Geospatial Assessment of Desert Encroachment in Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria

Desertification is a major environmental hazard that the world is facing today and is a major threat in the arid and semi-arid regions. This research was carried out in Dukku Local Government Area, Gombe State to assess the rate of desert encroachment in the study area. The study was based on satellite imagery using GIS analysis. The multi-temporal satellite was acquired from Land Sat images of 2000TM, Landsat image ETM 2010 and Landsat images 2020 OLI of Dukku vegetation cover. The NDVI (Normalised Differential Vegetation Index) shows changes in vegetation growth rate, the NDVI value ranges from -0.722 low to 0.806 high in (2000); -0.150 low to 0.665 high in (2010); and very thin of-0.133 low to 0.307 high in (2020). The NDVI indicates that forest cover decreases through the three epochs while open space and bare surface increase. This indicates the rate of desert encroachment on the vegetation cover of the study area. The study recommended modern farming techniques that emphasise conservation tillage as well as plantation forest in response to deforestation and desertification.