Determination of the Degradation Degree of Pasture Lands in the West Kazakhstan Region Based on Monitoring Using Geoinformation Technologies

Land degradation, including pasture lands is one of the global problems. Currently, one of the most urgent problems of the West Kazakhstan region is the preservation and restoration of the vegetation cover of pasture lands. To date, large areas of the region have been occupied by agricultural land. Several main reasons negatively affect agriculture, one of which is land degradation associated with anthropogenic impact in terms of the irrationality of land use. Thus, to preserve the biodiversity of the pastures of the West Kazakhstan region, it is necessary to fully study the projective cover of the vegetation, determine the dominant plant species, and also monitor the condition of pastures to prevent land degradation on time by conducting land and forest improvement activities. The study aimed to carry out a phyto-ecological assessment of degraded pastures of the Karatobinsky district of the West Kazakhstan region using geoinformation technologies and field study results. The paper presents the results of desktop decoding of high-resolution satellite images and ecological profiling of the studied territories. Decoding features of landscape types allowed making a preliminary map of landscape contours. The use of this technique makes it possible to monitor the condition of degraded pasture lands in a short time and justify the organization of pastures with a regulated grazing system in the study area.