc. (2010) from the University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya and Ph.D. (2019) from Clemson University, Clemson, SC,
USA. His major research and teaching activities at the University of Tripoli
have focused mainly on soil genesis and classification and the environmental information sciences (Remote Sensing and Geographic Information
System). He has published broadly in many journals (e.g., Nature “Scientific
Reports”, Geoderma; International Journal of Applied Earth Observation
and Geoinformation; Journal of Geological Sciences; Land; Frontiers in
Environmental Science; Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis; and others). Dr. Zurqani is a member of the Editorial Board for Remote
Sensing (MDPI) Journal, counseling outcome and research evaluation. He
also was appointed to serve as a Guest Editor for the Special Issue
“Applications of Remote Sensing in Earth Observation and Geo-Information
Science”. In addition, Dr. Zurqani conducted peer-review for many journals
including Journal of Environmental Informatics, Applied Sciences, SN
Applied Sciences, Remote Sensing, Heliyon, Geosciences, Land, Water,
Agronomy, Agriculture, Sustainability, Arid Land Research and Management, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
Natural Hazards, and Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences. He
is also one of the authors of the lab manual entitled, “GIS Exercises for
Natural Resource Management”. Dr. Zurqani has been the recipient of
numerous awards and honors: Recipient of Douglas R. Phillips Award for
Graduate Students, Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, April 12, 2019; the First Place Best Judged Poster
(CAFLS) at the GRADS 2019: Clemson Student Research Forum on April
4, 2019; the Second Place Poster at the 11th Clemson Biological Sciences
Annual Student Symposium, April 6, 2019; the Second Place Best Judged
Poster at the Clemson Student Research Forum on April 4, 2018; and the
Third Place Poster at the 9th Clemson Biological Sciences Annual Student
Symposium, February 25, 2017. Dr. Zurqani conducts cutting-edge research
in the field of environmental information science, remote sensing, land use
management/planning, change detection of landscape degradation, and
geographic information system (GIS) models. He has focused on his
research efforts on the development of new technologies in the field of
environmental information sciences, geo-intelligence (advanced
geo-information science and earth observation, machine and deep learning,
and big data analytics), remote sensing, land evaluation, pedology, land use
management/planning, monitoring and evaluating sustainable land management, change detection of landscape degradation, and geographic
information system models.
Dr. Azalarib. S. Ali was born in Libya 1971. He is a Ph.D. graduate from
Cranfield University, UK, 2018 in the field of early warning system of
desertification and land degradation. Dr. Salem has got master’s degree in
Water Resource and a master’s degree in Application of Remote Sensing in
Environmental Science. Dr. Salem has published a number of papers and
publications in the use of remote sensing in environment. He works as
lecturer in Soil and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Tripoli.
128
B. A. Nwer et al.
restoration. In: Montanarella L, Scholes R, Brainich A (eds).
Secretariat of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on
biodiversity and ecosystem services, Bonn, Germany
IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001. In: Impacts, adaptation, and
vulnerability. Contribution of working group II to the third
assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate
change. Cambridge University Press, New York
IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007. In: IPCC fourth assessment report
working group I report “The Physical Science Basis”. Cambridge
University Press, New York
Lambin EF (2001) The causes of land-use and land-cover change:
moving beyond the myths. Global Environ Change 11:261–269
MacDonal AM, Bonsor HC, Dochartaigh BEO, Taylor RG (2012)
Quantitative maps of groundwater resources in Africa. Environ Res
Lett 7024009
Mansour A, Shariff NM, Gairola S (2011) Nature and causes of land
degradation and desertification in Libya: need for sustainable land
management. Afr J Biotechnol 10(63):13680–13687
MEA (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: desertification
synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C. pp. 2
NAP (2002) National action plan for combating desertification.
National Committee to Combat Desertification, Ministry of Agriculture, Libya
Nwer B (2005) The application of land evaluation technique in the
north-east of Libya. Doctoral thesis. Cranfield University. UK
Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (2002) Do humans cause deserts? In:
Reynolds JF, Stafford Smith DM (eds) Global desertification: do
humans cause deserts? Berlin, Dahlem University Press, pp. 1–21
Saunders I, Young A (1983) Rates of surface process on slopes, slope
retreat and denudation. Earth Surf Process Landf 8:473–501
Sevink J, Imeson AC, Verstraten JM Humus form development, and
hillslope runoff, and the effects of fire and management, under
Mediterranean forest in NE-Spain. CATENA 16(4–5):461–475
Thomas DSG (1997) Science and the desertification debate. J Arid
Environ 37(4):599–608
UNCCD (2007) United nations convention to combat desertification.
Official website of the united nations convention to combat
desertification. http://www.unccd.int/
UNCED (1992) Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought (Agenda 21, Chapter 12). United Nations
UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme (1997) The World
Atlas of Desertification (eds) Middleton and Thomas D, Arnold,
Great Britain. ISBN: 0340691662
World Bank (1998) World development report 1998/1999: knowledge
for development. New York : Oxford University Press. World Bank
Yang J, Prince SD (2000) Remote sensing of savanna vegetation changes
in eastern Zambia 1972–1989. Int J Remote Sens 21:301–332
Zurqani H, Mikhailova E, Post C, Schlautman M, Sharp J (2018)
Predicting the classes and distribution of salt-affected soils in
north-west Libya. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 49(6):689–700
Zurqani HA, Mikhailova EA, Post CJ, Schlautman MA, Elhawej AR
(2019) A review of Libyan soil databases for use within an
ecosystem services framework. Land 8(5):82
Dr. Bashir A. Nwer was born in Libya in 1971. He is a Ph.D. graduate
from Cranfield University, UK, 2006, in the field of land evaluation using
geographic information System (GIS). Dr. Nwer has great interest in the
field of land degradation and combating desertification. He was Chairman of
the National Committee to Combat Desertification in Libya. He was
vice-chairman of the committee of the review of the implementation of
UNCCD and a rapporteur of the Ninth and Tenth Session of CRIC,
UNCCD. Dr. Nwer has attended UNCCD, COP5-COP11, and most of the
regional meetings of UNCCD. Dr. Nwer has published a number of papers
in the use of GIS and RS in land evaluation and degradation.
Dr. Hamdi A. Zurqani is one of the faculty members at the Department of
Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Zurqani is a recognized expert as a result of his internationally acclaimed work in the areas of environmental information science, remote sensing, land evaluation, sustainability, pedology, and soil
science education. He has conducted research across the world, including
the United States of America and Africa. Dr. Zurqani is a distinguished soil
scientist with a wide range of scientific and working experiences in Libya
and abroad. He received his M.Sc. (2010) from the University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya and Ph.D. (2019) from Clemson University, Clemson, SC,
USA. His major research and teaching activities at the University of Tripoli
have focused mainly on soil genesis and classification and the environmental information sciences (Remote Sensing and Geographic Information
System). He has published broadly in many journals (e.g., Nature “Scientific
Reports”, Geoderma; International Journal of Applied Earth Observation
and Geoinformation; Journal of Geological Sciences; Land; Frontiers in
Environmental Science; Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis; and others). Dr. Zurqani is a member of the Editorial Board for Remote
Sensing (MDPI) Journal, counseling outcome and research evaluation. He
also was appointed to serve as a Guest Editor for the Special Issue
“Applications of Remote Sensing in Earth Observation and Geo-Information
Science”. In addition, Dr. Zurqani conducted peer-review for many journals
including Journal of Environmental Informatics, Applied Sciences, SN
Applied Sciences, Remote Sensing, Heliyon, Geosciences, Land, Water,
Agronomy, Agriculture, Sustainability, Arid Land Research and Management, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
Natural Hazards, and Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences. He
is also one of the authors of the lab manual entitled, “GIS Exercises for
Natural Resource Management”. Dr. Zurqani has been the recipient of
numerous awards and honors: Recipient of Douglas R. Phillips Award for
Graduate Students, Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, April 12, 2019; the First Place Best Judged Poster
(CAFLS) at the GRADS 2019: Clemson Student Research Forum on April
4, 2019; the Second Place Poster at the 11th Clemson Biological Sciences
Annual Student Symposium, April 6, 2019; the Second Place Best Judged
Poster at the Clemson Student Research Forum on April 4, 2018; and the
Third Place Poster at the 9th Clemson Biological Sciences Annual Student
Symposium, February 25, 2017. Dr. Zurqani conducts cutting-edge research
in the field of environmental information science, remote sensing, land use
management/planning, change detection of landscape degradation, and
geographic information system (GIS) models. He has focused on his
research efforts on the development of new technologies in the field of
environmental information sciences, geo-intelligence (advanced
geo-information science and earth observation, machine and deep learning,
and big data analytics), remote sensing, land evaluation, pedology, land use
management/planning, monitoring and evaluating sustainable land management, change detection of landscape degradation, and geographic
information system models.
Dr. Azalarib. S. Ali was born in Libya 1971. He is a Ph.D. graduate from
Cranfield University, UK, 2018 in the field of early warning system of
desertification and land degradation. Dr. Salem has got master’s degree in
Water Resource and a master’s degree in Application of Remote Sensing in
Environmental Science. Dr. Salem has published a number of papers and
publications in the use of remote sensing in environment. He works as
lecturer in Soil and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Tripoli.
128
B. A. Nwer et al.